Must Have GPS Features?

[BrknFngrs]

I'm looking for a portable GPS unit to use on my bike and in the car on occasion. I've browsed online and here and everyone says Garmin is the way to go so I'm looking solely at those.

From people that have gps, what features are worth paying for? The real "must have" features. I've looked at all the different Nuvi's and I don't see any significant differences between the various models.

I'd love to be able to use a bluetooth headset to handle calls through the unit when I'm on my bike but it seems like you have to spend $700+ to be able to do that and I don't think it would be worth it for me.

Comments?

[clockworkboy3]

Bad thing about garmin...no downloadable voices...so Ozzy Osbourne can't give you directions.

[black_2.5RS]

Text to voice is a must. it's way easier to navigate when it says left on street XYZ as opposed to next left.

May not seem like a big deal but in a different city with spaghetti for roads - you'll be happy you bought something which gives you two points of reference (direction + street name) rather than just one.

Also, try a few out. I find some are completely retarded and say, right turn when it's a slight bend in the road and not really a "turn"

[ThisPersian]

i think there is a whole world of hacking gps units out there that do cool things

i never really looked into it, but noticed it was out there
hacking maybe not as in free service, but best units, ones with mods etc.

:)

[Weapon_R]

Get a GPS for the navigation only. Garmin or Tomtom are going to be your best bet. The other 'features' are kind of stupid...I have a so-called "MP3" player built into my GPS but it doesn't do jack in a loud car on the highway

[BrknFngrs]

Thanks for the input, text to voice sounds like it may be useful. I'm not interested in mp3/video playback and what not, I know I wouldn't use that.

Anything else to look for that justifies spending a little extra money?

[BrknFngrs]

Alright so I'm thinking I'm going to try and pick up the Nuvi 260 from BB but the staff that I spoke to earlier today were basically useless in terms of product knowledge.

2 Features that I know that I want from a device is the ability to calculate my speed on screen and also tell me how long it is going to take to reach my destination based on this speed (ie: If I put in a trip and I'm driving it I want it to tell me, in real time, how long it will take for me to arrive at my inputted destination)

Are these features that I can expect all devices to have? Will the Nuvi 260 do it? I've looked at the specs online and it doesn't mention these features on any of the devices but I seem to remember seeing it on gps devices in the past.

[anarchy]

I'm interested in this info as well. I'm traveling to LA and will defintiely need a GPS from the sounds of it.

Not trying to jack your thread BrknFngrs, good info though. I have had a hard time distinguishing between the different models as well. I don't care how much I need to spend, so long as it does what I need it to.

the text to voice sounds handy

[dragonone]

is there a difference in gps choices if my main use is in the city?

[dragonone]

no one answered this last question....

i'm deciding between nuvi 650 and the tomtom 720
the 650 maps are readily available on mininova, but the 720 is more tricky to download free maps for
650 is 269.99 and tomtom is 299.99 + free 2gb SD, but the tomtom has bluetooth (prices from sigelectronics)

so hard to pick

[gpomp]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs
Alright so I'm thinking I'm going to try and pick up the Nuvi 260 from BB but the staff that I spoke to earlier today were basically useless in terms of product knowledge.

2 Features that I know that I want from a device is the ability to calculate my speed on screen and also tell me how long it is going to take to reach my destination based on this speed (ie: If I put in a trip and I'm driving it I want it to tell me, in real time, how long it will take for me to arrive at my inputted destination)

Are these features that I can expect all devices to have? Will the Nuvi 260 do it? I've looked at the specs online and it doesn't mention these features on any of the devices but I seem to remember seeing it on gps devices in the past.
the garmin will show you estimated time of arrival on the main display.

Originally posted by dragonone
no one answered this last question....

i'm deciding between nuvi 650 and the tomtom 720
the 650 maps are readily available on mininova, but the 720 is more tricky to download free maps for
650 is 269.99 and tomtom is 299.99 + free 2gb SD, but the tomtom has bluetooth (prices from sigelectronics)

so hard to pick
you won't be able to use those maps unless you have a key. it's kinda like windows, you can download the cd but you'll still need a cd and verification to get it to work. the nuvi 260 will have newer maps than the 650.

[Greystang]

If you want to use the GPS on your bike,, I don't think any of the Nuvi's are weatherproof. Although you might be able to program in your destination then stick it in an inside coat pocket & send the audio to an earphone.

My choice was to get a handheld Garmin Vista. Yea it doesn't talk just beeps. BUT I can use it on my bike, in my car, on my buddies boat,, anywhere I go! Nice & compact

[dragonone]

there's a garmin keygen tho, i should probably call and ask them what version of maps they come with

[The Wanderer]

The following features where features that made my decision on which model of Garmin I bought:

Where Am I? feature (find closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection). Ive used this to find the closest gas station when I was on a long trip and had not seen a gas station in a while. You can even check for a specific brand of station.

Auto sort multiple destinations. Excelent if you have multiple errands to do. It will allow you to route them in an organised manner.

Speaks street names (e.g. "Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft.").


If you look on garmins webpage www.garmin.com, they have different suggestions for motorcylce and car. You can compare units against each other to determine which ones have the best features

Hope this helps.

[Altezza]

I've got a Garmin Nuvi 250W widescreen. I love the extra screen real estate. I didn't really care much about the text-to-speech since the feature doesn't pronounce the street names correctly half the time anyways. At least that's what I find with the text-to-speech units I've used from Garmin.

However, I bought my unit a while back. These days, text-to-speech has become more and more "standard". I basically traded the text-to-speech feature for the widescreen since the price differential was nearly the same at that time.

[03ozwhip]

i just bought a Mio GPS and i have to say its pretty damn good, there are a ton of features on it and the best part is, i got it from wal-mart for 130 not on sale. heres a link to the one i have however this is the US version and its called the c230t, but in Canada its the c230s
http://www.mio.com/gps-navigation-products-c230t-overview.htm

[soupey]

there is also a keygen available for the tomtom (the tomtom one v3 atleast), as well as user-map updates that happen when you plug it into your computer.

[em2ab]

Here are some things I like about my GPS:

1. No messing around to get home, I just hit the GO HOME button.
2. On screen display for my current speed, time to destination, arrival time and distance to destination.
3. Voice navigation for major roads. For example, when I was in the USA, it would say, "In 3 kilometers, turn right onto 89, then follow the signs for 89 South."
4. If I'm looking for an ATM, parking lot, restaurant, hotel or gas station, I just hit the appropriate button and all the options appear on the screen, sorted by distance. I can hit INFO for whichever one I want, call them up (hotel) to see if there's an availability, then hit NAV to do a stopover.
5. Nighttime/Daytime Mode - certain colours can be easier/harder to see at certain times of day so it switches when it gets dark.
6. Integrated into my stereo so it cuts my music volume in half when saying directions.

I don't have an off the shelf unit, mine's a computer system I'm running in my car for media with custom software and the GPS software that's embedded into the front end is called iGuidance. You can check that out if you want but I simply listed these to give you some ideas when shopping for your standalone unit. Not sure how much of these they support.

[dragonone]

Originally posted by soupey
there is also a keygen available for the tomtom (the tomtom one v3 atleast), as well as user-map updates that happen when you plug it into your computer.
care to pm me a forum or link to this information please?


Originally posted by em2ab
Here are some things I like about my GPS:

1. No messing around to get home, I just hit the GO HOME button.
2. On screen display for my current speed, time to destination, arrival time and distance to destination.
3. Voice navigation for major roads. For example, when I was in the USA, it would say, "In 3 kilometers, turn right onto 89, then follow the signs for 89 South."
4. If I'm looking for an ATM, parking lot, restaurant, hotel or gas station, I just hit the appropriate button and all the options appear on the screen, sorted by distance. I can hit INFO for whichever one I want, call them up (hotel) to see if there's an availability, then hit NAV to do a stopover.
5. Nighttime/Daytime Mode - certain colours can be easier/harder to see at certain times of day so it switches when it gets dark.
6. Integrated into my stereo so it cuts my music volume in half when saying directions.

I don't have an off the shelf unit, mine's a computer system I'm running in my car for media with custom software and the GPS software that's embedded into the front end is called iGuidance. You can check that out if you want but I simply listed these to give you some ideas when shopping for your standalone unit. Not sure how much of these they support.

those features sound really useful, which gps did u get?

[em2ab]

Originally posted by dragonone

those features sound really useful, which gps did u get?


Originally posted by em2ab
I don't have an off the shelf unit, mine's a computer system I'm running in my car for media with custom software and the GPS software that's embedded into the front end is called iGuidance. You can check that out if you want but I simply listed these to give you some ideas when shopping for your standalone unit. Not sure how much of these they support.

Still need me to tell you?

[dragonone]

oops should've read closer
guess that's outta the question then

[BlackArcher101]

My 60cx does most of the things mentioned in this thread except voice. It only beeps.

Frankly I don't see myself ever getting a large in-car gps unit. My smaller cheaper unit does the job just fine. :dunno:

[Palmiros]

Click here for Garmin GPS comparison chart for all their products. (http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_comparisons/garmin-nuvi-comparsion-chart.html)

Click here for Mio GPS comparison chart for all their products. (http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_comparisons/mio-gps-comparison-chart.html)

Click here for TomTom GPS comparison chart for all their products. (http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_comparisons/tomtom-comparison-chart.html)