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I bought a new Nuvi with lifetime maps last year and it will likely never be used for navigation, its sole purpose in life is to be a map donor for my in car unit.
Yes, for sure, I use the garmin nuvi (we have lifetime map updates) in our family car (Honda CRV). It's great , much better than a cumbersome phone, and gives excellent directions. My other car has GPS built in the dash, so I don't use it. But, it is a great device when traveling and can find resturants, gas, on your route when traveling. I'm ol' school and also still use maps too!
I have a Garmin 265 WT, and even though I usually know where I'm going, I like to know how many miles I am from the exit, home, etc. what I do is also use Google maps and print out the directions and I use them together to go where I'm going.
The only issue I have with my GPS is that sometimes when on a highway it breaks up the total distance u need to drive on the road.
An example is if you are on I- 87 and your exit is 15 miles away, it will tell you drive on I 87 7 miles, then after the 7 miles it will display 8 miles, rather then just show 15 miles and count down from that amount. Also, the instruction manual is not too informative
If you want good directions Garman is better than most. Phones aren't very good for real directions if you travel a lot. It gets you there, but usually not very well.
I noticed my Garmin Nuvi's map is way out of date. Looked in Garmin's web site and they want $50 for map update. I do have an iPhone but I prefer a dedicated GPS unit on the windshield. There is gotta be a way to get non-Garmin maps somewhere.
They want money for the updates now? I used to update my Nuvi's every year for free online, but they've been collecting dust this past year or so. I wonder if they're worth anything on craigslist.
If you want good directions Garman is better than most. Phones aren't very good for real directions if you travel a lot. It gets you there, but usually not very well.
You must have a really old smartphone then. Using Google maps works just fine for navigation on the phone. Doesn't Garmin use Google Maps too?
If you want good directions Garman is better than most. Phones aren't very good for real directions if you travel a lot. It gets you there, but usually not very well.
Google Maps sh*** all over Garmin. Google Maps is the most used and most updated mapping database in the world.
I quit using my Tom-Tom GPS when I got a very smart phone that I get GPS thru AT&T Navigator for about 10$ a month. It's very accurate and it stays up to date all the time. Never had any issues or complaints with it. And I'm far from a big fan of AT&T.
I kinda looked for the GPS companies like Garmin and Tom-Tom to go out of business once these smart phones started having GPS on them. I can't see the point of buying a GPS only unit when you can have it on your smart phone.
I agree that Google Maps has many more features and is updated more frequently than Garmin...as a GIS specialist and geologist I can certainly appreciate that. I actually use it to find my route (and check alternatives) and print out the directions if I have time before a long trip.
But I use the Garmin when I'm actually driving because of its simplicity, it's usually just doing the minimum mapping I need...I almost always have a general idea of the main roads I'm going to take to my destination but like to know my approximate ETA to the next turn/exit.
I don't always need a Swiss Army Knife to open a can, sometimes it's just better to have a can opener
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