| JTCB,
There are many different GPS - TomTom and Garmin seem to be the leading companies at this time.
The Garmin 250 is exactly what I intended to get - it is a basic GPS which provides excellent maps and directions because it uses the same chip set as the higher priced Garmin models - without all of the non essential add ons and without the price markup. At $ 240, delivered from Costco, the Garmin 250 is a good deal and it is intuitively simple to use. On my latest test run, the Garmin 250 took me to within 2 meters of the driveway of my intended destination and told me the address was directly across the street.
The wide screen models may look nicer - but they take up more real estate inside the car and this is not for TV viewing. I do not care too much what the street name is 500 meters to my left and right. I need the road I am travelling on and my next turn. The 250 has been criticized for not having text to speech ( which speaks the street name, rather than just saying ' turn left in 200 meters' ) but, I need only know where to turn. If I really need the street name, I can read it at the top of the screen and if I happen to miss the turn at a complex corner, the GPS will instantly re-route me to my destination.
In my opinion Garmin 250 is the lowest priced unit with the best value to features ratio - for my needs. Of course, other units may have more features but you will pay for them.
There is no monthly fee. You can update your maps every year or two - whenever you decide it is needed - or maybe in 2 or 3 years you will want to buy the latest / greatest model for a new low price.
With GPS, there are lots of choices - it just depends what you need/ want and how much you want to pay. |