RealGM

For better or worse, this forum seems to be the go-to place for tech advice, so here's one I haven't seen covered in a while. I'm about to buy a GPS unit, and after reading a bunch of reviews and comparisons, I've decided to steer towards the lower end. For around $250, I can get a Garmin Nuvi with either a widescreen 4.3" display or text to speech conversion so that it reads me the names of streets. To get both widescreen and text would add on an extra $100, and I don't feel like spending it.

So my question for those of you already using GPS is: what would be more useful? A display that is easier to see and read, or a unit that gives you more info out loud so that you don't look at it as much.

I'm debating between the Nuvi 250W ($230 at Amazon), and the 350 ($260).

Also, this site seems very good:
http://www.gpsmagazine.com/buyers_guide.php

I've been thinking of getting one as well. I don't think I would need it often so I don't want to spend a lot.

I've had my Garmin Nuvi 350 for a year now I think, and I honestly don't know how I lived without it before.

I did 0 research when I bought it, and went strictly off what my dad bought. He has a lexis that has a GPS in it, but bought this one because it was so easy to use.

My advice would be stick with Garmin, the 350 has been awesome for me. The GF has a Tom Tom, they just seem like a cheap version of the Garmin in my opinion.

I am going to stick with a Garmin, and the 350 is one of my finalists. If you could trade your text to speech feature for a wide screen, would you? Or is it nice to hear the name of the street?

Hell no.

The reason you want the text and speech is if you don't have an address plugged in, it shows the street that is upcoming anyways. Like yesterday we were up north, driving in the dark, didn't know the address but knew the street, so we were able to get there.

WIthout the text/speech you may as well use mapquest, that's going to give a bigger printout then that screen!

I'm interested in this as well. I plan on getting one for my wife for her birthday. Anyone know how much BB charges to intall them, or are they simple enough to do myself?

Most you install yourself. They're usually just a suction cup that plugs into a lighter outlet to power.

The other reason I like the 350 is you can take it off the mount and carry with you if you're walking somewhere, so if you're flying to Arizona and picking up a rent-a-car or just want to know where the nearest restaraunts are, it's real easy.

Go with Garmin. Trust Me on this!

I've had my Garmin since X-mas and did a lot of reseach on them before I bought mine. Garmin c340 or 350, if you can find it in stores is the best value for your dollar! All the other models are pointless that have MP3 players and Bluetooth in them. What the hell do you need a MP3 player for, you have a radio in your car and Bluetooth, please use you phone!

They are wothless features that you do not need and will run the cost up an extra 100 to 150 dollars.

Garmin the the easiest and has the most user friendly features of all the brands. Tom-Tom is good becasue you can update your map but not many people take the time to do that use less your a trucker!

steger 3434 Nuvi is very good but its the same thing as the streetpilot which is alot better. Your going to want text to speech because there will be time where you miss an exit or a road and it updates in like 10 seconds and tells you were to go right away.

Your never get lost with those. I have used mine and love it. But dont spend more than 300 on one cause your paying too much for stupid features. The c340 goes for 299 and the 350nuvi models go for 300-350.

Go with the StreetPilot c340! I have that one and it is great! Worth the money, I've used a crap load already and it has been perfect!

steger_3434 wrote:I'm interested in this as well. I plan on getting one for my wife for her birthday. Anyone know how much BB charges to intall them, or are they simple enough to do myself?

It's pretty simple, you turn it on and it reads the satilites. Your can mount it on the window with a suction cup or they give you a dash mount. I have never had mine fall off my window and I've drove for over ten hours to places. Dont waste money on the install, you can do it yourself. Its a waste a money to have them do it...

I see the streetpilot c340 is on sale at BB for $254. Is that a good deal? I guess I don't know a damn thing about GPS systems. Basically this is just for my wife who never knows where the hell she's going. I'd want one that talks to you, is easy to use and has all the key points of interests (hotels, fast food, stores, etc) on it. What's probably the best bang for my buck. I don't want to go real cheap, but I don't want to break the bank either as this will mostly be used by her just to get around towns around here.

steger_3434 wrote:I see the streetpilot c340 is on sale at BB for $254. Is that a good deal? I guess I don't know a damn thing about GPS systems. Basically this is just for my wife who never knows where the hell she's going. I'd want one that talks to you, is easy to use and has all the key points of interests (hotels, fast food, stores, etc) on it. What's probably the best bang for my buck. I don't want to go real cheap, but I don't want to break the bank either as this will mostly be used by her just to get around towns around here.

