Saturday, February 27, 2010

TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Bundle Right now


I don't know how I ever traveled without a TOM TOM
Now won't get lost so often.Get more detail about TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Bundle.

Lowest Price Pioneer AVIC-X710BT 5.8-Inch In-Dash Navigation A/V Receiver with CD Player and Bluetooth


I have a factory installed nav in my SUV and a portable Garmin. When the radio in my 11 year old Lexus began to fade, I decided to splurge and install this system as a replacement. I have plenty of experience with my other two systems. This system is as good a navigation system as any I have seen. The unit paired with my Blackberry Bold easily and hands-free calling is a breeze. Import of contacts from my blackberry was also a breeze. Both me and the caller can hear well with minimal disturbance. Playing music of the SD card is a breeze. The menu options playing music are intuitive. iPOD works well too. The rear view camera function is new for my car and I love it. The nav antenna was placed on the dashboard in the driver side corner right by the windshield. It seems to pick up satellite info with no difficulty. I had the system installed a Best Buy - it took them about 5 hours - for my car, the tech felt it was not a DIY project. Voice commands work OK at best - I can get it to call home and switch AV input to SD or FM. But I cannot get it to go to a particular album.Get more detail about Pioneer AVIC-X710BT 5.8-Inch In-Dash Navigation A/V Receiver with CD Player and Bluetooth.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Low Price Clarion NZ409 7-Inch Single DIN Mulitmedia Station with Touch Panel Control, USB and Built-In Navi System


The good;
Sharp video, easy install and works very well with the additional Sirius radio. Does all that it says it will do. Easy to bypass the DVD park thing. Seems to be reliable. GPS antenna very sensitive even when located under large rear window.
The bad:
Just doesn't do it real well. Except the Sirius. GPS has neat features, but will take you on some really odd routes. Try it on some familiar routes to see how it thinks. Maps are lacking, especially for rural detail.
Really brief and vague install manual, in many many languages. Has one wire from the receiver whose function is never revealed. Never used, don't see any ill effects.
Sirius info when display is closed is very brief, no title or artist.
Should have a panel for aux a/v, usb inputs, instead of just loose wires, very tacky.
Rather deep chasis, wire package. Make sure you have plenty of room in the dash.Get more detail about Clarion NZ409 7-Inch Single DIN Mulitmedia Station with Touch Panel Control, USB and Built-In Navi System.

Save Nextar Q4 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator


Don't waste your money people

I bought one on July by August the Graphs were messing up
so I call for warranty and it was exchange . I receive another one " brand new"
It was working fine then, the speaker stop working and now the graphs are messing up again
I don;t know if am being lucky or what but I guess I woundn't pay for a cheapy brand again

I had a mio c320 before and it was the bomb.

you have been warned . Dont buy this model !Get more detail about Nextar Q4 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Discount LG LN740 Portable Navigation Device


First off, this unit takes FOREVER to connect. It can be anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes before it picks up a signal.

The maps are horribly outdated and I can't find any information on the whole internet about how to update them.

The interface is clunky. For example, if you type in "Wil" exactly, to find for example "Willow Lane", the interface jumps to the first road that begins with "Wik", not "Wil", so you have to page through all roads that begin with Wik before you even get to Wil, then you have to page through Wilbur, Wilkins, etc. before you get to Willow. If you actually type the whole name "Willow Lane", it still goes to the road directly before Willow Lane. I don't know if you can understand how frustrating this is, but after two years of using it I find that it completely ruins the user experience of the device.

It's route-finding is pretty crappy as well, forcing you to drive through miles of cross streets when simply going one more exit on the highway would have placed you at the exact location you were going to.

Its buggy and if going cross country sometimes the map will just disappear.

If it has to correct the route because of a missed turn it would rather add hours to your trip instead of just suggesting that you turn around.

I've seen tons of good reviews on this product and it blows my mind, I think people are just trying to justify their purchase or haven't owned it long enough to realize how terrible it is.

Do not buy.Get more detail about LG LN740 Portable Navigation Device.

