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>>> Official Black Friday GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM Discussion Thread <<<

Marcster

By Marcster
in 2008

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BellaVita

BellaVita

Posted
Posted

I am trying to compare the TomTom & Garmin & Megillan and I was originally leaning more towards the Garmin brand when I came across this:

Speaks street names (e.g. "Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft.") : no

Speech recognition (navigate with voice commands): no

Lane assist (guides you to the proper lane for navigation): no

 

that info is from there original website. So now I feel like I am leaning towards a tomtom. I am so confused.

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Marcster

Marcster

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I am looking for a unit for dd18 who is directionally challenged. Conns has the tomtom130 for 149.99 or tomtom 125 for 99.99 or should I get a garmin

flosmoney

The TomTom 125 only has maps for the 50 States. The 130 has the maps of Canada too. That's the only difference:

 

http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/023062.php

 

TomTom has a terrific "unofficial" forum with tons of people making up POI lists.

http://www.tomtomforums.com (I'm "Genius of Love" over there, it's a play on words for the Tom Tom Club song of the same name).

 

To see the POI lists, poke around in here:

http://www.tomtomforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

 

Is there a difference when in the description says text to speech (ex" turn left in 500ft on sycamore st) then annouances street names?

Text to Speech and announcing street names is two different ways of saying the exact same thing.

 

Don;t all GPS systems reroute?

Yes, they all will. Some are slower at it than others.
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Periwinkle

Periwinkle

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Posted

I really want to get my direction-challenged dd16 one of these, but I am just completely confused. Can somebody just tell me the cheapest, most user friendly, street naming device so I know which line to go stand in on BF?

 

Thank you so much. I have really tried to research it, but I just do not understand any of it!

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CindyGrace

CindyGrace

Posted
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Help! I bought the Tomtom One LE from Best Buy last year at your recommendation and we love it. We lent it to friends and now they want to buy one because they love it too. Walmart has a TomTom One 3rd Edition for $128 that looks like the same thing. Everywhere else I see the TomTom 125. I don't understand what the differences are between the two? (I've seen discussions comparing the 125 to the 130 but not to the 3rd edition.)

 

Can you help?

Cindy

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Marcster

Marcster

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Help! I bought the Tomtom One LE from Best Buy last year at your recommendation and we love it. We lent it to friends and now they want to buy one because they love it too. Walmart has a TomTom One 3rd Edition for $128 that looks like the same thing. Everywhere else I see the TomTom 125. I don't understand what the differences are between the two? (I've seen discussions comparing the 125 to the 130 but not to the 3rd edition.)

 

Can you help?

Cindy

The 3rd edition lacks the ability to create "routes" like you can on the LE model. I'm not sure the status of routes on the 125 or 130. The 125 does lack the maps for Canada.

 

The 125 and 130 do have foldable mounting brackets (makes it easier to stick in a bag or purse).

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Rayny

Rayny

Posted
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I want to get my 18 year old son and my 17 year old daughter a portable GPS system for Christmas too, but dang, this is SO confusing. I think I'm going to have to pull some reviews up on the web tomorrow.

 

My in-laws bought the Garmin nüvi 350 2 years ago and I love it. To say that my sense of direction = nil would be the understatement of the year. I'm in PA and I had to drive home from BWI airport by myself after dropping my husband off for a flight. I was absolutely NOT anticipating that drive home because I KNEW I wouldn't be able to find my way home. We had borrowed the GPS system for the trip and I can't tell you how clear those directions were. I was blown away by the way I was so easily navigated lane by lane while leaving that airport (and all the airports I've ever been to, besides Dulles, requires some skill to exit in the proper lanes). The entire trip home, I didn't miss a single turn (and that's saying so much and if you knew my sense of direction).

 

I don't believe it gave street names and/or route numbers etc... but it would say, you will be existing the highway to your right in 3 miles. You will be existing the highway on your right in 2 miles. Then it will start the countdown from 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile, etc... IMO, you'd have to be a complete moron, or have a major traffic issue such as an accident or unexpected construction, to miss your exit. If that would occur, the thing instantly says, recalculating and from there, it will take over getting you back on track.

 

There were 2 issues that I noticed that I wasn't thrilled about. The first is, I believe the machine automatically takes the first option available rather than having an advanced system in place to get you to take the fastest route. Maybe it just seemed like that to me. I guess another possibility is that it takes the shortest route, rather than the quickest. I only noticed this because my husband drove down and he ignored it when he knew a faster way (then of course, it recalculates and puts you back on track). Perhaps you can program it ahead of time if you know the exact route you want to go. The 2nd issue was pretty minor really. I noticed when I got back to my little rinky dink town, a lot of one way streets were not programed in properly. That was no big deal since I do know how to drive the few blocks to reach my house. LOL Even if this would happen when you're not in a familiar area, if you know you can't go down a 1 way street and you don't take the turn stated, it will recalculate and get you where you're going.

 

Ultimately though, this unit was purchased 2 years ago (Consumer Reports rated it a best buy at the time), so now I'm wondering if some of the others might be a better bet. The one my in-laws bought cost like $400 at the time they purchased it, but even today, it's listed for $155 at Amazon (where they purchased the one they bought).

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shopping mom

shopping mom

Posted
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Marcster,

I am thinking of buying one for my DS. He is living in a new area, and has a tendency to call me to use mapquest if he is in the car lost:tongue1: I am not understanding all the technical talk on these. I want your honest opinion on the Garmin 260, and the Tomtom 125. I know there is about a $50 price difference, but is the differences between the two worth it? TIA

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wjfan1

wjfan1

Posted
Posted
I just bought the Garmin Nuvi 255W from Best Buy.It comes with two car kits. They have it on sale for $279.99 and Circuit City has it for $249.99, so they did the price match...Plus Best Buy has a $50 coupon off and Garmin so for $199.99 plus tax its a great deal!!!
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ZeroGravity108

ZeroGravity108

Posted
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I got the Tom Tom 3rd last BF. It had my home street reversed (I live at 59 and it was placing me down a dirt road where houses don't even exit let alone a legitimate road. I put in my address for my job at the time and it brought told me to go the wrong way. I shut it off and wish I hadn't bought it. From then I hadn't had any significant problems, but I had the device stolen about two months ago. Looking to buy another GPS and NOT a TomTom.

 

 

Garmin or Magellan? I'd prefer the 100$ range.

 

EDIT: also the TomTom took what seemed to me a ridiculously long time to acquire satellite reception (or whatever it is)

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tkoran

tkoran

Posted
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Any opinions on the one that Shopko has on BF for $89 after $20 rebate? It's a Nextar Q4. The reviews are pretty good for the most part, but almost everyone says it's great for a 1st time GPS owner and I also see that it retails for quite a bit less than they advertise (like $149 instead of $249)
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gordita

gordita

Posted
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any reviews about the magellan 1412?

i'm in need for a gps that speaks street names (TTS) and a widescreen would be nice.

options are very limited for BF specials.

i've heard great things about garmin and tom tom but magellan is the only one that will sell for $150 with the TTS feature.

please help!

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billcsho

billcsho

Posted
Posted

The best GPS deals were probably those came up briefly in the last couple weeks:

Nokia 500 4.3" with TTS and BT $99 from buy.com

V7 NAV740 4.3" with TTS $129.99 from Staples

Mio C320 4.3" $99 from newegg.

 

All can be hacked easily to use WinCE applications including other GPS programs. All 3 have TTS (C320 requires a simple hack to add TTS).

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