I'm planning to get an aftermarket GPS navigation system, but do not want one with the DVD player, etc. After some research, I've narrowed my choices down to the Garmin 2620 and the Magellan Roadmate 700. Portability is important because I plan to use the nav in both cars. Any recommendations would be appreciated :smile:.

 

The Garmin units are good. The only problem with the 2620 is the lack of battery portability. If you do not have a car to plug it into there is no way to run the unit. A good choice in place of that might be the Garmin 296 or the garmin 295. Bot have color maping and moving map display. The 296 cn do route plotting. Both of these units are capable of doing Aviation navigation but can do ground or water work as well. the only real difference is the lack of a voice prompter on the 295/296 units. The 296 has a good battery system (for stand alone use). The 295 has a battery capibility but the powere drain uses them up very quickly.

All three of these units can use the same maps and I think they all use the same propritary memory chips. By the way, get the larges memory chips you can afford. The bigger the chip the more maps it can store. This is very important for long trips unless you plan on taking a laptop along to load maps as you go.

Good lunck
Phil

 

Phil,

As of now, I'll only be using the nav system in my cars, so a battery feature really isn't important. You seem to prefer Garmin, but does that also apply to car-use-only situations? Thanks...

 

Yes. I have used a number of different makes and models of GPS units including laptop connected mapping systems before this featurs was available on hand helds. I have had the best luck with Garmin. Magellan also make some nice equipment, but the Garmin units make for a better package. There is no question that the Garmins cost a little more than some other units, but they stand behind the product, and the systems are software upgradable. Most other units can not be upgraded. Once you but the unit, register it (very important) with Garmin, and the system upgrades are free. Map upgrades will cost, but that is the case with all of them.

If I had one complaint with the Garmins I would say that their use of propritary maping software is annoying. Many of the other systems have interchangable map software. You must use Garmin maps with the Grmin system. Also the Garmin memory chips are unique to the Garmin units. some of the other companies use standard SD or other chips that will interchange with other devices. Not so with the Garmin chips. But these are small distractions in the big picture.

The Garmins are good units. The current systems use 12 sats for tracking, and are AWAS ready. The AWAS gives you 15 foot accuracy right out of the box under most reasonable conditions. Also the Garmin comes with a variety of mounting systems (included), and a variety of cables. This was not always the case but it is now. You should not have to but anything except your maps packages beyond the intial unit purchase. In fact the 2620 comes with some maps. The 295 does not. The 296 comes with the same maps that are included in the 2620.

In any case, get the highest level of system you can afford. The touch screen feature is almost a necessity for any unit you will operate while driving or flying. You do NOT want to be pushing tiny buttons and driving at the same time.

I bought the 2620 for my wife and she loves it. She is most assuradle NOT a gaget person. This thing took her through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah with ease.

Phil

 

Take a look at the new Garmin Quest

 

We have the Magellians in a couple of our cars but I am REALLY impressed with the TomTom GPS software using my Palm Tungsten T3 and their BlueTooth GPS unit. It is VERY accurate and has the entire US covered. The window mount that comes with the TomTom for the Palm is rock solid as compared to the Megellan which is another benefit. Oh, did I mention that it was only about 2/3 the price of the Magellan or Garmin even including the Palm?

Rich

 

Go for Garmin for sure, they have $100 rebate this month only!

 

I like the ones from the factory!

 

I bought and used the Garmin 2620 last summer from L.A to Boston,New York, I had problem in L.A due to the weather (foggy) New York too many buildings, tunnel etc, etc. otherwise works okay. The trick is to plan ahead and save in to the wish list.
http://www.gpscity.com/cgi-bin/discuss/ultimatebb.cgi

I bought mine at GPS City.com for $300 less than the other well known stores.
good luck

 

I recently bought an HP IPAQ 1945 PDA with an HP branded Bluetooth GPS bundled together as a package. It is currently available direct from HP's outlet store for $425. It works great and the price is right. Easy to move from car to car too and the PDA can be used for other things as well.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/h...ABA&catLevel=3

 

I have the factory nav. I prefer the software available on some of the handheld units but my overriding concern is theft. Having to remove the unit when I leave the car is a pain. Factory is near impossible to steal. I have to remove my iPod from its holder and that annoys me. It should be legal to set a trap for theives. 100,000 volts into the iPod holder when the car is locked and alarm set. Let them try and steal it! That would be justice, not letting them out after a few days like the courts do.

