Hello Folks
I am looking for a NAVI for my new Mini coming next week. There are so many choices and never bought one before. Both My other car already have Navi.

Here is what I am looking for
1. Under $300
2. Bluetooth & MP Player NOT needed
3. Simple clear screen
4. Accurate
5. Good graphix

Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

I just picked up a Garmin Nuvi 650. Normally 750-800, but bought it on Newegg for 174. It's great, accurate, and fast. Maps are clear, gives turn by turn and speaks the street names. No Bluetooth, but does have an expansions slot for MP3s. I feel like it was a steal!

Hope that helps!

 

I does thanks....like real people feedback....I read all these great things then talk to people say that the one they bought sucks. We are going to do something a little diffrent..something custom with it...not sure until I get the car next week or the Navi....I will look into the Nuvi650 now...thanks a lot

 

Absolutely Garmin Nuvi. Then you can download the MINI splash screen and MINI cars from NAM. I think it has to be a 300 series or better. My 350 did it, but I think the 300 series may be discontinued. (The car on my Nuvi screen is identical to my Cooper.) I have the Craven Speed bracket that mounts to the back of the tach, but there's lots of ways to mount one.

 

The Nuvi's are great. Garmin is a good company with in house tech support. You won't be calling a foreign country if you need to talk to a person for support.

You didn't mention if you needed a GPS that had a tracklog or supported routes (pre-planned). Those might be features you should consider depending on it's use.

 

Nuvi 350

 

Avoid TomTom like the plague. The interface is nice, but the mapping itself is very error prone & customer service is by far the worst I've ever experienced. I had a TomTom Plus and suffered through its problems for several years until I dumped it for a Garmin Nuvi 760. The Nuvi has been much better, although the battery life on mine has sucked (less than 2 hours while navigating). I have the MSN Direct receiver, so it gets power from that and the battery issue isn't a huge deal.

Someone said the Nuvi 600 series is normally $650-800. That is not correct -- that was the MSRP when the units first came out and were in short supply. The current top of line models are premium priced. Normal price now for 600 series is a couple hundred or so, depending on model. A little more for the 700 series. Bluetooth adds a premium, but you said you don't need that.

If you want good bank for the buck, the Nuvi 750 ($260 at Amazon) is a good buy, IMHO.

The MINI one you can get at the dealer for $650 or so is really a Nuvi 360, an old non-widescreen model that can be had very cheap (less than $200) if you can find one stocked.

 

Mine is a Nuvi also, i'm pretty sure it is the 350, and its a great unit. It has a low key frame, so it doesn't draw attention, but the screen is excellent bright colours and very accurate and easy to read. Something else you should look for is whether map updates are available and how frequently. Mine can be hooked to a computer via usb but there doesnt' seem to be any updates available.

 

Does the Nuvi 350 use the City Navigator North America NT maps? If so, the 2009 edition came out in May or so. It's about $70 or so for the upgrade. You can purchase it for download from the Garmin web site, and they now include a native Mac OS X version (if you're a Mac person).

 

I found many brand new NUVI 650's on EBAY for $210...free shipping. I suppose this mist be a good unit...they also have refurb's for $168 delivered. Does this sound right?

 

Amazon has new 650s for $200 shipped. But yes, this is a good unit and $200 is a good price. A year ago Amazon was selling them for $350. I don't buy refurb electronics.

 

I was just looking at that. How do you like it. I'm mounting to the windshield now and need something less obvious to thieves. I considered the Kuda mount but don't like the looks.

 

Thanks for the lead...like Amazon better than Ebay. I just bought the Nuvi 650 for $199.89 shipped...great deal....thanks again

 

Cool. BTW: if it doesn't arrive with the latest maps (City Nav NT 2009), be sure to register at the Garmin site for free updates.

Also, POI Factory is a good place for red light camera POIs.

 

Navigon 2100 free traffic and more 78 Bucks at buy.com now I had it and loved it

 

Like my Sony unit, it does have Bluetooth, and traffic update (never used, I am very rural area).

 

Make sure whatever you get has text-to-speech. I have a Nuvi 260. It's inexpensive, simple and gets me there. You can also download a MINI to it.

 

I'd be careful when buying them from fleabay. I've read too many stories of people getting the device only to find out it had already been registered. Registering it gets you upgrades and such. I had one user even get one from Circuit City that had been registered previously and instantly took it back.

 

Check this out:

Garmin Nuvi 650 special offer, down to $199.83 from $749.99 on Amazon

Click me

 

In case you didn't realize, Amazon consistently inflates MSRP on products so they can appear to have great discounts, when sometimes the actual discount is less than $1. They will take the MSRP of a product when it first comes out & used that forever, even when the MSRP goes down after a couple months. That $749.99 retail was really more like $399. Buyer beware.

 

So I did OK for $198 on the Nuvi 650?? As long as its a good unit I don't really care...To tell you the truth I never had any bad dealings with Ebay or Amozon. We sell some products on Ebay and the customers there are not as easy to deal with...I think its because everyone thinks there going to get ripped off.

 

I think you did well. It's a very good unit.

 

Well then...life is good.

 

can you mount the garmin on either side of the tach using the Craven Speed mount?

 

I have a Magellan Maestro 4250 and it's wonderful - very easy to use and accurate.