Yeah the c340 is one of the most popular models because it is the easiest to use. It has everything you will ever need. She will never get lost with that thing. It has over 7,000,000 points of intrests. You have all the features on there like, hotels, gas, atms, intersections, landmarks, parks, movies theathers, schools, shopping...ect theres a boat load. It saves over 500 places you been so you dont have to retype addresses once you put the im. All you do is hit "where to" recent selections and you can highlight old addresses. So if she goes some where and on the way home all she has to do is higlight your address and off she goes!

It has a ton of stuff, like time of arrival, distance, trip info... And the text to speech is clear to understand........You can actually sent it to talk more or less which means it says street names or less witch tells you just to turn L or R, stay R or L on freeways etc...

It is a great deal for 250 if you can get it. It usually goes for 300, but they put it on sale here and there becasue it is popular. You will not be dissapointed.

zmanishere11 wrote:The reason you want the text and speech is if you don't have an address plugged in, it shows the street that is upcoming anyways. Like yesterday we were up north, driving in the dark, didn't know the address but knew the street, so we were able to get there.

WIthout the text/speech you may as well use mapquest, that's going to give a bigger printout then that screen!

I don't think you understand what text to speech is. It's only the GPS's ability to say the street name out loud.

All of the models can show you the upcoming street, and navigate to a street or intersection without a specific address. The only difference is that a normal unit will say "turn right in 50 meters," while a text to speech unit will say "turn right on XXX street."

Magic32 wrote:Garmin c340 or 350, if you can find it in stores is the best value for your dollar! All the other models are pointless that have MP3 players and Bluetooth in them. What the hell do you need a MP3 player for, you have a radio in your car and Bluetooth, please use you phone!

The 350 has an mp3 player.

Magic32 wrote:Your going to want text to speech because there will be time where you miss an exit or a road and it updates in like 10 seconds and tells you were to go right away.

This is also not a feature of text to speech. If you miss your turn, all of the models will re-route you and tell you what to do. The normal ones will tell you "turn right in 50 meters" and the text to speech models will tell you "turn right on XXX street." The only difference is that you hear the street name out loud.

I'm not trying to minimize the value of that, and I am considering forgoing a widescreen display to get that feature. I'm just clarifying what it is.

All "text to speech" is if the unit talks or not. If it doesnt have text to speech all it will do is show you were to go and you have to follow the map on screen. Text to speech is the talking feature and thats it. It doesnt matter if it says turn L or L on a street, If it doesnt have text to speech it wouldnt do any of that.

Magic, you should seek clarification from the Garmin website or some other "official" source. Text to speech is the ability to convert text to speech, and nothing more. All of the units say "turn right in 50 meters" and things like that out loud.

If you don't believe me, go to Best Buy or some place and check out one of the models that doesn't have text to speech. They're the same in every way, except that they don't pronounce the street names. They absolutely talk out loud.

I had a cheap TomTom before this Garmin and it never had text to speech, so thats what I think. I may be wrong. Dont know? I assumed that is what it meant because me old one didnt..........

Text to speech means it will say turn left on Wisconsin Ave vs. Turn left in 50 feet.

I have the Garmin unit with the MP3 player. Absolutely love it.

Chapter, which one do you have? The 350?

I'm paralyzed here, deciding whether I'd rather have a large screen, or whether I'd rather hear "Wisconsin Ave." I feel like the large screen probably has bigger buttons to input data onto, as well as a less cramped map. But hearing the street name might be nice if there are two streets close to each other, and you aren't sure which one it meant.

Ok, Now I see that Circuit City has the Garmin C340 on sale for $199. My wife's BDay isn't untill July, but this might be a deal worth picking up right away. Is it worth it guys?

EDIT:

Here's the unit that seems like a great deal.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Garmin-S ... tDetail.do

adamcz wrote:Chapter, which one do you have? The 350?

I'm paralyzed here, deciding whether I'd rather have a large screen, or whether I'd rather hear "Wisconsin Ave." I feel like the large screen probably has bigger buttons to input data onto, as well as a less cramped map. But hearing the street name might be nice if there are two streets close to each other, and you aren't sure which one it meant.

The 4.3 screen really isnt that big of a difference. The text to speech is nice, go with that. The bigger screen is not what makes the diffrence, keep your eyes on the road.

steger_3434 wrote:Ok, Now I see that Circuit City has the Garmin C340 on sale for $199. My wife's BDay isn't untill July, but this might be a deal worth picking up right away. Is it worth it guys?

EDIT:

Here's the unit that seems like a great deal.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Garmin-S ... tDetail.do

Get it before its gone! Like I said you will be happy.