Best Add-On GPS Navigation system?
 

I have Nav on my car. This will be for a friend (as a gift).

I'm not looking to spend a whole lotta money... but I also dont want to buy something crappy. I've looked at a couple of websites online but I still dont know what the best one is.

Anyone in here have any personal experience with any of these units?

examples...

Tom Tom
Lowrance
Garmin
Magellan
...etc.

I want something reliable, nice looking and not too expensive. So far I like this one the best (for the features and price).
Lowrance iWay 350c

Thanks

how much are you looking to spend? I dont have nav but am considering it in the future - my advice go to best buy or Fry's to play with the different units they have on display. From what I've seen prepare to spend at least 500 dollars... my limit would be about $1000 dollars. (But I'd have to save for a lil while to drop that kinda cash)

i say you check out cnet. thats the most trustworthy source with just about everything available

i have the garmin streetpilot c330, so far i love it, the screen is big enough to be very legible, yet small enough to not get in the way of field of vision.

also helps that i saved tons of $$$ by using all the best buy gift cards i've stacked up :D:

besides the pimp factor, i think factory navigation system in general is a waste of money, example: this weekend i'm flying out to Detroit for my cousin's wedding, I can just take my GPS along with me and use it while i'm in Detroit, try to do that with your factory system lol

agreed on the factory nav being a waste of money besides the OEM pop up look... for the 2,000 dollars they charge for it, you can spend the same amount and get a badass aftermarket Nav system AND have some leftover for mods or stereo work :-D

yea but its just more fun when you walk into the dealership and say "give me one of those... with EVERYTHING on it...." :)

thanks for the info !

eh - walking in and paying 2000 dollars for something I really dont want and is inferior in performance to the aftermarket isnt my cup o' tea.

I've had my Garmin c550 for a couple months now and am thoroughly pleased with it. So much so that I bought another for my wife. I also bought an additional windshield suction mount so I can easily move mine to my Jeep when desired. Pricey but feature laden, to include bluetooth cellphone interface for hand's free comm. Easy PC USB connectivity for map updates and recharging. Also recharges via 12v cable which includes traffic RF receiver.

I mount mine to the left of my steering wheel so there's no road line of sight interferance.

The c530 and new c330 are less expensive, but still include Garmin's renowned ease of use and accuracy.

http://www.tigergps.com/garminstreetpilotc550.html

I love my c330 as well. I got a remanufactured unit with a 1 year warranty off of eBay for over $100 less than a new one. Got it from GPS World Supply in West Chicago, IL. Visit gpsworldsupply.com.

I have a TomTom GO 700 and it's awesome. The UI is basically perfect, which is about the most important thing to me when you're driving.

It's a handsfree kit for my sell phone as well which is really handy.

I have an Avic N2 and its very good

My wife has the Magellan 760. (Now available for $360)
It has over 6million POI, and there still some things we don't find.
The unit that your leaning towards has 5000. That's seems almost useless.
I guess it depends on what features are most important to you.
The M 760 lets you enter up to 20 locations at once and routes you to all of them in the fastest route, but it doesn't play mp3's. Works great for my wifes job though.
Built in 20gb hard drive.


TigerDirect.com or Amazon.com have some of the best prices on GPS units.
Here's the one we have, and I highly recommend it, unless you want bluetooth.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=M775-0004

If you do decide on the Lowrance, it's cheaper here.
http://www.buy.com/prod/Lowrance_iWA...202486815.html

i'm thinking of a Nuvi for christmas... seemed to be about the easiest to use after fiddleling with a bunch of them, and also the smallest

www.Newegg.com is also a great place to pick up GPS units.

i have my eye on the Garmin Nuvi 350...things looks freakin' sweet!!

Don't know if yur still lookin for a GPS a month later, but I second the above Nuvi 350. Once heck of an amazing unit, and it does SOOO much more then just navigate. Even being an electronic guru, I found the nuvi to be absolutely amazing on almost every level...and for as small as it is, just simply stunning.

Buydig.com has them the lowest on the net for $512 with free shopping. Sounds pricey, but considering the $450 drop in a year, it's one of the biggest steals out there right now!

Probably too late for the thread starter, but posted for posterity...
 

Inexpensive doesn't always mean crappy. Today I picked up a Mio C310x during the Black Friday special at Staples for $150 (that's right, 1/13th the cost of Mazda's NAV system).

Normally, it sells for >$300. A review: http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/008396.php

Mio is a reputable brand (very big in Europe, from what I've read). This model came with all USA streets loaded in 2GB of memory. It's well equipped with a 3.5" touchscreen, voice directions, SD slot, MP3 playback, mounting brackets, and both A/C and D/C chargers. Its interface is simple and effective. The maps render quickly and look great (nice anti-aliasing with the right amount of detail for zoom levels).

I'm mucho impressed. While you may not see this for $150 again anytime soon, I wouldn't be surprised if it went on sale for ~$200 by Christmas.

another magellan user here.....love teh hell out of mine and its pretty damn accurate

ditto... i love mine.

Is their a company that has integrated a GPS system with a laser detector?

I feel like a genius when I'm the only one suggesting the integration of two ideas...

Garmin c550 here. The handsfree Bluetooth to my cell is a plus. Very readable and reliable unit.

isn't there a GPS unit that will sit in the middle of the car as oppose to on the windshield... i dun want a gps and a radar detector on the windshield... too much distraction in my opinion. wish corksport would fix out their bugs so i can get a lcd headunit goin in my car :D. i had a mazda6 and bought that turbo meta kit for the headunit... and the rx8 came out not too long after the 6.. why don't they have a working kit?!?! :(

We just purchased a Garmin Nuvi 350, comes in the mail today, was/is on sale right now on amazon for under 500 bucks. It seems to be the one to get.

We also have a Mio 168 ( i think that's what it is) which is a palm pilot with built in gps, it works flawlessly. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Mio's products at all, it's a few years old but it is awesome.

Garmin offers a friction dash mount kit for their GPS units, I bought one last week for my c330, it's very well designed, and works MUCH better than the suction cup that came with the unit. :ylsuper: