Which GPS

[RClark]

I am interested in a GPS unit, Portable. What is the consensus as to the most accurate and reliable?

 

[Pawpaw]

If I were looking for a portable GPS, I would take a good look at this one:



http://www.delorme.com/



I don't know anything about portable units (I use my laptop with a USB GPS), but this one sure looks powerful.



Bob

 

[esibcy]

Hello,I researched these GPS units about a month ago. You really just need to decide on what "Bells and Whistles" you want or need. I didn't need to play MP-3's or use it for hands-free cell phone use. I decided on the Tom-Tom One unit,and have been very happy with it It's easy to use right out of the box,and picked up several satellites even in the house. I ordered mine from Crutchfield ( the car audio online store) for 299. 00 incl. free shipp. Hope this helps! Eric

 

[wcjp]

Right now is a good time to decide if you want a GPS to be water resistant. Also, look for something with lots of Points of Interest (poi). Having more poi's increases the likelihood of finding an ATM, restaurant or recreation stopoff. I ended up with a Garmin Zumo 550. It has most of the bells and whistles to complement my Jeepin. My Zumo has 6million poi's.

The Garmin Streetpilots are nice but have no onboard battery. Friend just bought a Magellan RoadMate 2200T from Costco. Quite a bit cheaper than other retail stores. It's also water resistant.

 

[JimBob24]

I like the HP iPAQ rx5915 Travel Companion. It has the popular TomTom mapping and it also has several other neat functions for traveling. It has WiFi so you can find hot spots and check email. Also has Bluetooth, calendar/organizer and several other functions.



Jim

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I'm certainly no "GPS expert" - but recently bought the Garmin Streetfinder C-340, and like it quite well - has lots of nice features, including voice guidance for upcoming turns, etc. But this is another subject where you'll get positive reports on a WIDE variety of brands and models - and probably end up more confused than when you started! :-laf

 

[Grumpytrkr]

I also bought the Garmin C-340. Very easy to use, and has lots of POI on it. I also bought the outside antenna for it, so I didn't have to have it hanging on the windshield.

 

[JHudson]

I have had my share of experience and use of many garmin gps units starting with the Garmin GPSIII+. Nice unit and it allowed you to manually program routes. I then went to the Garmin GPSV which was like the III+ but had auto routing features which was nice. I just recently bought the Garmin nuvi..... wow ... . right out of the box, ready to use. This thing is little, but has a highly readable screen with audible commands ( I use Jill english voice) Many, not sure how many, but has found all my normal poi stops. I just cannot say enough good things about this unit... . Lastly, the accuracy is unbelievable.

 

[Nate]

Garmin 340 will be my next buy.



I have been using a Garmin eTrex for about 6 years now and it's still working great.



One of the guys here has the 340 and that thing is NICE. Has a little map with arrows, tells you the turns to take and everything. Awesome when driving around a busy city like here in Houston.

 

[DBrickel]

I recently bought the Garmin nuvi 340. It seems like a pretty good unit so far. It also fits in a pocket. Is it just me or does jill seem very annoyed when she has to recalculate :-laf

 

[klenger]

For a portable, look at the Gramin 60CSx

 

[BGlidewell]

amazing cost/performance ratio



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177183&highlight=mio+gps

 

[JH8128]

I have both the garmin Nuvi 350 and the megellan roadmap I like the Garmin alot more, it has a battery back up and I like to mapping much better. You can download different Icons and even use it as an MP3 player. It is totally portable. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[RSimmons]

The Garmin Nuvi series was my prefered choice except for the price. After reading loads of reviews, I decided to try the Magellan Roadmate 2000. For the price, it is the best bang for the buck out there.

Very fast satellite aquisition (even works in my house), touch screen, Voice directions, Auto rerouting in traffic congestion, auto rerouting on wrong turn, auto night mode, 3d view or birdseye, and dynamic turn view, and ability to plan an entire trip with multiple destinations (not just point to point), free web updates and best of all, under 300 bucks if you search for it.

Really, the only thing I do think could be better is the somewhat limited point of interest database. However, it has been fine for what I needed. Whatever you decide to go with, make sure they use Navtec maps. That is the only thing that kept me from buying the Tom Tom One. They use TeleAtlas maps which are not the greatest. My dad has one and complains that it will try to route you the wrong way down one way streets. Supposedly, the 2007 TeleAtlas mapping is supposed to be better but, I do not know anyone running them yet.

 

[Pavemen]

The Garmin Streetpilots are nice but have no onboard battery. Friend just bought a Magellan RoadMate 2200T from Costco. Quite a bit cheaper than other retail stores. It's also water resistant.

my Garmin Street Pilot c340 has an internal battery with 8-9 hours of use on it.

I like it so far. I looked at Garmin and TomTom and preferred the routing done by the Garmin. I have heard reports of the TomTom routing you down side roads rather than main roads.

The C340 is easy to use and pretty accurate. Its not SIRF, but in the open with WAAS turned on its pretty good. Normal mode is standard 12 satellite acquisition.

Directions are clear and I like that it voice prompts the actual street/road names, not just 'turn left in 0. 5 miles', but 'turn left in 0. 5 miles onto main street'

its also got some 6million POIs and can accept direct load of custom POIs from your computer of via the SD card reader.

you can not do advanced routing (most inexpensive units can't), but you can pre-plan and save all your destinations along your route and then 'go to' each one from the current position. pretty simple.

The one thing I do not like about any of the units is that there is no 'Simplest Route' option. Its always 'fastest' or 'shortest'. To get from my house to the freeway is one turn and go straight for 5 miles. All units I tried made me go 3 turns for fastest to save 30 seconds or 30 turns for shortest to save 0. 1 miles.

 

[mcsinfl]

I love my Garmin gpsmap76cs. Portable, marine unit. I have it mounted to my sport quad, and i've tackled some pretty nasty terrain at high speed (30-60 mph over nasty whoops-lots of vibration and shaking), and it's still working great after 3 years. I carry in my truck when not on the quad, and am about to buy some of the marine maps for my ocean going adventures.

 

[klenger]

I am interested in a GPS unit, Portable. What is the consensus as to the most accurate and reliable?

The question is regarding a portable GPS. I think many of the ones being discussed here are not portable.

 

[Pavemen]

most of the streetpilot types are portable. however,i admit he asked about gps not specifically navigation systems.

i really like my garmin etrex legend as a GPS unit. i use that in my wheeling rig and out hiking/hunting.

it has built in street maps and i can add other maps and more info. connect to mappign software on the PC and transfer routes, waypoints, etc. its not a 'navigation system' but i can get from point a to b with it.

there are newer/better unit out there, but for the price/quality, hard to beat a garmin

 

[DZLROKET]

Love my Tomtom 910. all the bells and whistles and then some and got it on Ebay for $400

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

The question is regarding a portable GPS. I think many of the ones being discussed here are not portable.

NEGATORY!



The Garmin C-340 has it's own internal battery and will operate about 8 hours on a charge - now, if by "portable", you mean something battery powered you can carry in your POCKET, that's different...