So what do you guys use? I'm in the market for something entry level, $300-$400, leaning towards the TomTom one XL or maybe somethin by Garmin. I dont need it to do any off the wall shit like play my MP3s just some basic voice guided nav w/ a decent size screen.

-kr

7/28/2007 12:58:17 AM

Can't go wrong w/ the TomTom ONE XL or Garmin nuvi 650.

I got the 650, love it. It was pricey (got it on eBay for $400, though) but it's really slim and worked for my custom non-dash/window mount application.

7/28/2007 1:21:51 AM

Entry level is no longer $300-$400. I'd call that midrange at this point.

Just search for threads in Tech Talk. There are several that have already discussed this to death.

7/28/2007 10:50:53 PM

1) buy a Mio for <=$200
2) give me the leftover $
3) profit

7/29/2007 12:04:29 AM

if i had 400 to spend on a GPS, i'd save a bit more and get a car pc w/gps software

[Edited on July 29, 2007 at 4:58 AM. Reason : .]

7/29/2007 4:57:53 AM

i'm ghetto so i have a iGPS-500 Receiver with my smartphone.

works fantastic.

cost of gps $66.

7/29/2007 11:22:50 AM

i have a mio c310x (~$200) and love it

7/29/2007 3:11:05 PM

I use the gps on my verizon phone I find that it works real well. Maps stay up to date and I always have it with me. I used to have a tom tom but I find that it would get me lot because of not being up to date.
bcvagha

7/29/2007 4:16:02 PM

never heard of these mio characters. may seriously consider their brand.

7/29/2007 11:22:55 PM

i borrowed one from a co worker. it was running tom tom software somehow. it seemed adequate. i'm not even sure i feel GPS is worth 200$.

7/30/2007 8:13:27 AM

ive read that the volume is less than stellar. any experiences with this?

7/30/2007 9:28:15 AM

On the Mio? I can't complain. I have a Mio and a Archos 504 (Personal Media Player, not GPS unit) and the sound on the Mio is actually louder than the Archos.

Which is actually disappointing to say about the Archos, but that's a different thread.

8/1/2007 5:29:42 PM

you can't complain about the mios at all. they are gps THAT WORKS for under $200 so you either spend more or don't complain. the garmin units are still my favs. i compare them to the ipods great products , fool proof interface, great features and support ... but u pay for it. if u can get the 650 for $400 i'd go for that .

8/1/2007 5:38:20 PM

my C220 really is the shit, only $140 on ebay.

10/18/2007 1:08:35 PM

nuvi350

10/18/2007 1:19:45 PM

http://www.gpsreview.net

10/18/2007 3:37:29 PM

Quote :

"nuvi350"

...is in no way worth three times the price of the Mio.

10/20/2007 3:09:16 PM

I got the new Mio 520 for under $350 when it first came out and its really nice. In fact my dad bought one after using mine. He has both a laptop with gps software and the Mio. The laptop is alot better for planning a route if you know the roads you want to travel on but the Mio is much easier to use quickly and in the car.
I got the Mio because of the open software, and at almost half the price of comparable models at the time the maps are accurate. Just wish it wasnt so picky when looking up addresses.

10/20/2007 3:22:52 PM

^^it doesn't cost three times the price of a mio, but good try

10/20/2007 3:44:39 PM

the garmin nuvi is the best so far.

magellan (sp?) is close second.

tom tom is not as good as either, but is cheaper and has it's good points (plus the newest edition has text to speech, something it should have come with earlier).

i borrowed my friend's nuvi and it really is great. it's helped me find my way around raleigh much better without getting me lost.

[Edited on October 20, 2007 at 4:02 PM. Reason : df]

10/20/2007 3:58:55 PM

I've owned just about everyone there is under $500 and the nuvi has been by far the easiest to use and provides the easiest to read navigation.. I've been using mine constantly for the last year or so without any problems

10/20/2007 4:17:19 PM

Quote :

"it doesn't cost three times the price of a mio, but good try"

yeah, sorry. Doing a google product search for the lowest price reveals that the Nuvi is only 2.86 times as expensive as the mio.

My bad.

