I'm planning on getting a GPS for a trip I'll be taking in my Vette (See? It's not really OT). Any advice on which one and where to buy?

 

i went with a small laptop and bluetooth reciever. hasnt failed me yet

 

I'm planning to get the Alpine Blackbird mobile nav. unit just cause it looks cool.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/en/product...model=PMD-B100

 

you can buy a good new laptop for 399.00 and a GPS software for less then a 100.00. on top of that you could also load on tons of music and other items.

 

My wife and I are going to Idaho. Space is at a premium, so I wanted something SMALL, easy to use (for my wife ) and not overly expensive. Just wondered if anyone here had a track record with one.

 

71_454_Green_Machine reviewed his Alpine unit here...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...1375056&page=9

 

I bought my now-ex a PDA with built in gps nav system. I believe it was a Navman brand, with full PocketPC functinality and built-in gps. When I bought it, it was basically the same price as similar functionality GPS only units. Pretty cool unit, and when you're not using the GPS function, which is most all the time, it's still a full function PDA. You can also buy add-on gps units if you already have a PDA or would rather buy a PDA and GPS add-on than just a GPS. This is basically what she has, but it's a bit older version:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ima...&s=electronics

For myself, I have a Garmin eTrex Legend C. Basic unit, no additional city maps, so while it's useful for finding a city/town, or basic part of town, it's useless for finding an address. I could pay the rediculous price for detailed maps and get that functionality, but I bought it for tracking my way in, then back out, while offroading and it's great for that. Plus it's much more rugged and waterproof, something important if you ever want to do anything outdoorsy with it like hiking or geocaching or something.

Both units do have one limitation that you will probably find on any handheld, but not on a dedicated in-car unit with remote antenna. They pretty much need to be in the windshield area and the screens can be small. The Navman wasn't bad, but the garmin is.

The laptop with external antenna like JustForFun mentioned would probably be great as long as you already have a laptop, a car charger for it, and don't mind lugging it around.

After playing with the ones I have and considering other options I've decided to go with a dedicated in-dash GPS/Stereo system for my other car. I have no need for a PDA, it will never go off-road, it will be taken on long trips (where a GPS may come in handy), and it's somewhat of a show-car. If you don't want to go that route, I'd recommend a dedicated in-car GPS unless you already have a PDA or having a PDA would be useful. The laptop idea seems inconvenient because of the size, and the hand held units are not that great for street only navigation.

I can't speak to the mapping/routing capabilities of anything other than the Navman unit, but I found the Navman to be very easy to use and great as well as reliable functionality.

 

After posting all that, I still forgot a couple things. Really compare the accessories that come with the unit when buying. Things like an in-car kit, plenty of memory to store detailed maps, and detailed routable maps can be expensive adding a couple hundred bucks. This is where an in-car unit (not in-dash) really outshines the hand held ones, they tend to come with more of those options. You also really want a color screen not black/white/gray, although the B/W ones are almost phased out.

For whatever reason, when I was shopping I was told a few times to go with Garmin over Magellin even though the price, features and on-paper specs were similar.

Something like this should be what you are looking for in the cheaper range:
http://www.thegpsstore.com/Detail-Ga...gps-system.asp

 

I went with a TomTom. Small, easy to read, gets me there every
time I use it, and it was pretty affordable.
I even lend it to the kids when they need directions.

 

Buy a GARMIN Streetpilot 3.
they are affordable now (About $300) and they have a voice directions setting.. i had one.. it was fantastic !!! took it to tahoe, nevada, LA, Oregon etc... never failed...
Plus it had color screen and bright LCD at night...

 

I still love my Blackburd by Alpine. It knows streets that my new Mercedes has never eard of. Also took the blackbird on my quad, it knows Foresert Service Roads also....

Damn good unit, and it interfaces with other Alpine Dash Units....

 

That's the one I recommend, I have had one for years. Great unit!