It looks like I've got a long road trip coming up, heading from NH to AK, calling in at a couple of out of the way locations I'll need to find on the way.

I have no idea which sat nav I should get.

All I want is a simple, effective direction giving, address finding, map showing device.
I'm not interested in saving trackpoints, mp3 playing, singing, dancing machine.

Any thoughts?

 

I just bought a Magellan 1470. Had to make a trip to an out in the sticks place and totally unfamiliar with the area. There are cheaper ones, but I bought this one due to the larger, clearer screen. It corrected itself quickly when I decided to make diff. turns than it said and I'm extremely pleased. Actually like it better than my last unit a Garmin StreetPilot. It was around $250.

 

I have a TomTom and it works great. It was only $89.00 and we use it all the time. No issues ever for two years now.

 

I bought a TomTom xl1 about a year and a half ago.
It has some map errors that are very annoying,out of the box.
I would not buy another.

 

Dang you !!!!
I hadn't looked at pricing since I got mine --- $200 cheaper now
I got a Garmin from Amazon mainly because of pricing - return policy - and NUmber of Garmin units sold...

It really depends on what EXTRA features you want...
bluetooth - audio books - music - we listen to audio books on the long drives - makes the miles go by after you've said all you want to say (or heard all you want to hear !!!!!)
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-765T-Wi...3570889&sr=8-1


www.gpsreview.net is an excellent resource to review...

look at the number of post per MFG, and see where the most activity is ...
good luck...

 

Whatever brand you choose, get the widescreen version (4.3). I've got a 3 year old TomTom widescreen and love it. It's much easier to see.

 

i find that my smart phone (tomible g1) works very good, the directions come stright from map quest, but i can zoom into my location and search for near by stores and even pickup stores phone number right on the phone... its pritty acurate with the new map update... idk if u have tmobile or not or even if u want a smart phone, but i payed $220 after tax and junk the first day it came out, witch i know u can buy a pritty good navy but this is a phone with everythign on it, so i see it as a better investment then just a navy that onle doesn navy.

it about as simpale as it comes, the only problem i have is if u dont have a signal (highway between certain citys) ur pritty much screwed unless u can get a good roaming singnal or have a wifi connection in ur truck... oh and its not turn by turn like a navy, u can see ur location on the map and its very accurate but it doesnt say "turn right in 100ft" witch is a big bounse for me
tmobile has brought out the my touch witch is the g2 and i have yet to use the navy with that but im pritty sure they have the same

 

I totally agree with the widescreen. As for me, I have 3 Garmins for my family. I go to Europe a lot so one of them is the international model. When in the UK, it even warns you where there are cameras that look for speeders.

 

I'm been very happy with my Garmin Nuvi 650, has every feature I could possibly think of plays mp3, bluetooth, and can easily update maps through computer.

The only think I wish it had that some new Garmins do is the talk to text feature

 

you ought to be able to find what your looking for at a pawn shop, all the newer ones have alot of crap thats not needed, I recently bought a new magellan (over the one that I've had for 3 years now) because it was a widescreen, I was going to offer you my old one but I forgot that I gave it to my grandparents :P Magellan, Tom Tom and Garmin are the best on the market, but I would have to go with Garmin or Magellan because they setup is a little more serious in that its developers know that the system is first and foremost for getting the driver to his destination, and on top of that, garmin's turn indicator is a little quicker than magellans and alot more attention grabbing, even so I like my magellan, either way if you remember to keep your radio turned down, the voice prompts are more than enough to get you to and from and the widescreen is more handy during selection of stuff rather than watching while driving (which errm, ain't the best idea lol :P)

 

I got a basic Tom-Tom bout two months ago, no problems, quick responce when I change course, only $120. I travel all over New England for work and it even has dirt roads, mom n pop dinners/shops, we had a flat in the middle of nowhere and it pointed us to a little tire shop in a town with mabe 50 people.
Anyway, I like it, cheep,no problems. G

 

Very hard to beat any of the Garmin Nuvi's. Do some research and you will find they are tops for ease of operation as well as updatability of the map software. I have two different Garmin units and love the features of both. Good luck!

 

I have a TomTom I bought in the spring of 2008 for about $150. In order to update it to the current maps I have to pay $80! Garmin doesn't charge for map updates, fyi.

The TomTom unit has worked flawlessly though and I love it! I just wish I had the current maps!

 

I've had Magellan and Garmin units...and I like the Garmins MUCH better. Plus, with their new lifetime map update program/package, they are even nicer. I'm planning on getting one of Kenwood's new in-dash models that actually runs Garmin software for my new truck.

Just my $0.02.

 

I would double check that info before you decide to buy Garmin based on the idea that they don't charge for updates. I think they do as well, but the most current maps at the time you buy come as one free download from the Garmin site. Anything above that I think you have to pay for.