Either way, the only people that would recommend the Nuvi over a mio are people that either haven't used a mio, or enjoy wasting money.

10/21/2007 11:31:21 AM

aight, this is a total newbie question, but do I need a PC to use a GPS in my car or are these things self-contained and/or mac compatible?

10/21/2007 11:33:56 AM

Self contained. Don't need a computer so mac compatibility isn't an issue. I bought mine from the store and then used it to get home.

10/21/2007 11:37:30 AM

Quote :

"yeah, sorry. Doing a google product search for the lowest price reveals that the Nuvi is only 2.86 times as expensive as the mio. My bad. Either way, the only people that would recommend the Nuvi over a mio are people that either haven't used a mio, or enjoy wasting money."

which model Mio are you talking about? Walmart has the nuvi for like $360 and I'm sure its a hell of a lot less than that on eBay.. Mio has models above and below that price. Sorry I'm not familiar with what you own. Have you used a Nuvi?

edit: ^^the whole point is they are self contained units. Another option is you can buy just a gps receiver and connect it to a laptop if you want to..but all of these gps units are self contained units that need no computer what so ever to work.

[Edited on October 21, 2007 at 12:28 PM. Reason : asdf]

10/21/2007 12:27:15 PM

I was compairing the Nuvi to the Mio 220. Low end vs. low end. Even the midrange battle still works out the same way. Very simular, almost identical feature set. Roughly the same size unit and screen, the only difference is software. I know everyone that has a Garmin can't stop talking about how great the UI is, (and no, I haven't actually tried one out in person) I'm sure the garmin UI is great, but the Mio UI isn't bad. My mom is the least technical person I've ever met and I got her and my dad a Mio for Christmas last year, and she was able to figure it out in absolutely no time at all. It's extremely intuitive and easy to use (not to mention completely customizable down to the color scheme and "graphics")

To me it's just an issue of you want to spend the money and get the popular name brand unit, or save (a lot) of money and go with the lesser known little guy. A year ago that might have been a harder decision since Mio was brand new to the game and a complete unknown, but the fact that they're still around and still putting out new products says something. Also no one has ever explained to me why the Garmins are so expensive. They have almost the exact same features and are literally 2.5 - 4 times as expensive. The only reasoning I have been given are "it's a garmin" I'm sure they're great and all, but unless you're made of money, I don't see why you wouldn't at least consider the mio.

10/21/2007 1:03:26 PM

I probably would have at least played with one/considered it if I had had good experiences with the company before. I owned a mitac mio smart phone (I assume this is the same company) a few years back and it was complete and utter shit. Not saying their GPS devices are, though. I would have probably still considered one if walmart carried them..I had gotten a bunch of gift cards for Christmas to buy one so I went through a few/took them back until I got what I liked the most, which was the nuvi. The interface really is great compared to all the other models I've used. I wish the screen was a little bigger but hell I can see more on this smaller screen than I could on another models much bigger screen.

Anyways, either way.. in general the [gps] devices are great and have saved me enough time to easily pay for themselves. The only downside is I pretty much can't get anywhere without it now

10/21/2007 1:14:00 PM

^^ Most of the other companies like Garmin charge you more for their maps, and from what I understand Mio uses tel-atlas?? which is much cheaper however not as accurate. But i use mine for work at Enterprise picking up all the rednecks in Anger because its more accurate than Mapquest. And i will agree that the mio technical help is crap but, I knew that going in and it hasnt bothered me.

But I love mine mostly because you have access to the files on the device, meaning you can do anything you want to it even put new maps on it for free if you can find them.

10/21/2007 8:18:16 PM

Last time I checked, Garmin was releasing their 700 series late this month/early next month. Maybe, there will be some deals on an earlier model. I use the nuvi 660, although I've been disappointed by its internal fm transmitter for playing mp3s.

10/21/2007 10:48:56 PM

i was looking into the C550.

700 series? i bet its pricey

hmmm

[Edited on October 29, 2007 at 8:14 AM. Reason : trying to have a budget of around $300. the C550 is around that range. i think close to $330 or so.]

10/29/2007 8:13:45 AM