Gps?

[iGas]

Please educated me on GPS nav system.

Update cost between models and companies.
Is spoken street name necessary?
5" screen or greater pros & cons, intrusive mounting, etc...

Or, should I spring for a Camry OEM nav at $2K, or an after market indash at $1.5K?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Portable Nav over in-dash if you rarely need the Nav guidance.

If you are a realtor, cab driver, or pizza delivery person an in-dash Nav would be helpful as you never forget to bring it with you.

Portbale Nav's are great as you can bring them with you while traveling so your rental car always will have Nav. You can transfer it to a friends car or your Mom's car. You can use them while on foot in a strange city to guide you places.

Size wise - that is your choice. We went with a 3.5" Garmin with Bluetooth & Spoken street names. About $150 today. Spoken street names is a very nice feature. We wanted small for portability as it will easily fit in your back pocket and did not want a major blindspot on the dash. We don't use ours everyday.

Also easier and cheaper to update than a car based Nav and of course one less thing to break in a car once its out of warranty.

 

[Bignate603]

We've got a garmin nuvi with spoken street names. It's pretty nice.

It's nice to have the portable one, we can move it between either of our cars. Just make sure to put it out of sight when you park the car, it's really common for someone to smash a window to steal them.

 

[boomerang]

What's nice about spoken street names is that you can keep your eyes on the road.

 

[c3p0]

Or, should I spring for a Camry OEM nav at $2K, or an after market indash at $1.5K?

Spoken streets is a nice feature, but not absolutely necessary.

Toyota is not the only OEM to offer a Nav system.🙄

c3p0

 

[Bignate603]

Wow, I didn't see the cost of an in dash system. That's 10x what you would pay for a decent portable unit.

 

[SearchMaster]

My wife has an older Garmin but refuses to turn the volume up to audible levels.

 

[Synomenon]

For the price of an OEM in-dash, you could get Garmin's or TomTom's top of the line unit + lifetime map updates + lifetime firmware updates + lifetime traffic / weather / connected service.

 

[bruceb]

You really should get one that speaks the street names. That way you only need to watch the screen once in a while, if you are not sure where you are. In my car, I like to put the nav unit (Magellan) up top next to the rearview mirror. That way, it is not in the line of sight for driving and I can easily glance at the map. Only problem up there is routing a power cord, if you need it (battery usually lasts over 4 hrs)

 

[Vetterin]

For the price of an OEM in-dash, you could get Garmin's or TomTom's top of the line unit + lifetime map updates + lifetime firmware updates + lifetime traffic / weather / connected service.

And still save yourself $1500. FWIW, 5" isn't necessary as the 4.3" does just fine. Take a search on FW or SD and see what deals are out there. You might be supprised at what $150 will get you.

 

[KentState]

I will be getting an in-dash one in my next car. The OEM units typically include better multimedia features like ripping music to a hard drive, iPod integration, pausing/recording radio, backup camera, XM traffic/weather, and so on. I really like my Nuvi for what it is, but it's a pain to hook up while stuck in traffic and I'm not about to pull it out each time I get in the car.

 

[marvdmartian]

Garmin Nuvi 855 is what I picked up, a couple months ago. Pretty nice unit, it's got the added feature of voice recognition, so you're navigating through the menus by voice, and not spending so much time being distracted by having to navigate the screens with your finger.

Lifetime updates recently priced at $80, if I remember right. Think I saw it here, over at the Hot Deals area. :hmm:

And this sticky mounting pad is highly recommended by me, since it works great and keeps you from having the tell-tale circular smudge on your windshield that tells all the thieves you have a gps unit in your car. Easy on, easy off, worth twice what they're asking for it.