jimmymax
05-03-2007, 10:13 AM
Did a quick search and didn't see this having been discussed. We recently rented a car with a portable Garmin GPS (not sure of the model). It was lots of fun and very helpful. I was thinking of getting something similar.
I like the portability -- being able to move it from car to car, to a friend's car, a rental car, etc. plus geocaching might be fun to try. Standard screen size seems to be 3.5" which is fine. The spoken directions seem more valuable than trying to read the map on the screen while driving.
Looks like Garmin, Magellan and TomTom are the players. Seems like map data should be updateable via a PC connection. Can this be assumed? Do they all use the same source for map data or does it vary? Can you buy/load European data? Is battery life an issue if not in the car? Are the primary differences between units the usability of the interface? Performance re-calculating routes? What else?
Any info appreciated. Costco.com is selling the TomTom One for $300 which looks like pretty good deal and got me thinking more seriously...
I like the portability -- being able to move it from car to car, to a friend's car, a rental car, etc. plus geocaching might be fun to try. Standard screen size seems to be 3.5" which is fine. The spoken directions seem more valuable than trying to read the map on the screen while driving.
Looks like Garmin, Magellan and TomTom are the players. Seems like map data should be updateable via a PC connection. Can this be assumed? Do they all use the same source for map data or does it vary? Can you buy/load European data? Is battery life an issue if not in the car? Are the primary differences between units the usability of the interface? Performance re-calculating routes? What else?
Any info appreciated. Costco.com is selling the TomTom One for $300 which looks like pretty good deal and got me thinking more seriously...