Cheapest Magellan Maestro 3100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator


This was my third magellan. I had two Roadmate units. They both died. They both had the annoying habit of overheating in summer and, consequently, getting slower and slower and slower and....then stopping entirely. And then they just stopped working altogether. So I wasn't holding out much hope for the maestro when it showed up. Same basic design and maps - some interface updates, but clearly the same unit reworked and repackaged. But: it wasn't. The overheating problem has been pretty much solved. It's done it once in the last 18 months, on a 100 degree day - can hardly complain about that. Given that, I think it's outstanding value. The maps are great (in the midwest - I took it to the west coast and it sucked somewhat), the reaction time is very fast, the route selection is usually pretty good (and better than Garmin's laughable choices), and it has the unique feature (I think) at this price point of allowing you to build routes in a separate folder: extremely useful if you're making deliveries or need to get around a selection of places (real estate agent, anyone?). The interface is easy to understand and, IMO, a lot faster to find places than any other brand given the way they've structured it: use the "zip, downwards" option for finding places. Warning times are usually good, and the directional instructions it uses suit me very well. Downsides: The manual on-off button stopped working after 6 months. The unit has had four little "incident" so far where it simply stops working and re-sets itself, losing all your stored data. (Gotta back up to SD card!) the maps will never be updated, and Magellan's customer service and support is truly awful. If you do have a problem then you may as well just buy another unit, because Magellan won't be any help.

On balance, and bearing in mind the price, I think it's a great "disposable" GPS that you should expect to last 18-36 months.Get more detail about Magellan Maestro 3100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Cheap Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts


Even though you can buy this Navigon GPS on Amazon, don't. The company no longer operates in the U.S. and you won't get support or updates. You will be left out in the cold with nothing to do but return the unit to Amazon. Instead check out the various GPS's from Magellan (the 1440 is a great unit), Garmin or TomTom.

Navigon now only makes an app for the iPhone 3G or 3GS for North America, but I'm reluctant to even try it, since they closed their doors in the U.S. in a flash, leaving users of their GPS's supportless.Get more detail about Navigon 7200T 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigation with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, and Free Traffic Alerts.

Buying Navigon 2100 Max 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech (Factory Refurbished)


This product was exacty what I needed. We were doing a lot of travelling for college reviews, and we did not know the way to any. But with Navigon we got there, it told us caution if we were speeding, it gave us eating and shopping places, schools and it got us the best route an told us exactly when we should turn and the name of the place or street or h'wy. I could not have asked for a better guide. Thanks Navigon!Get more detail about Navigon 2100 Max 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech (Factory Refurbished).

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Buy Motorola MOTONAV TN20 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech


There is nothing wrong with the Motorola GPS. Its very light weight, small with a 3.5" x 2" screen. It has plenty of features like search catagories (fuel, hotel, shopping and so on), enter names of businesses to search, favorite places with catagories and of course enter an address.

First I'll start with the good stuff:

You can navigate your way by the shortest time or shortest route. You can even create detours. That is a nice feature. You can select what to avoid like ferries, gated communities, toll roads and highways.

The signal is comperable to many other GPS devices. It gets a signal after being outside 3-5 minutes, but can't get a signal in downtown Chicago due to the buildings.

And now the bad stuff. The voice is very robotic compared to others.

This is my 4th GPS, and quite honestly I like the others. The Motorola is just lacking. You can search for businesses, but it rarely finds the one you are looking for. Searching "Best Buy" will never show the popular business, even when standing outside of a Best Buy that has been there 15 years. However, it will find "Best Buy Chinese Restaurant" 29 miles away.

Another major issue is the fact that it sometimes when entering a direct address, it will tell you there are no address numbers at all on that road and it will point you to the halfway point of the road. Huh? Even a street with dozens of houses on it, the GPS will tell you that there are no addresses and tell you to set it to the halfway of the street.

Searching for shopping in general is a chore, because there are no catagories or filters. Everything appears as one long list.

This GPS cannot find anything. I've tried, it is a little frustrating. Its like you need to be at the location and mark it as a favorite in order to find it again. Not always, but a lot of the time.

I don't like it. There is nothing wrong with it, but I just feel there are better GPS devices out there.Get more detail about Motorola MOTONAV TN20 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech.

Purchase TomTom ONE 130-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Box Version)


I'm on my second unit. TomTom replaced the first one because it would randomly turn on all by itself while just sitting on the counter. The replacement unit does this as well. Of course this will result in a dead battery, which is a pain in the butt when you're in a hurry and just want to grab the GPS and make a short run w/o bothering with cords, etc.

