GPS Navigator Review: August 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

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Save Garmin Nuvi 855 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator With Speech Recognition

This is a great GPS. I bought it because of the large screen size for hiking even
though there are some serious shortcomings for this use.
1) battery life is only 3.5 to 4 hours.
2) the unit cannot be completely turned off unless one removes the battery.
I was aware of these things before I bought it but Garmin does not make
a trail GPS with a large screen. The battery life is definitely a problem.
I have to carry 2 spare batteries(3 total) for a long 11 hour day hike if
I run a continuous track log. One can enhance battery life if one dims the
screen when not reading it. I have also used a NUVI 350 (4 hr battery life)
all day by turning it off(350 can be completely turned off) and turning it on
only for position checks(NUVI 350 does not have a tracklog capability).
The Nuvi 855 can be put in sleep mode to further improve battery life but
the tracklog is not active in sleep mode. Battery life is 7-10 days in sleep mode.
As an automobile GPS the 855 is superb. The lane assist display is helpful as is the speed limit
data display which is quite accurate. The trip log data is very nice showing
both moving average speed and total average speed among others.
Loading maps from a micro SD card is rather slow on a cold start. One can
find free maps at [...] that are quite accurate.
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Buying Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Best Price

Buying Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

The GPS works fantastic. It boots and acquires satellite quickly, recalculates routes quickly, and the software is easy to use. Touch screen that's glove friendly works well, along with the other controls. Having everything in the box including mount is great, and I like that the mount is fairly secure.

It did take me some time to get my phone to synch with the unit, and incoming calls while listening to MP3s will sometimes get lost when trying to answer. I use the Zumo with my Scala Rider Q2, and have found that I can not get near the same volume with phone calls through the GPS as I could directly through the Q2. Yes, I found the volume control and have it at 100%, but it's still difficult to hear phone calls.

I also thought I'd be able to plan a route and load it to the SD card, then import it...no-go on that, it seems to only find MP3s. I haven't played with that enough yet to determine if it's meant that way of if I'm missing something, but it certainly isn't intuitive if the unit is capable.

I'd buy it again.Buy Garmin Zumo 550 Lowest Price, Order Now! [Click Here!]

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Garmin Nuvi 265WT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Best Price

Garmin Nuvi 265WT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator With Integrated Traffic Receiver

I have been using the Garmin 265W for the past month. It is a very user friendly unit. I have noticed a couple of times the street names do not match the actual signs, but is very limited. The registration is a bit overwhelming at first. I needed to contact Garmin to complete registration due to some computer downloads that were being blocked in my system. It took customer service 50 minutes to answer the phone, but were very helpful when I finally got someone. Overall, the system seems to be good. Its very quick and the mapping feature works well. Bluetooth is very clear and can be used without much problem.

I would also like to comment on Amazon. I chose to purchase this GPS as a new unit and not a refurbished or used. I thought the extra money would be worth a unit with fresh a battery and a factory seal. Unfortunately when I recieved the unit it had addresses stored in the favorites file. I immediately called Garmin to find a service history on the serial number. They assured me it was not refurbished and that it was either a new return or display model. In my eyes, that's a used unit. I could have purchased one of those for $50 less than a new if I wanted to. I contacted Amazon and they took care of the situation in a timely manner. I am a bit disappointed in the overall situation but was treated fairly in the end. I will buy from Amazon again, but I will be combing every item as it arrives. Buy Buy Garmin Nuvi 265WT Lowest Price, Order Now! [Click Here!]

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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Low Price Garmin StreetPilot C340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Low Price Garmin StreetPilot C340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Pros: It says how long to drive before another turn after making a turn. For example: "Turn left at street and drive 5 miles".

Cons: Very bulky. The suction mount failed after a month. Bad accuracy. The Garmin C340 can never differentiate between the right lane of a highway and service road. Even after driving few miles after merging in highway, the Garmin says to enter highway as it thinks I'm still on the service road.
When traveling to Oklahoma, some of the maps were messed up. It said exit 21 for exit 691. I don't know how the exit numbers are completely off for some state highways.

Other Thoughts: Compared against Pharos 150 which is a lot better than this.Buy Garmin StreetPilot C340 Sale Lowest Price, Order Now! [Click Here!]

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Buy Garmin StreetPilot C340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Cheap Garmin StreetPilot C340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

I received this item as a gift during the last holiday season. I was quite disappointed as it costs 3x some of the newer models and had a map pack from 2007 on there. I expected them to update the product upon registering it but NOOOOO.

I emailed Garmin and was told to take a hike that if I wanted the latest maps then I would have to buy the latest. This was after finding out that the gift giver paid almost $300.00 for the item in December 2008. Even now when I write the review the product is still being sold for two hundred and is old and out of date.

Buyer beware as you can do much better buying the newer versions that have more up to date maps and additional features!

NEW SECTION - (8/2009)
I am adding this section after having repeated incidents with my GPS unit over the past months. It has done everything from sent me on a 25 mile detour to get on a highway that was right next to us, to bringing us to businesses that are not there. For example, on multiple occasions we have put in Subway in different parts of New England only to arrive and find out that Subway is not there and either was never there, or they moved 11 years ago. Ummmmm....

At this point I really regret purchasing Garmin GPS devices as we purchased 3 of them over the last holiday season. The map packs are a rip-off and are only updated once/year so by the time you get them installed there could be things that have come and gone. I don't expect instant updates but I do expect that if something is gone for over a year then it would not be showing up on my GPS. Why not have a monthly update and charge $5/month instead of charging people the same in one big chunk once/year and having everything be way behind?

Word to wise with these - DO NOT use the GPS to get you someplace you already know how to find. Chances are you will do a much better job than these this could ever dream of!

Word to the wise pt II - this DOES NOT distinguish at all (even though the settings are programmed for it) between roads that go right through a city and have 25mph speed limits with 85 stop lights, and 250 crosswalks versus a highway that can travel at 65mph.

What a nightmare. Right now I'm back to printing directions out of Google Maps when I want to go somewhere and find the best and the fastest route. I'm hoping Google releases a GPS device in the near future or starts selling their mapping to GPS manufacturers! Buy Garmin StreetPilot C340 Sale Lowest Price, Order Now! [Click Here!]

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GPS Navigator Review