I am in the market for a GPS to go in my truck. I have just started to research online, but figured i would get the opinions of real world users who drive cool F150's. I am looking for a decent sized screen, the ability to update maps maybe 1x a year, finding local gas stations, atms, food, etc and the option possibly to download extra voices. Anyone wanna start with what you have, the model, price, would you buy again? What do you like/dislike?
Thanks guys!

 

I have a Pioneer Avic-D3 indash Nav. in mine. I like it. Able to connect muliple things to it. My wife has a Garman Nuvi 250 in here Explorer. And it to is pretty good. Like both of ours. Mine, it will tell you where banks are, resturants and much, much more. AVIC was around $800 with the BTB-200 bluetooth adapter and the Nuvi was are $150. Hope this helps you.

 

I bought my wife a Garmin Nuvi last christmas and she loves it and its pretty easy to use. It will tell you the closest point of interest are and get you going with out a lot of hassle.

 

I have the nuvi 205w and like it.Sams Club had them for $105.00 which is a good deal.

 

I have a garmin nuvi 285wt. I have it dashmounted in the tray right above the headunit.

I love it, it talks telling you when your turns are and the name of the streets. It has bluetooth i can talk and hear people through the gps. Its 4.3 inch widescreen touchscreen.

It runs about 250 bucks. I got it on sale from bestbuy for about 150. hehe.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-4-3-Inc.../ref=de_a_smtd

Alot of people say the 265 is better, but the 285, is the 265 with just added features. People seem to not realize that. Anyways, if i had it to do all over I would buy it again i love it!

 

Awesome guys! Keep them coming! I am still pretty new to Knoxville, and get a bit bit turned around in my own town..

So far, Garmin looks to be ahead in the features and price range for me!

 

I don't think you can go wrong with Garmin. My family and myself have always used garmins. A lot of my friends have them also. I don't think i have any pics of my dashmount. I'm about to completely re-do it though. Im going to build a more permanent one, and hard wire the gps.

 

Garmin for me too. I've had my Nuvi 660 for 3 years or so now and it's great with its large screen and Text to Speech(you are told to "turn left on Center St" not just "turn left") though I run mine on mute. The 660 is a little outdated now though.

Here are a bunch of reviews on all kinds.

 

I had both a TomTom and a Garmin side by side. I was testing both to see which is better.

Garmin

Pros:
+User friendly display that didn't require me to press a lot of keys.
+3D Map Mode: Display shows a lot of streets and up coming intersections
+Easy Mounting
+Easy to read street name on map.
+Always marked street name in larger font on top of page
+Marks speed limit
+Pops up street names from far away.
+Doesn't require me to pass one street to name the other. Always gave me the name of at least two street ahead.
+You could download a cool cop car for it online for free.
+Easy to save locations. (Comes in handy to mark areas with high traffic to work later or mark spots with shade)

Cons
-It's selective as to which street names it will show while driving, even with the "most" setting. It will not show you every street while driving. You are required to tap the screen once and go into manual map mode to view the street name, granted it knows it. (There is no code or hack to show you all the street name)
-Seemed to show less major cross roads after the 2010 Maps update. Before it would show all the major crossroads names.


TomTom

Pros
+If the TomTom knows the street name it tells you the street name, it's not selective.
+Ability to rename or name unmarked streets.
+Free online updates.
+Allows you to personalize it with cool start up screens found online.

Cons
-Nonfriendly memu: You're required to press to many keys to do anything.
-Some models don't name the street name your traveling on at the top or bottom to help you out.
-Street names pop up to late. You could read the sign before the name pops up.
-Mostly always required me to pass one street to name the next one.
-Newer models ones are hard to mount.
-Street names were to small.
-Hard to read letters due to color combination.
-It seemed to lag. I would cross the intersection, then a fraction of a second later the TomTom did.


Personal Choice: I went with the Garmin and refrained from updating my 2009 maps. I'd rather know the next two or three streets name rather than having to pass one to name the next. I'm extremely happy with it like how user friendly it is.


I tested about 2 Garmins and 1 TomTom(the lastest one back in Feb. 2009) unit before I stayed with the 205W. The reason for this was because I did the update for the 2010 maps on my 255W and it made it show less streets on the driving map, but showed a lot more in manual map made.

 

Take it from someone whose been selling these for 3+ years, by a garmin. Way easier to use, less problems, great customer service. Tom Tom's and Magellans are garbage compared to a Garmin

 

Another vote for Garmin Love my Nuvi 660

 

I use my blackberry curve 8330 with sprint navigation because it does realtime traffic, and is handy. I have a garmin but it never gets used anymore.

 

yeah...thats great if you have cell service...

 

It works with gps also, so it will give you directions even without cell service, it just won't give real time traffic while its out of tower range, but as soon as your back in range it starts right back.

 

I have used my GPS on my Verizon Blackbery on occasion. Works well for the most part, but very small screen, compared to an actual GPS. Looks like Garmin will be my choice, just need to decide what works for me price-wise and options...

Keep them coming! Thanks for all the reviews so far.. saved me a lot of frustration in the long run..