Help: Buying a GPS

[mikef]

Thanks mikef. It's a gift so don't really wanna buy a second-hand one.
That 310 looks awfully tempting but I'm wondering how it compares to the Tom Tom One?

The 300 range is also good but has been discontinued by Garmin. I currently own a 310, 200 and 710 and personally prefer the 200 over the 310. The major advantage of the 310 is the ability to link using bluetooth with your cellphone to act as a handsfree unit.

 

[mercurial]

A few things... Like text-to-speech for street names - so instead of "Turn left in 100m" you get "Turn left in 1st Avenue in 100m"

That's useful, but only during the day. At least to me it would be. No one can really look at street names at night, so I would prefer the voice to tell me to turn right. But it would probably still show where to turn, so I guess it's a useful feature.

I am also looking for a GPS and I'm pretty sure that the Nuvi 200 is the best for that price. The wide version is R1999 and the normal one abour R1700. Don't worry about the maps - that you can download from certain places

 

[simongie]

Get a Garmin Nuvi. If you're in Cape Town, go to Global Marine Systems on Koeberg rd and speak to Andrew.
Once you've got it, go to www.garmap.co.za and register your gps (its free). You'll then be able to download the latest POI's for camera's/speed traps etc.

In terms of uploading POI's, new car models, software and firmware updates etc, the Garmin range is awesome and very easy to do.

I see you're in Durbs, sorry! Look for a marine electronics stockist in Durbs. Try Pertec or Kelly Marine.
If you don't mind waiting a day or two fr it to be delivered, phone my old employer, Marine Radio Acoustic Devices in Cape Town and they can order one for you and send it via Speed Services. Speak to Susan and ask her for a good price

 

[Ou grote]

TomTom is not too bad either.
One of the things you may look for in a gps is route planning, not all the cheap ones have it.

If you're interested in tomtom, u can also use this tool to import routes etc. http://routes.tomtom.com/t/#/
Still in beta though.

Have a look here before u buy.
http://www.gpsreview.net/

 

[Park@82]

A friend of mine has a nuvi 200 and said that that it has been discontinued, and that there aren't any map updates available for it. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=37413#nuvi200

 

[AirWolf]

I've got the TomTom One Classic. Great GPS. No speed trap info, but then I don't speed anyway.

 

[simongie]

The Nuvi 200 has probably been replaced by a newer model...that why I reckon you should try get hold of the agent and ask them. www.avnic.co.za
They are the South African distributors, all stores get their GPS's through them. Then get hold of Global Marine Systems or Marine Radio Acoustic Devices and get one at a nice price.....

 

[marine1]

Tomtom DOES have speed cams

 

[killadoob]

which one the cheap one? Do they all have? How accurate it is?

 

[Ou grote]

which one the cheap one? Do they all have? How accurate it is?

The tomtom one that I have, have them
Yup, they're accurate.

 

[killadoob]

Do you have the cheapy one?

 

[Sackboy]

If you're looking at TomTom, bare in mind that the newer ones have the new windscreen attachment - the EasyPort™ and text to speech. The latest XL goes for R1999 at HiFi Corp. Don't let them sell you an old one. There is a lot of old stuff getting dumped on customers.

 

[Thugscub]

If you need help combining maps eg. T4a and garmaps etc to put on to a sd card. Just pm me.

 

[marine1]

The all have, it is easy to add them

 

[mercurial]

TomTom is not too bad either.
One of the things you may look for in a gps is route planning, not all the cheap ones have it.

If you're interested in tomtom, u can also use this tool to import routes etc. http://routes.tomtom.com/t/#/
Still in beta though.

Have a look here before u buy.
http://www.gpsreview.net/

That was the one thing I wished the Garmin had - route planning. I'm sure in future models that the Garmin models will incorporate this feature.

The tomtom one that I have, have them
Yup, they're accurate.

Are you referring to speedtraps? Does your TomTom have that? Which model do you have?

 

[charlie_82]

Don't worry about the maps - that you can download from certain places

awesome

 

[charlie_82]

If you're looking at TomTom, bare in mind that the newer ones have the new windscreen attachment - the EasyPort™ and text to speech. The latest XL goes for R1999 at HiFi Corp. Don't let them sell you an old one. There is a lot of old stuff getting dumped on customers.

After my last experience at Hi-Fi Corruption, I swore I'd never buy from them again. I will check the XL out though, thanks

 

[charlie_82]

Get a Garmin Nuvi. If you're in Cape Town, go to Global Marine Systems on Koeberg rd and speak to Andrew.
Once you've got it, go to www.garmap.co.za and register your gps (its free). You'll then be able to download the latest POI's for camera's/speed traps etc.

In terms of uploading POI's, new car models, software and firmware updates etc, the Garmin range is awesome and very easy to do.

I see you're in Durbs, sorry! Look for a marine electronics stockist in Durbs. Try Pertec or Kelly Marine.
If you don't mind waiting a day or two fr it to be delivered, phone my old employer, Marine Radio Acoustic Devices in Cape Town and they can order one for you and send it via Speed Services. Speak to Susan and ask her for a good price

That sounds great, thanks mate.
Once I've settled on the model I want, I'll be sure to get hold of them

 

[charlie_82]

The 300 range is also good but has been discontinued by Garmin. I currently own a 310, 200 and 710 and personally prefer the 200 over the 310. The major advantage of the 310 is the ability to link using bluetooth with your cellphone to act as a handsfree unit.

Ah then that would explain why, with all those features, the 310 is so cheap.
When a model is discontinued, does that mean getting newer maps is a pain in the butt?

 

[mercurial]

Charlie, you can use the multiquote option you know