RealTown's RealTalk

Laurie,

I use the Navigon 2100- it has all the features needed and you can find them on sale (Staples) for $149.

It has a “3-d” real looking screen for those confusing Atlanta highway exits.

Also has a speeding feature, where it tells you when you are going over the posted speed limit.
Love it!

Good luck and happy new year!

Chris

Need GPS Advice

Laurie Furem

Saturday, December 29th, 2007, 6:23 PM PST

Anyone wanna vote?  Magellan or Garmin.  Shout out for your favorite model.  Just think, you will be helping a GPS challenged RTer.

I had almost decided on either the Nuvi360 or Nuvi660 - the main difference being the size of the screen.

Anyone wanna vote?  Magellan or Garmin.  Shout out for your favorite model.  Just think, you will be helping a GPS challenged RTer.

I had almost decided on either the Nuvi360 or Nuvi660 - the main difference being the size of the screen.

Hi all,

I have the Garmin 660. I have been to Ohio and Florida not to mention a lot of local travel in 7 cities. I love mine. The wide screen is excellent. As far as audio clarity I have switched to “Karen” with the Australian accent (also the name of my wife). I like it better and slightly clearer to my ears than the other female voice. I think that the male voice is also distinct. The nuvi 660 is the widest and is portable. Many people have had the earlier models and the less expensive models and there are differences. This one is just awesome. As I drive I can look for just about anything. If I want to find “Home Depot” I tap shopping, then “Name” and enter home depot and there it is! It lists all stores within about 10 miles or so.

The estimated arrival time is pretty accurate. Even with my mental warping powers I cannot change the arrival time. As I drive down the highway in the “Restaurant” mode it will show me arrows for direction and distance of the 20 or so restaurants near me. Have you ever driven on a highway with an exit for food (no mileage, just a food exit sign), and when you exit you have to drive another mile to the restaurant! This eliminates that!

Bluetooth is nice and you can use your cell phone and have the sound come through the radio! You can play the mp3 and the map direction voice will override that, a phone call comes in and that will override the mp3 and the voice directions!

You have many voices and languages to choose, both the on screen and the voice! You can also buy other modules for overseas travel!

It does not to my knowledge have an over speeding alert, but when my wife comes with me I have a passenger side alert system and it is highly functional!

My wife thought that the GPS isn’t worth the price, my Florida trip was the first time I let her use it and she liked it. She had to go through D.C. and into Maryland two days later on her own so she borrowed it. Of course I went through withdrawals, but now she wants the same one. She said it gave her a sense of security. She always knew where she was, where gas stations are and in case of road detours how to get to her destination. Now, I have to fork out another few hundred dollars!

By the way the chipset is not the same in all models. The 200 series is different and is not as accurate as the 300 or the 600. Here is a quote from a www.gpsmagazine.com :

GPS Reception Performance

Like the rest of Garmin's nuvi product line, the nuvi 350 uses SiRF's high performance SiRF StarIII GPS receiver. This chipset is extremely sensitive and able to maintain solid signal reception even when driving in challenging situations, such as dense urban environments (behind tall buildings), bridges, and canyons. In fact, in my testing, I was able to get a strong signal even indoors. The integration of SiRF's chipset into the latest generation of in-car navigation systems has been a watershed event for GPS manufacturers.

Prior to SiRF's receiver, line-of-sight to the sky was required to receive GPS signals, resulting in less than reliable GPS performance in many situations. SiRF's chipset has ushered in a new era of GPS performance, allowing signals to be acquired quickly and maintained while driving. GPS devices are more reliable than ever today, but be sure to buy a device that has SiRF's chipset. I'm always amazed that people continue to buy GPS devices that are old and outdated and cost even more than some of the newer devices with SiRF chipsets -- even from the same manufacturer.

Also check out: http://www.rated4stars.com/html/session-start.php?source=rated4stars1101-20&dest=gpsreviews&gclid=CJG82ovv5pACFQmgGgod70SIXQ          

Good luck in selecting yours!

Sincerely,

Carlos A Cardo -REALTOR®- USMC – RET
CRS, GRI, ABR, SRES, CSP, CNHS, RCC, e-PRO
Tel: 757-971-3574 Toll Free: 866-971-3574 Fax: 757-282-6717
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Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake,
Portsmouth, Hampton, Suffolk, Newport News
mailto:carlos@CarlosCardo.com
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