Jerry

 

I am using a tungsten t3 with mapopolis software. I use a bluetooth GPS reciever, so I can use it in the car, as well as on bike or trail with Outdoor nav software. Very versatile, and like others have pointed out, if you use a PDA, you already have a big chunk of the hardware needed.

 

Garmin products have been consistently good. The newest, the Quest, http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/ is tiny and really cool looking. I am forcing myself not to buy it at BestBuy, where it's over $100 more expensive than Yahoo Shopping or Ebay. I looked at it though, and it's tiny, fast, tons of ram (115 mb) and does auto routing and turn by turn nav with voice prompting. You can even get turn by turn when walking a city, to find a restaurant, famous site, etc. (Could have used that in London this fall!)

I have gone through a number of Garmin products, selling them to friends as the newer, faster ones come out. I am always impressed by the quality, waterproofness and ease of use. Maps are not cheap, but *cough* available when you know where to look *cough*! Garmin tech support has been very helpful when I really needed them, and the nautical charts rock!

Hope this helps.
Mike

 

A features on some of the GPS’s is the MPH – they must be accurate, but how fast do they update?
Can a person use it for determining 0-60 times?
For that matter can it be used for ¼ mile times?
Not knowing anything about GPS I thought the Quest looked good as well.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. After much thought, and some more reading, I wound up getting the Garmin 2620. It seems pretty darn good, and I hope it will help make motoring in unfamiliar areas a bit easier :smile: . BTW, the mph feature differed from the digital speedo in my P-car by about 1.5 mph lower over a wide range of speed. Not bad...

Thanks again,

 

I'm obviously new to Minis, but most auto's in the US have speedos that read 1-2MPH higher than true.

My Mazda, Focus and Jeep all did.

 

Has anyone had any experience with the TomTom Go GPS? It looks like a good after market system for the mini, (size, mounting, ect.), and the price is less than most other systems.

 

From a speed perspective, GPS units are quite accurate, probably within a tenth of a mile per hour. Most new ones update fifteen times a second, older ones used more battery power and only updated once a second. None are really practical for timing runs compared to something like a G-tech device or and OBDII tool. I have the Auterra software and OBDII cable for my Treo and it does 1/4 mile times and 0-60 times, GPS isn't really helpful in this case.

 

thanx for the info
sort of thought so
ron

 

I have the new Quest from Garmin. It talks to you. Has anyone thought or tried to feed the audio into the radio the same place as the OEM NAV unit would?? If so can you provide information???

 

The TomTom Go in car nav system is probably the system I'll get (the car nav not the PDA add on). It received good reviews on CNET and has a bevy of nice features I haven't seen on any of the Garmin or Magellin systems. It's also very competatively priced and the styling is a great match for the car.

 

I like the Quest too and have one. It is very effective for both route design for MINI trips and basic GPS navigation when you are lost and trying to find something (or someone... unless of course you are trying to find a date, which it can't help you with!) I also have a Vcommand, www.vcommand.com which is great for GPS nav because you just talk to it.

Garmin is coming out with a marine mount and motorcycle mount, one of which will have bare wires for power and speaker sound. Not sure which is which yet.

 

I have both the Garmin Street Pilot III and the iQue 3600. Garmin knows what they are doing! I see a lot of new brands from "I never heard of them" companies. Garmin has very good support. I travel for my job and carrry the units through airports. I got lost once when the car I rented didn't have a functioning 12 volt outlet! Can't live without that! Both work in my 2002 MCS!
The new Garmin Quest looks pretty nice. The 2620 however has everything in it!

 

Greetings.
The little Ique is neat. I use a Treo 600, but if I didn't, I would probably have an Ique. Krussel, www.krusell.se has a really nice case for it, #75179. It turns the Ique into an effective bike computer, as you can mount it on handlebars with the Krusell bike mount!