In Car Navigation

[kgrif]

Just bought an SRX to add to the stable and did not want to pony up the 3300.00 to get factory navigation. So which is the best system. I am looking for something portable but big enough to be effective. I have seen ads for Garvin Street Pilot 2620 and Magellan 700 which I have actually used in Hertz rental cars and found very user friendly. Suggestions??

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

I have the Magellan 500(CF Card) and like it. The 700 is the same as the 500 except files are on a HD. The Touch Screen makes address entry fast.

 

[Ron]

I just bought the Garmin 2610 and found a cheap 2 gig compact flash card for it (comes with 128MB). That combination gets you the entire database internal, (just like the 2620 with the HDD), more reliablity (no moving parts) and cheaper. $632 for the unit net of rebate on Amazon.com.

Great unit though you will need the optional external antenna in the Viper as the unit can not fit on the dash therefore can't get sky view without placing the mini external on the top of the rear bulkhead.

 

[BlackVenom]

I have had the Garmin StreetPilot 2610 with a 512MB CF card for several months. It is a great unit and I highly recommend it due to the remote control and the screen clarity in all lighting situations. (ie. Bright sun, night time, etc.) Plus, they were on sale at Amazon.com for $529 just the other day. $729 w/ two $100 rebates.

I also bought an external antenna when I realized the unit would not fit on the Viper's small dash. I purchased the Gilsson antenna with the 3 ft MX cable for $26 with shipping.

I put the GPS on my center console with the bean bag mount and the Gilsson on dash. If you get into some spirited driving, you will have to place the 2610 on the passenger seat or on the floor to give you room for shifting.

I looked at GPS units for a couple of months before buying my first one a few years ago and the Garmin was the unit of choice on most forums. The Streetpilot is a excellent model for car navigation and I know you will be pleased with it.

 

[Hisserman]

I have the Garmin 2620 and it is fantastic. It has all the maps in it and you don't have to download anything (unless you want to do an update a year from now, or so). I ordered a RAM windshield mount and with it the unit floats above the dash perfectly -- good visibility and no clutter on the console. The RAM mount is shown on their website:

http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/ram.htm

To me the clarity and contrast on the Garmin is better than the Magellan. I have found very few faults with their maps. Another key feature that Garmin has is the ability to plan your route with user specified intermediate points -- Magellan can't do that.

Actually, I don't think you can go wrong with either system -- just use the RAM mount, it's made for the Viper.

I bought both my unit and mount new on eBay and saved about $400 off of retail. Just be patient, there are lots of auctions for these items.

 

[JimDavis MT 97GTS 650R]

I to use the Garman portable GPS. My unit is the "Street Pilot III" with auto routing and voice. I would recommend the "Deluxe Package" which includes a 128MB data card. Also included is a USB Data card programer which makes map down loads fast and easy. The stand alone price of the 128MB data card is almost $107 dollars if you want to upgrade a unit with a smaller card. You can load a lot of maps on 128MBs. I haven't had any trouble with the existing unit antenna inside the GTS. Of course we don't have tall buildings, tunnels and trees to contend with here in Montana. Anyway...Garman is a good unit, and reasonably priced if you shop around. I believe I paid $500 through Amazon.com.

 

[LIRacer]

I have the Garmin 2620 and love it.

 

[whip383]

look at the pioneer avic 1, dvd player, navi, gtech features, etc.. awesome, for about 1400-1500

chan