Road GPS's

[gphcald Member Find all posts View Profile Close gphcald]

Just been told to shop for a road GPS for a Xmas present, I use street directories so am after any reccomendations that people have. Looking to spend $250 max are there any suggestions?

Thnx in advance

Gerry

[Fearless Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fearless]

Navman make a good product. 5" screen. Under your price limit.

Cheers

Frank

[nanbar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nanbar]

Garmin make a great unit unit however, they do not (or at least the did not) have the audible overspeed feature that Tom Tom and Navman do. I find the a useful feature, some find it annoying.

[oceanracer Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close oceanracer]

I've 2 garmin. That had lifetime map updates that they didn't honour . So i wouldn't buy another

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Personally I think standalone GPS is almost dead. If you've got a smartphone use Google or download the TomTom or Garmin GPS apps. One less device to carry around. Its pretty much the same software as on the standalone units, but using your device's GPS.

I've got an old bottom of the range TomTom unit - paying for yearly updates gets old very quickly and I see they're offering free lifetime maps now on some units. I do like the TomTom units. They are simple, & very easy to use. I've never had an issue with the mounts coming off either.

I'm just using Google Maps navigation on my iPhone around town now though. Apart from Siri being too slow to tell me to get off the roundabout, ie I am told to exit about 50 metres after I exited, I find it just as good around Sydney. If the phone is synced via Bluetooth the instructions come via the car stereo, something my 6 year old TomTom doesn't do. I have no idea how much data this uses though as work provides the phone and a silly amount of data so I've never worried about it.

Off road I use Memory Map and the free Aus Topo and the Hema Maps. There's no turn by turn navigation but it tells me where I am

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Personally I think standalone GPS is almost dead. If you've got a smartphone use Google or download the TomTom or Garmin GPS apps. One less device to carry around. Its pretty much the same software as on the standalone units, but using your device's GPS.

I've got an old bottom of the range TomTom unit - paying for yearly updates gets old very quickly and I see they're offering free lifetime maps now on some units. I do like the TomTom units. They are simple, & very easy to use. I've never had an issue with the mounts coming off either.

I'm just using Google Maps navigation on my iPhone around town now though. Apart from Siri being too slow to tell me to get off the roundabout, ie I am told to exit about 50 metres after I exited, I find it just as good around Sydney. If the phone is synced via Bluetooth the instructions come via the car stereo, something my 6 year old TomTom doesn't do. I have no idea how much data this uses though as work provides the phone and a silly amount of data so I've never worried about it.

Off road I use Memory Map and the free Aus Topo and the Hema Maps. There's no turn by turn navigation but it tells me where I am

x2.... I use Navigon maps by Garmin on my iPhone. Fantastic app

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

Which ever unit u buy, I certainly wouldn't be relying on any "Speed Warnings" that these devices may offer.... as u would know, it's only as good as the data that has gone in and I now from experience, that the speed limit shown on the GPS can often quite vary to what the actual speed limit is..... Use it as a guide only

[sweetpea Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sweetpea]

Garmin make a great unit unit however, they do not (or at least the did not) have the audible overspeed feature that Tom Tom and Navman do. I find the a useful feature, some find it annoying.

For many years I used a Mio that knew what the speed limit was on the road I was travelling and loudly announced when I was exceeding the speed limit by a preset amount.

Unfortunately, they did not update the maps and it became useless.

I bought a Garmin because the salesman insisted it had the same feature but all it does is give an almost imperceptible beep that gets lost with all the other beeps. It tells me quite loudly when it thinks I am near a camera regardless of how fast I am going.

How does the Tom Tom and nvman you mentioned notify you when you are speeding?

Thanks,

S.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

The TomTom is a loud beep as well I believe (a good feature & one that garmin should have done years ago)..... but as mentioned previously, it's only as accurate as the info that was fed into the unit and considering all that data mainly comes from the same source......

For many years I used a Mio that knew what the speed limit was on the road I was travelling and loudly announced when I was exceeding the speed limit by a preset amount.

Unfortunately, they did not update the maps and it became useless.

I bought a Garmin because the salesman insisted it had the same feature but all it does is give an almost imperceptible beep that gets lost with all the other beeps. It tells me quite loudly when it thinks I am near a camera regardless of how fast I am going.

How does the Tom Tom and nvman you mentioned notify you when you are speeding?

Thanks,

S.

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

I turned off the audible over speed alerts 5 mins after I installed the device. I only use the fixed camera alerts.

The data is sometimes out as they only update maps every 1/4. So it sometimes thinks the speed limit isn't actually what it is and it gets annoying. Eg the South Nowra roadworks speed limit was in place for months but Tomtom thought the limit was 100 but the posted speed limit was actually 60. Then Tom Tom updated and it was 60 but then the roadworks finished and it would alert you for doing 100 in a 60

The alerts are loud though

[stevep84 Find all posts View Profile Close stevep84]

We have 2 gamin units and are more than pleased, especially with the lifetime maps. The only issue I've had is my PC doesn't like to recognise them properly for the updates but the wife's laptop does it fine.

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