I refused to give up my paper maps until about four years ago when I finally got an iPhone. Even then I stuck with my maps for a year or so until I decided to yield to my kids constant ridicule and try Apple and Google maps. The tools are amazing and do a fantastic job. Connect to your car sound system and you get verbal instructions over the car speakers. If you are playing music or podcasts from your phone and using nav, the music/podcast volume automatically reduces while the nav announcements are made. Map updates are always free and happen without any intervention on the users part.
While I may not always get someplace error free (some user-errors account for some issues) I always get where I'm going.
Had a Tom Tom before the Garmin (it still works but it hasn't been updated in 12 years) and it was about the same. Some places are situated that, depending on where you start, and what is between you and the destination, you may get a route that you don't want. For instance, I put in "Aquarium of the Americas" in New Orleans because I know it is on the main drag by the river that I wanted to get to. Didn't pay any attention and it took me to a Ferry that you rode to get to the other side vs. keeping me on surface roads. I later looked at their site and they also provided an address that would keep folks from being led to the ferry.
Nothing's perfect and one needs to add a little of his own effort into the mix and lighten up when things don't go totally as envisioned - life's too short to waste by being ticked off about the small stuff - consider the small quirks to be little adventures...
I also vote for the Magellan. I have an older unit that we recently updated with new maps. I have another GPS in my car that is terrible, don’t know who made it as it’s part of the dash features.
One thing about the Magellen is that it gives a couple different views of the directions. All GPSs seem to give bad directions from time to time (death by GPS is a real thing!) I always double check the directions to make sure they make sense.
Get a map?
...and a compass?
It’s nice to have first-world problems, isn’t it?
I’m losing my mind over the stupid, insulting replies people here are giving you! You don’t deserve it. I suggest getting on Amazon and reviewing the nav systems with 4 stars and tons of reviews.
Good luck!
Find out who the OEM is for the Honda GPSes. They are extremely accurate.
Traveling 50K miles a year, I’ve used Magellan and have had no problems. My GPS is 10 or so years old and can’t be updated, but I have so many addresses in it, I won’t get rid of it.
Yes. It stays neatly folded in my glove compartment.
Kidding aside, I don’t understand the fascination with live navigation. I know where I’m going before I get in the car and the trip terminates near the destination. If I can’t find the destination, it’s always due to incorrect info provided to me...the same info I would have plugged into a GPS.
I would like a GPS for terrain maps & recording trails & whatnot, but I could never embrace another distraction (and theft target) in my car.
Besides, people are dangerous enough on the road with radios, makeup & cell phones (hands-free or not). At least when someone is lost they slow down to a near stop when looking around vs. driving into a lake because the GPS said ‘go straight ahead’...my question would be ‘why’ need a GPS in the car to begin with. But that’s just me. Money better spent elsewhere.
.02
There are several FREE navigation apps for my Iphone that give spoken directions. I imagine the paid apps are even better. Even Garmin has an Iphone app, but the last time I looked it was grossly overpriced, especially compared to free apps.
This technology is constantly improving & the landscape constantly changing. Frequent updates to the apps & maps are necessary. The internet connected phone accommodates this necessity very well. The integration with other apps such as your contact list & yellow pages type apps make navigation even easier & more error free.
Why anyone would pay hard earned money for a separate GPS navigator is beyond me.
Dashboard navigators such as Garmin are being put out of business by the smartphone apps & navigators built into the car. These products wont be around much longer, just like cassette, 8-track, & CD players. Upgrades & support will decline. I would not invest in another obsolete product when you can get so much more for your money from a smartphone.
The Garmins I have had are great. Yes, some occasional hiccups but by and large they work extremely well. Keep the maps updated. My unit now warns of school zones and congested traffic ahead.
I haven't noticed that it fails in hot weather, but I don't park where it is in the sun, and NJ doesn't have that much hot weather. With LiOn or Nimh batteries, I'd expect that an overwarm condition would be monitored to prevent fires. So, don't leave it on the dash if you are in Arizona.
I prefer a separate GPS, as I don't want incoming calls to shift away from the map. So I live with the limits of a map & search engine on the local device, rather than on a server farm.
Every now and then, I do find it hard to find points of interest, as it doesn't have as potent a search engine as googles. For example, I never could find the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission through the TomTom search.
Just took a trip to Seattle with a friend's Magellan and it performed very well. I think I could get used to the user interface, which seemed at first glance a little less intuitive, or maybe it's just me.
All have served their functions very well. All have bigger screens than my smart phone and easier-to-use interfaces. None of them is really fully trustworthy.
A couple months ago I had to take an alternate route to my destination due to a road closure and in the middle of a blizzard. (Fun times). Frankly, it saved my butt. I'm sure I could have managed it with a map in my lap but not as safely. YMMV. Good luck!
I have a nexus 7 tablet and it has a GPS in. i installed Sygic. it’s a great app.