n00b in the market for a portable GPS unit

[rippinitup7 10+ year member]

well it looks like i'm in the market for some type of GPS unit finally. as i see it it looks like a portable one would be my best bet so i can swap it over from my jeep to my truck without too much of a hassle. now i don't know crap about these things, so i'm not sure what features i should make sure one comes with. so far from doing my own research it looks like a tomtom one (~$200-250) would take care of things pretty well for me. whats the difference between this one and one say that costs $800? i see they vary quite a bit and these tons of different ones to choose from. are there any others i should be looking at for someone new to the market of these things?

some of the qualities i'm looking for in one are:

cost (under $400), updatability, accuracy, ease of use, easy to read/understand, different route choices, and so on.

can anyone school me a little bit on these so i know what to look for when i buy one?

thanks guys.

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[B_Campbell 10+ year member]

Garmin C330 http://www.gpsstockroom.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=74

 

[2kchevy06civic 5,000+ posts]

Garmin C330 http://www.gpsstockroom.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=74

an amazing unit for the price and very very user friendly. I've had one in my truck now for a month probably and I can't really complain about the unit. The thing that sold me is if you make a mistake it'll automatically re-calculate were you need to go to either get to your destination or get back to where you need to be. The guy at best buy told me the only difference between the unit I have and the higher priced units is they have Bluetooth and some can play Mp3's. Now I've never actually "looked" at the other models to determine what makes the price justifiable but surely they do more than just that. I can't imagine a 4-500 dollar price increase b/c of bluetooth and mp3 technology. In either case, for the price the c330 is an amazing GPS unit.

edit: also to add, I prefer the dash mount over the window mount. I just like having it sit in the middle of my dash. I'd try and find a dash kit on ebay or something, if you buy it at a store it's 40 bucks.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

look for a unit that has text-to-speech. It's a feature that verballyannounces street names instead of left or right. Check into the Garmin spc340. It's a great unit, very easy to use, tons of features. I'd choose any garmin over a tom tom. They ****. Again, i work at CC and we see them back more for problems than any garmin.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

I sell these all day, so LMK if you got any other ?s.

 

[rippinitup7 10+ year member]

i decided to go with the garmin c330. it was available local for the same price as i could find online and it seemed to have very good reviews everywhere i checked. it should do the job, i'll know in the morning when i pick it up. thanks for the info guys.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

nice unit. you'll love it.

 

[rippinitup7 10+ year member]

nice unit. you'll love it.

i know it didn't have the text to speech, but **** to get that was an extra $100. maybe next time around.

funny, i bought mine from CC, gotta wait till 10am to pick it up.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

i know it didn't have the text to speech, but **** to get that was an extra $100. maybe next time around.
funny, i bought mine from CC, gotta wait till 10am to pick it up.

Nice.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Just picked up a Garmin C550 (IIRC) and its amazing... tons of features and very accurate.

 

[2kchevy06civic 5,000+ posts]

look for a unit that has text-to-speech. It's a feature that verballyannounces street names instead of left or right. Check into the Garmin spc340. It's a great unit, very easy to use, tons of features. I'd choose any garmin over a tom tom. They ****. Again, i work at CC and we see them back more for problems than any garmin.

I think I should have gotten one that does that, that's one of the only real complaints I have with mine. That and the up to date traffic service. Makes suggestions for alternate routes if traffic is crazy or construction is around.

 

[alpinetypeR 10+ year member]

STP 330 is good but the screen is dark and you have to look at it to see what street to turn onto...

i bought the STP340 b/c of TTS.

i also sell them.

what did you end up paying for it? did you get a 4 year service plan?

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

I think I should have gotten one that does that, that's one of the only real complaints I have with mine. That and the up to date traffic service. Makes suggestions for alternate routes if traffic is crazy or construction is around.

They all will automatically reroute you if you veer off of the preplanned route for you. But the traffic service is $60 a year, not worth it unless you constantly are on the highways.

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

Thats a good unit.

A little more expensive is the c550 and nuvi 350, which both do text to speech. And the c550 has bluetooth which is pretty sweet imo.