Portable car nav systems

[EagleEyeLG]

So I have been really thinking about getting one of those portable car nav systems like a TomTom for a while now because trying to look at mapquest directions while driving stick is not the easiest of tasks, plus it's unsafe. I was curious if anyone has any knowledge in this realm and has anything to recommend in the $300-$350 price range.

[Makee]

I'm using Garmin Nuvi 660 for some 6 months, and all I can say is that it is fantastic.
I saw few different devices on work and they aren't even close to Garmin in any field, form map or device updates, satellite reception to how easy and precise it will navigate you through, to you, unknown areas. Actually, I didn't saw any car nav.device, except smaller Garmin models, that works without causing a lot of troubles to you and this is, believe me, very big problem on completely unknown roads, when you have car navigation you just rely on it and when it wants to turn you in road that you cannot turn in (closed for some works, turn is on different level, and similar), big troubles starts to happening, for example you can completely jam quite a big crossing in just few seconds.
If you want to buy anything else except Garmin's devices, just don't do it without very good recommendation from someone that really knows what he is talking about.
All those others car navigations that I saw, wasn't that bad when you look to their hardware capabilities, not at all, but they all have very bad maps or a lot of issues on work with those maps.
All Nuvi 660 functions works absolutely flawlessly for me, bluetooth connection with phone works great, you have all your phonebook, and SMS messages on Nuvi screen, but the best part of his colaboration with your mobile phone is that you will have, wherever you go, almost all phone numbers of hotels, shops, restaurants, gas stations, etc. in your vicinity, and you can just press "CALL" or "GO" on his screen, whatever you want.

Hope that I helped you with this, and also, I know that Nuvi 660 costs a little more than you want, but I think that you can find it for that price with just a little effort (I bought it for 350€ with maps of all Europe, and in the same time in some stores I found it even for 800€)

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2006/10/g...pth_review.php

[Zrix]

One thing to be aware of is that the maps in navigators of all price ranges have flaws.
Just be careful not to follow it blindly, or you might end up in a wall or besides a road thats not where the map says it is.

They are still great for navigation tho.

[Ti_GER Niqo]

I'm using a small garmin streetpilot (its the i3 I think) for over a year now, and i really like it. I dont need anything else than a pointer where to turn left or right, and it works really good for me. I just have to find the time to update the maps sometime soon Its strange driving on a new street and seeing the little arrow on the screen going cross country
My advice: look exactly whatfor you want the navi. If you have to drive unknown routes everyday, and travel every week to another country, you might want to go with the top notch. If you mostly drive the same routes, and just want the navi for a few trips on the weekend to do some sightseeing, or for the yearly holidaytrip, a smaller, cheaper navi might do the job. AND the most expensive thing about these gps are the maps (at least with garmin) so this should be a major criteria as well. Inform yourself which maps are included, and how much additional maps cost, how detailed they are, which features they have (POI, Hotels, Sightseeing etc.) and if they are FREE TO UPDATE!
Cheers!

[GrayeKnight]

i'm using a TomTom One right now, pretty simple and introductory (there are others higher up) and it has worked great for me so far

[The_motivator]

if you do get one that lets you load your own maps... load ALL of the adjoining states. I never loaded Virginia, Delaware or Maryland on mine... and sure as shit, I lost the disk, and had to go to Virginia over the summer. Didn't have the benefit of the GPS. Made navigation a bit harder (and yes, I can read maps, but some decisions don't give you the luxury of pulling over to check a map.)

[EagleEyeLG]

Anyone have links for some of these? Keep in mind I'll only be in the continental US.