What brand GPS system to buy (Atlanta: houses, price, warehouses)

[CrownPrincess]

Decisions decisions decisions...I know nothing about GPS systems and was thinking of purchasing one. I heard Garmin was pretty good. I want one that is not so expensive and user friendly. What else should I consider when purchasing one? Any suggestions? Thanx.

[ATLLIVE]

Originally Posted by CrownPrincess

Decisions decisions decisions...I know nothing about GPS systems and was thinking of purchasing one. I heard Garmin was pretty good. I want one that is not so expensive and user friendly. What else should I consider when purchasing one? Any suggestions? Thanx.

I had a Garmin and it by far better than the one in my car. I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi!

[neil0311]

+1 on the Garmin Nuvi. I bought one 2 years ago to take on a trip and my wife has used it in her car ever since then.

[atlantagreg30127]

Generally Garmin is considered the best and most reliable. They have cranked out a dud or two, but for the most part are consistently better than the others.

Magellan are ok, but have the very irritating habit of screaming out, "Please turn around" if you try to deviate from the route it sets for you - as opposed to Garmin and Mio (below) that "recalculate a new route" for you based on the direction you decide to go.

Mio is harder to find since Circuit City went out, but they're kinda neat. Not as flashy to use as Garmin, but generally accurate and cheaper in price.

TomToms usually get the worst rating when they do comparisons of them all against each other. Some people have them and love them, but they're notorious for being a few seconds behind the others when you're driving at highways speeds (can make a difference when you're nearing an exit).

Make sure and get one that says it speaks the street names, too - otherwise, it'll just say, "turn right in 300 yards", as opposed to "turn right on Elm Street", etc. You can also get them with Bluetooth built in to them, so if your cell phone has Bluetooth, it can go through the GPS and work as a speaker phone while you're driving - this hasn't caught on much, but with possible Federal laws down the road that might make holding a cell up to your ear illegal if you're driving, it might wind up being a very handy feature later.

Note: Costco, Sam's Club, and BJs warehouses typically have better deals on these things than standard retail stores, and with Costco, you have at least a 90 day return ability if it goes bad.

[Buckhead Betty]

I have a Garmin nuvi and am completely unimpressed with the technology and the support.

[kattykay]

We bought the el-cheapo TomTom when we moved to Atlanta for about $100. It is not fancy and I wish the display was better, but it knows Atlanta streets well enough to get us to the right address. It has kept us from getting lost, so it has done its job.

[CrownPrincess]

Thank you all...really appreciated the feedback. So I guess it's Garmin...hands down. Will check them out today.

[cityrover]

garmin indeed. make sure its a 2010 release as they tweak the maps every year. and go for the 4.3 screen models