I'm looking to buy a GPS system to take with me when travelling (which usually means a dog show...).

I'm wondering if anyone has one and has some recommendations for me. I'm considering the Garmin StreetPilot Navigation System (C330), LG GPS Navigation System (LN730), or a TomTom One GPS Navigation System. Any other suggestions (I'm looking at spending about $300) are appreciated.

I have a Magellan 800 and LOVE it!!!
I hated going to shows, finding the motel and then trying to find my way back from the restaurant to the motel. I'll go anywhere now. And they are safer as you don't have to look at a map or read out computer generated directions.

After just traveling to the Greater Pittsburgh show from down South and witnessing a friend's Garmin C530, I was so impressed with how great it was & how it helped us get everywhere. I went right out and bought one upon my return home. It is awesome and can be bought for about $280. The c330 is discontinued according to the Garmin site, so that's why I bought this model. I bought mine at Compu-plus online after doing a shopzilla search. I'm sure the prices change all the time, but happy shoppping!

Garmin, Garmin, Garmin!!!!!!

Sue

Yes, I agree totally. Garmin is awesome!

I have never had a navigation system, but I am interested. Is there any fee beyond buying the gadget, like a monthly payment you would have with On Star, or something like that?

no fee unless you have ones that also have phone features.

We just bought another Garmin for a second vehicle and love it. Garmin Nuvo 660.
A lot of the older models are being d/c so you can find great deals out there.
I like to compare prices on Pricescan and Ebay and others once you have identified your model.

Here is the link for the GPS on Pricescan. Please make sure you factor in shipping, tax etc. Also Circuit City and Best Buy often times meet prices if you cannot wait.

http://pricescan.com/electronics/03070400.asp

Happy Shopping!

We got a Garmin last year and we really like it. The model we have was over $500., but user friendly. We shopped quite a bit before we ended up with the Garmin. (Nuvi)

I have a Garmin (have had it for about 3 years now) and I love it!! It's great not only to get you to places, but for those times you are travelling to a specialty and want to stop to eat (what's near here), or I forgot to bring socks, where is the closest Wal-Mart. I am not sure how I survived without it. Of course how did we get along with the Internet and cell phones about 15 years ago?

Garmin here also and like pervious poster said, good to know when travelling into unknown territory where next stop for food, hotels etc are.

Okay, I'll admit I've never seen a GPS work! Don't know anyone who has one... well, except my young niece in her new car, but I haven't ridden with her yet.
what a GPS does or how it works, so could someone give a little explaination? They're hands free operation?? They sure sound handy and for not much more than $200, might be worth looking into!!

Garmin Streetpilot C340 Don't know the price, mine was a Christmans gift.
Love it, wouldn't go to a dog show anymore without it.
Ends the question of where to stay, where to find gas and most importantly where do we want to eat!

Do these systems actually tell you where restaurants and motels are? Does it give you a list of local restaurants, and then you choose one, and get directions?

I have had Garmin Street Pilot for a couple of years and wouldn't leave home with out it. To the person that wondered about restaurant/store info. The Garmin has a touch screen that has categories such as restaurants, gas stations, airports, etc. To find a restaurant you touch the meals button which brings up another screen with various cuisines, all american, mexican, etc..touch the button of the kind of food you want and a list of local restaurants pops up, select a location and hit the go button and the directions are there for you.
They are very portable so you can take them with you when you are riding with somebody else..all my friends ask me to bring "Sophie" along on a road trip and a couple of them have even borrowed her to take on long trips.
Carole

Thanks, everyone. After reading internet reviews, I was ready to snag the Tom Tom, but I'm going to have a much closer look at the Garmins today when I'm shopping. It would see that among Lab people, they're highly favoured :)

Thanks again!

http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/

This gives an explanation of GPS, but basically, it senses where you are and applies that to preloaded maps in the unit. After you tell it where you want to go, it tells you how to get there through on-screen maps and voice prompts. As Carole noted, most have points of interest (gas stations, stores, restaurants) added in with the maps now to make it even easier.

Thanks again, everyone!

I highly recommend the Magellan GPS's as I've had one for past 5 years. The Magellan RoadMate 360 North America is priced at under $300.

I love it..

I can only tell you about my Garmin. As far as restaurants it gives you choices of food, Italian, French, Mexican, Fast Food, Chinese etc..you select what you are in the mood for and it will show you all of those restaurants within a 20 miles radius.

Also works with gas. You select the gas station, Exxon, BP, Gulf etc and if there is on within 20 miles it will get you there.

This is the best toy ever!

My Garmin also lets me locate the local parks so I can take my guys for a hike if there is time. - or if I needed to get in extra obedience training :)

If have NAV in a newer vehicle that was installed in the factory will that work as well as the GPS systems that you have purchased after market? How do the two compare and which is best? TIA for your assistance.

I have a Garmin Nuvi and love it !!