It happens once a week or so. Most people probably don't notice because they keep it in the car.

There are numerous complaints on the internet about various TomTom models that do the same thing and that TomTom has not provided any solution. Too bad they don't care more about customer satisfaction.Get more detail about TomTom ONE 130-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Box Version).

Monday, February 22, 2010

Where To Buy Nav 740 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator


DON'T BUY THIS UNLESS YOU'RE TRAVELING BACK IN TIME.

Yes, the price is right, but like most things there's a reason.

V7's website has said "check back in a few weeks" for a LONG time. I assume they've gone (long) out of business.

The maps on this device are so outdated that they're worthless. Any business that's been started since 2007 isn't on the device. Any changes to the world since 2007 aren't available. I was trying to get to the Indianapolis airport earlier this year, but since it's a brand new airport in a brand new location, the Nav 740 was trying to take me to a ghost town. A lot of problems arose from this "adventure."

Even if you go to the page on V7's website to download updated maps, the only thing available for the Nav740 is "original preloaded files" (the map files were last uploaded to their site on 3/6/08, but the version is only 2007.7).

Other than that, the interface is pretty clunky, and navigation leaves much to be desired. Things like "dim screen" for night driving are buried 3 or 4 menus deep... that's simply NOT SAFE for a device meant to be used while you're driving.

I assume this device will soon become just a video player (nice added feature) for my niece or nephew, as it's capacity for helping a driver navigate is dwindling by the minute. Not to mention it wasn't that great a device even when the maps were *kind of* correct.Get more detail about Nav 740 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Shop For Garmin nuvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator


So this was the first GPS I've bought before. I bought it awhile before a big road trip I was taking to the northeast US (from Madison, WI) so I could get acclimated to it. Since, I've been on the trip and didn't get lost and argue with family members about where we were once (unlike most every other trip), so that was a big plus. I like being able to add via points when you don't agree with the route it gives you. Also, the time of arrival is pretty amazing, 3 hour trips on back roads and its within a minute or two of the right time. Only traffic or red lights seem to stop that from being right on. Was very helpful when deciding if we had time to make it to a party 3 hours away one day, we made it only 10 minutes late, just like the device told us 3 hours earlier.

A couple minor annoyances I had out east was when I wanted to go around NYC, I had a fairly specific way I wanted to take interstates to go around it, and even after adding a number of via points, it seemed to just turn the route planning in circles and really was hosed up, I ended up having to use it just as a "where am I" thing while following a good old map for what roads I wanted to take. I think when its in a major city, there's just too many roads for its programming to decide from that if you want to change it any, its a major pain. Also, for some reason going around Buffalo, it lost sattellite signals for a couple hours, and I ended up having to take the battery out and putting it back in again to reset it and get the signal back. Not sure what that was about, it only happened that one time.

But other than that, its been great. Very helpful at night when you're in a city you don't know and are trying to find a place to eat or your hotel 15 miles away in the suburbs and don't know where you're going. Normal atlases and state maps aren't going to have all those little city maps, and this thing not only has them all but tells you exactly when to turn and how long to your next turn.Get more detail about Garmin nuvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

Magellan RoadMate 1430 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic


SO I have been on the hunt for the best traffic. and this isn't it. I had the DASH express which was internet connected, and it was so good that it is hard to compare. (I didnt like how big it was and had bad graphics, but the traffic was spot on!)

Anyhow, this can tell you when there is traffic... when you are in it!

Great. I want to go from A to B and it gives me the route assuming no traffic, and as you turn on the ramp and are in bumper to bumper it says " you are in traffic". Geez Thanks buddy. Oh, do I want to reroute, where? To more traffic? How does that route compare to this route??? unknown.

SO basically real traffic is just a feature bullet point, but isnt real yet.

Gonna be returning this and keeping my tom tom 140.

Also I dont get widescreen. Sounds good in the ads, I guess that is why people buy it. But it takes up more room and obstructs your view and is completely unnecessary.

Also the # of button presses to get anything done, is about 2x vs TomTom. And the mapping was much worse. With the TT I know about 200 yards away from a traffic circle, this one about 75.Get more detail about Magellan RoadMate 1430 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic.