Well, the wife got me one for Christmas. Being the big kid I still am, I sweet-talked Momma into letting me open it early. It's the Garmin Nuvi 200. Having seen how sweet the nav systems are in my friends' Acura and BMW, I didn't think this Garmin (At 1/7th the price) woudl be as nice.

This thing is awesome.

Verbal instructions, 2D and 3D map views, points of interest, favorites, 4.3" screen.. What's not to love?


If you have a Navi- tell us what you think, and what model you have.

 

It's almost stupid to get the build-in nav units on new cars. The aftermarket Nuvi's, Tom-Toms and others are a fraction of the price with all the functionality, and portable car to car. I wish the automakers would wake up and make nav a 300-500 option, not a 800-1500+ option. Its ridiculous.

I have an older Garmin 2820 (disguised as a BMW Navigator III). Its mounted on my bike, but with the car kit it makes trips off the bike time to time.

 

I don't have any use for one.

I drive to work, and then home. I can understand how they would be helpful, and why one would need one, but I just dont have any use for one at the moment.

I think they're neat little doo-hickies though.

 

Yeah, knowing how clean the built-in systems look, I didn't think I'd like "settling" for a portable. but, this thing is nice...

Makes me wonder what more could I be getting with the Garmin Nuvi's I saw at Best Buy Saturday, that were $599, $799, and $899, that I'm not getting on the Nuvi 200w. I don't know how much cooler they could be- aside from the MP3 player, but- why listen to an MP3 on the Nav system, when I have one in each car, built in...

 

Gave a Nuvi 350 to my wife. Hospice nurse. Makes finding adresses a breeze. Easy to download device and map updates, too.

 

Have them they are sweet.

My wife has the Nuvi 360 with the Blue tooth for the phone. She loves it. "Get in the right lane" is the sort of thing she needs.



I have a Magellan 760 built into my truck.



Older unit but does a nice job. I like the stock built in look so I got it.

I also have a NavMan 520. It is a portable that gets carried around. Currently my father is borrowing it.




I had the Ford OEM one put it my dash for about a month but it wouldn't support my rear DVD so it had to go. Unlike D I love the integrated ones. They cost more sure but they look much better IMO. It was a great nav system and I loved the integration.

 

Seeing how cool mine was, I bought one for my Mom, who is often worried (thinking she's going to get lost) when she comes to Dallas. So, I have to meet her in Terrell, then she follows me in. With this thing, she can come right to my doorstep- if she trusts and listens to the prompts.

But, Mom drives out here once every blue moon- I'm thinking about giving it to my wife- who will use it/need it more often.

 

Looks very nice Vader...

Did someone make that enclosure for you?

Tell me you don't leave it on your dash like that? After they stole my Valentine One, I don't leave anything of value visible in my truck anymore. I'm a little gnshy after having to replace my glass, and was still finding chips of glass in my car months later.

These jokers out here in Dallas are silly. They hit our parking lot in late 2006, and stole the factory Navigation systems out of 3 - 4 GM SUV's in the parkign lot (Escalades, Denali's). They even ripped the aftermarket DVD player out of my co-workers Denali.

Why would you steal a factory system? Unless it was stolem by an employee who knew how to re-enable it...

All I could say is, "Yeah, the SOB's got me and 4 other guys last year. The target that day was high-end radar detectors..." (V1's and Escorts). They left all the folks who had the Cobra's and Uniden's radar detectors in place.

Selective theives...

Nuvi 200w
(Actual size)

 

A company Brandmotion (www.brandmotion.com)sells them. The enclosure is custom to the dash and looks stock. It stays in the truck. I just roll the dice and hope it doesn't get stolen.

They are making a killing because you pay for the plastic shell and a $200 older GPS unit but I got them down on the price.

 

With my aftermarket head unit I bought the GPS for like $300. Garmin made the unit and kenwood rebranded it so it works through my touchscreen headunit. Nearly all headunits that have a descent size display have an optional GPS system. So think about that when you want to upgrade your tunes.

I've had a Garmin 340c that I gave to my dad for his 330c. They all act the same but with minor differences. My wife uses the 330c daily as they are working on the roads around here a lot right now. I use my system and get lost just to let it get me back home.

 

I know RP had the same one as I did in my truck. The Eclipse AVN5435. Jwool15 is getting me the Eclipse AVN5510 for my Mustang. I'll post pictures once I get it. I think Eclipse navigation units are by far the best and VERY user friendly, IMO.

 

I have the Garmin Nuvi 350 and a Magellan 2200. If you are buying, get a Garmin unit. They cost a little more but are much more user friendly and dependable than the Magellans.

 

We almost got a Magellan Saturday night, but Opted for the Garmin instead. They both mentioned "Navtek" so I thought they'd be similiar in function.

Yeah- I took some streets last night I've never driven on in teh 10 years I've lived here, just to see what's up.

What's even more impressive is, if you live in a major metropolitan area, go to Google Maps, and type in your (or your neighbor's if you're worried) street address. Then click on "Street View" and you can actually see your house, in full color, from street level.

Soone actually drove by, and filmed your house.

Not a good time to be outside naked- because if you were- they got you on the internet. Try it out- I foudn my house- glad my lawn was freshly manicured...

 

My wife's Tahoe has the factory nav system in it. It is pretty nice. I would probably have just bought one aftermarket, but to get everything we wanted on the car, the ones they had on the lot had them already installed.

 

You got a great unit. I had the Garmin C330, and traded it in for the Nuvi 200W. I even got one for my dad for Christmas. I work at West Marine and we had a one weekend special of $219 each for the 200W so I couldn't resist. I figured if I have to sell them to people all day long and use them, why couldn't I have one too.