I think prices are coming down on it now, however again you are buying something that will last a very long time and the benifits of buy a more expensive one is (sounds like I'm trying to sell a puppy hahaha) anyway, it gets more detailed and can do searches on whatever you want to find. At dog shows if you don't know where there is anything you punch in what ever your hungry for and it will search for those type of resturants etc.... just for one example.

I recently just purchased a newer car that has the GPS in it and I still use my Garmin... like it better and it's portable so if you fly and rent a car you can take it with you etc... if your walking down town of a big city you can't get lost... just fabulous.

Hope this helps and good luck in your search !!

TOM TOM is not nearly as good as Magellen. Magellen is good.... GARMIN IS THE BEST>

If you travel in traffic, Garmiin Nuvi 680 (or 660) has MSN TRAFFIC built in. This is a must if you live in cities where traffic is an issue.

I have been a GARMIN user since 1998 - recently upgraded to NUVI 350. Exceptionally Easy to use, very accuate and have traveled to Europe with it.

I agree--Ive used magellan, in car gps' and the Garmin---by far, the Garmin won for ease of use.

I love my Garmin!!!!

Leslie,
We just got a TomTom ONE XL, $329 and love it. We did the on-line comparisons and all the tech reviews. What sold us was that it appears to be more forgiving of spelling when you goof up and it gives you options versus just telling you no! We just finished using it on a 10 state non-dog trip with the family, quite a novelty there barely knew what to do without the fur! We heard great reviews on the Garmin as well. Good luck. Susan

I have a garmin Nuvi 350 and I love it, does everything I want (we have an older Garmin on the boat as well).. Geoffrey as we call the Garmin, is usually spot on ... but there are limitations to GPS units.... here is my most recent difficulty, navigating home from the CPE nationals in Bridgewater Nova Scotia...

Geoffrey is our GPS.... he's sometimes an idiot. At home he's been fine but up here in the Maritimes, he has had issues, he spent day 2 of the trip telling us all sorts of misinformation about the TransCanada which apparently had been moved since his maps were
drawn, we shut him up for 150 KM and then we were fine.... We got to Bridgewater, competed, and were heading home on monday, Geoffrey offered us a route to the highway that seemed quite pleasant, until
the road got a bit rough

Oh, perhaps its like our class 5 roads at home (a mix of dirt and gravel, quite useful but not paved) we continued along, then he told us to go right, there was NO right, he did his recalculating bit...
(those with GPS' know this is the maddening part, you think everything is fine, and then you hear "recalculating" while the gps figures out where you are).

Recalculating, continue 2.6 km on road (road? no name? ok) ok off we go,
the road gets narrower, goes to rocks and dirt, and we're bounding along at about 4mph. the road gets even narrower, and finally we see water... the road is gone!!!

we get the raptor van turned around, and head back out of the wilderness, finally find a class 5 road that Geoffrey and we can agree on and continue on to the 103, a real road. and continued
the rest of the trip to woodstock NB without incident.

The dogs thought it was a marvelous adventure, i kept hearing the duelling banjos from deliverance in my mind.....

Basemaps can be the bane of GPS existence, sometimes there are planned things on the basemaps, sometimes construction has moved a road around, Geoffrey tried to send me into the river in Tilton NH one trip as apparently a connector road was never built.

All in all its a great piece of technology, I don't leave for dog shows (or clinical site reviews) without Geoffrey, who knew I could have so much technology for such a low price?.. they are great but its good to take along a real map and a clue as well

Barb

I too have a Garmin Nuvi 350 and like it quite a bit. I do both breed and hunt tests and somtimes those hunt tests are hard to find. My Garmin who I call, Jill, as she is the voice directing me, has gotten me into and out of some pretty remote places!My only question is, wouldn't be nice if premiums actually gave an address to thier venue? Often times game preserves and fairgrounds are not listed with a street address. My solution is to find the nearest address, go there and look for signs. Also, once I am there I can reprogram my Garmin for the exact spot. Do any of you have any other solutions for this difficulty?

Just to sum up this topic - I debated heavily between the Garmin and the Tom Tom. I ended up going with the Tom Tom One. I managed to get a reconditioned unit (same warantee as new) for $250 - which was a steal. I also could return it within 30 days for a full refund, so I thought it was worth giving it a shot.

So far, I'm really impressed. I've yet to lose a signal for longer than 30 seconds, the directions are good and clear and I'm really enjoying it.

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - you gave me great things to think about and ask when I was buying.

I'm looking into buying a GPS and wanted to know if you no longer use the mapquest directions when you have one of these.

I still use mapquest before I go on a trip - to see how long it will take and what the route might be.

i use my Nuvi before I go on a trip, i find it is way more accurate than mapquest, usually i can sleep 30 minutes later with the Nuvi than mapquest. I don't know what the difference is in programming, but the GPS always gives a tighter arrival time.

Barb