[logdog]

I bought a TomTom about 4 years ago and really loved it. When we moved to TV, our neighborhood was showing empty pastures. I went to Target about 6 months ago to buy a map update. It was $70. Then I saw that they had TomToms on clearance for less than $35 with a free map upgrade and it had features mine didn't. Guess what I bought. I went back a week later thinking I would buy a couple more for gifts but they were all gone.

I don't think you can go wrong with either TomTom or Garmin. Those two are always highly rated in Consumer magazines. I would strongly recommend buying a unit with free lifetime map upgrades.

I agree as thats what we use. It works great!

Originally Posted by Bill-n-Brillo

I like my TomTom. Buy a TomTom where the model ends with an "M" and it comes with lifetime maps included in the price of the unit.

Bill

[faithfulfrank]

I have owned a few Garmins, and like them.
I currently have the 1490 LMT, which has lifetime maps and lifetime traffic.

The reason I like this one is that it has bluetooth, and a 5" screen...which is much bigger then the 4.3 inch screen the others have.

Buy.com just had this on sale for only $180.00 no tax, free shipping. Great deal. I should also add that for the folks who say they did not have enough room for all of the maps.....you really should not need to add a card. When I called Garmin, they simply walked me through an easy deletion of all of those extra languages they also have in there you never need. I do not speak Swahili and do not need my GPS to. That freed up a ton of space.

Frank

[jchase]

I have purchased several Garmin GPS's for myself and family over the past years. Last week I broke the antenna off my Nuvi 360 after the suction cup came loose and I shut my car door on the unit. I called Garmin to see if they would transfer my lifetime maps over to my wife's Nuvi 360. The representative on the phone looked up my account and seen that I have purchased several (six or seven) in the past. He said he couldn't transfer the map updates, but, what he did was gave me information to send the broken one back and sent me a new Nuvi 360 with the lifetime maps included FREE! Yes free. I couldn't believe it. What great customer service! I would buy nothing but a GARMIN!!

[Hawkwind]

Garmin has changed their customer service over the past few years and all for the better. At one time you only received one map upgrade for the first year and they only updated the maps once a year.

The one thing they will not do is allow map upgrades to more that one unit with only buying one license even if the other units have been registered.

I will have to check the pricing of the 3790T with lifetime maps as that is a very interesting unit but for now the Nuvi 750 works great.

[Lynn222]

I can answer a couple of your questions. I have a Garmin and having moved to TV on 1/15/2011, I rely on it daily!

Best Buy sells a charging cord that you can use in your home to charge up GPS. I bought one because my golf cart doesn't have a cigarette lighter!

I have updated the maps once and had to pay. I didn't receive any free updates. Updates only need to be done once a year and when you go online, go to the GPS site and they should have a place where you can check to see if there are updates for your GPS. The standard maps received were just fine.

[Hal :-)]

I have a Garmin, one of the early models, that's now retired to the glovebox. I found the Google Navigation on my Android cell phone superior. I know you said you have an old cell phone, but I would recommend upgrading. The GPS is a freebie. With a newer smartphone, you have access to everything you do on your PC, read your email, maintain your calendar, set reminders, play a game, watch a video, or read the news in the waiting room, text someone, snap a photo, and on and on. Hey, you can even read TOTV. The smart phone is the 21st century PC. In any case, I found Google navigation an improvement over Garmin and I was surprised how complete it was in TV. The coolest thing is voice recognition. Hold the search button, then say "Navigate to 1020 Lake Sumter Landing" and it quickly responds with directions.

[villages07]

newegg.com has the garmin 255 with lifetime map updates on sale for $99. Use promo code EMCKGKJ39 when ordering to get the 99 price (otherwise it is 129). Free shipping, no tax.

The 255 is a very basic model...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-58108396-L07A

[zcaveman]

After reading all of the responses, I was opting for the Garmin 255W. Best Buy had a 1300LMT on sale for $159 so I went back to Google and did some more research. Boy is it confusing. So many models. So many options. So many comparison charts.

I finally bit the bullet and went down and got the Garmin 1300LMT. The sales person at Best Buy was very helpful in answering all of my questions. After I got home, I downloaded the latest maps - boy did that take time!! Then I tried to put in my home address. I live in Marion county with the crazy street names and did not put the SE91 in front of the street name and it could not find my address. I pressed a few buttons and managed to put an incorrect address in for my home address and could not figure out how to correct it. Since I wanted to get a AC cord for charging and a carrying case, I went back to Best Buy and the sales person fixed my problem. I used the Garmin to get me home and it worked perfectly!!

I downloaded the users guide and am now well on my way.

Thanks for all your help!

Z

[Hawkwind]

The fun has just begun. Wait until you take it in a road trip. You will also want to look into adding additional Points Of Interest (POI) to help you along the way. One of the hottest ones is speed trap cameras and red light cameras. Also if you taking a long road trip the rest areas POI is another must have.

I have been looking for a long time for an up to date FREE red light camera listing but have not come up with one. I do know that the city of Orlando just activated 10 cameras there and there are also some in Apopka on 441 in the center of town.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Hawk - Have you looked into this one from GPS Data Team?

http://poidirectory.com/poifiles/?li...states/safety/

Bill

[Hawkwind]

Bill
I was on that site a LONG time ago and never added it to my fav's. I will give it a try.

I have also created my own POI's using MapSource for such things as the state lines, toll booths, crossing interstates, tunnels and rivers going down I-77 / I-26 / I-95 to the Villages. Plus routes to TV via 310, I-75, 40 and other routes.

Found an interstate exit POI file and loaded it up on one trip and that drove me nuts. The GPS was always giving me warnings so it was killed for the return trip.

Thanks again for the link.