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GPS
Submitted by zen on 18 March, 2008 - 22:54.
Garmin Nuvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$299.99. (*The prices are subject to change)
This is the newest Garmin Entry model, NUVI 205 (3.5" with less map), NUVI 255 (3.5") and NUVI 255W (4.3") to replace the older NUVI 200, NUVI 250 and NUVI 250W respectively.
The new feature is text to speech... It speaks the street name instead of just left or right turn. It is only a software feature. They have to wait so long to "switch it on" for the lower models.
It is also darker, with an "improved" interface. I heard that the newer models are a little sluggish but I haven't tested it myself, so I'm not sure about the rumor. There is also a new elevation map feature. So it will display maps in 3D with elevation? I am not sure if that's sure. I will update this blog when I get more information.
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Submitted by zen on 9 March, 2008 - 15:48.
Magellan Maestro 4050 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Magellan. The list price is around US$799.99.
No, this is not your perfect GPS. But with a price tag of $249, this can be the perfect GPS in the price range. Although the navigation and routing is lagging behind Garmin, Magellan does have a better POI database, and the hard to beat AAA tour book. Yes, the AAA tour book is not linked to the POI, but it can become rather handy in your next road trip.
The 4050 also has a innovative but useless voice command. It pick up most of the voices, but most of the time is not good enough. The experience is as annoying as dealing with a touch screen that works only 90% of the time. Even with a 10% failure, the feature will still be useless to most people. It may be a good selling point, but hardly a practical useful feature.
The route exclusion feature in 4050 (or 4040) is pretty lame. And the unit feels less responsive than the Garmin models. Hourglass, how the hell they dare to put hourglass in a GPS units. All the clumsiness of the Windows CE platform is inherited in this Magellan GPS unit.
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Submitted by zen on 2 March, 2008 - 02:31.
Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS, is made by Garmin, Usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks. The list price is around US$299.99. (*The prices are subject to change)
This is one of the items in my "wish list". I like it for a very peculiar feature, the one that is not even advertised. This is the only unit on the market that is good for long term geocoding for my photos. Many other units can write tracklogs but this one can write the track logs on to the mini sd card, so I have infinite space to store my tracklogs. I have used other units, the track logs were full after one or two weeks. But usually my vacation is 5 to 6 weeks, so none of them can store that much in their track logs.
Another reason I like this unit is because it have very good GPS reception. The reception for walking unit is more important than the automobile GPS which usually have unblocked views to the sky. This walking unit need to stay tuned even under heavy trees.
I have an eTrex Venture back in 2002, but it was broken in about a year. I hope this unit is more solid. The weakest point is the joystick, it's so fragile. And it's true for all electronic units using joystick. They sim...
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 400t Handheld GPS Unit with US Topographic Preloaded Maps, is made by Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$639.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $456.30.
I was concerned with the accuracy issue of this GPSr. I emailed Garmin customer service with my concerns and they assured me that it would not be a problem. I basically wanted some sort of correspondence for proof just in case their was an issue. Then the price became an issue. I tried to order the unit through an online camera shop for a price around 400.00 and found out that what they were selling me was a Japanese (no english installed) no warranty, no topo maps installed unit. How can it be a 400T without Topo maps? Anyway, I went to amazon for a higher price but a more comfortable transaction.
This product is pricey, but I believe that it is well priced for what you get. It hasn't disappointed me yet as far as the accuracy goes. Base maps are preloaded but streetmaps are not. These are separate and will run around 100.00. I went with the SD card street maps and glad I did. This leaves the memory free for geocaches. I was able to load 400 caches along a route and made an insignificant dent i...
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 400c Handheld GPS Unit with US Coastal Waters Preloaded Maps, is made by Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$639.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $457.08.
very disappointed with the brightness level and size of the screen. What genius though of REDUCING the brightness of this screen versus the previous model just to save battery juice? (that was the explanation the Garmin people gave me when I complained) I found it HARDLY READABLE under most circumstances and practically unreadable in way too many.
The interface is weird as well, the scroll wheel should work but they made access to common functions go through too many steps.
I am re-selling mine on eBay.
Just so you don't think I am some kind of Garmin hater I have their 5212 chartplotter and that is absolutely GREAT, way above the Raymarine and others, even if the jumping between menus could be simplified, ie who ever thought of putting MOB (Man OverBoard)in a secondary level of menus that would take you three menu selections to get to? When you have the need you won't have the time to go through three levels of selection!!!
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 300 Bilingual Handheld GPS Unit with North American Maps, is made by Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$533.32. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $404.10.
It amazes me the comments made about this product in the gps forums and websites. I was very reluctant to purchase based on all of the complaints and whining. Now that I've had one for a week, I don't see what all of the complaining was about. It does everything I expected it to and more. All of the things I've read that others were complaining about can be done, but you have to actually read the manual. No it's not like the older previous models - that's what makes it new. Could it be improved? Of course. So could the Jaguar XJS, but you won't hear many people complain.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 3200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Magellan. The list price is around US$199.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $128.24.
This is a great little GPS. The 3.5" screen is a perfect size and the grapics are very helpful. Well designed. The only drawback for me is that you cannot search for business' by name. It does show nearby gas stations, and many other points of interest. Well worth the money.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Magellan. The list price is around US$449.99.
I'm a veteran business traveller who relies heavily upon the Hertz Neverlost units, also from Magellan. But I recently did a personal road tour of the east coast (I live in Oregon). I rented a car from Hertz but opted against paying for Neverlost in favor of my nerw Magellan Maestro 4000. Hertz gave me the Neverlost anyway at no charge so I was able to compare the two. One would have thought they'd be the same, both being Magellan products. They are not the same and the hand held Magellan 4000 is the winner. The interface is easier to use and the graphic display has a larger vista. But most importantly (and inexplicably)the Magellan 4000 got me to more places than the Neverlost. Try this test in Westport MA for example. And in general, the directional instructions were more acurate. Only complaint: sometimes the ding-ding sounds just a little too late to know for sure the maneuver required. 20-30 feet sooner would be helpful. Excellent product in my opinion.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
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Magellan Maestro 3250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Magellan, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$449.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $178.15.
This is a great system but has a lot of idiosyncrasies. For instance the voice command comes on without asking. Or it sometimes will not turn on. Maps are from 07 and it's 08 and will cost an additional $100 to update. This GPS should be your first pass.
Sincerely,
John Q. Sucker
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator, is made by Magellan, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$599.99. (*The prices are subject to change)
I reviewed GPS models from Garmin, Tomtom and Magellan for a trip to Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver. I selected Magellan for several reasons. First it was priced lower than comparable Garmin and Tomtom models. Second I liked the user interface better, it is easier to use because as you type, it narrows down next allowable characters. Third it has 20 channels to connect to GPS satellites 8 more than than the other two. Finally the AAA information in addition to POI is a plus.
It worked real well and saved me a lot of trouble if I had to use a map to find where I was going from hotels to airports to ferry ports.
There is room for improvement though. A walk mode would be useful when you are not driving, this model does not have it. Customizing the display to show more items is desirable. Faster simulate mode, Changing the voices would have been a plus. Including MP3 and Video player can reduce having to take more boxes with you. The interface should add more ways of creating favorites, ...
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