Recommendations for car GPS, map bullshit atm

[Lead]

I was curious if anyone here has any personal experience on what are the best things to consider when it comes to which GPS for a car is a good choice. I kind of know jack shit about what brands are good or maybe what features are good. I've also only seen one used in person once. Like I rode with someone who owned a Prius and thought the GPS in it was kind of nifty.

Currently when Im going somewhere unfamiliar I'm having to look at Google Maps a bit and write down directions and its kind of gay.

Heres an general idea on what is important to me atm:

- Easy to mount, but detachable, easy to carry.
- Bright, large screen, maybe as little glare as possible if its really sunny.
- Voice BS to tell me when shit is close.
- Clear, easy to read maps.
- Smart enough to tell me ahead of time what fucking lane to be in well before I get to where I might need to turn, exit etc.
- Hopefully not too expensive for a poor slopperson like me.
- No monthy subscription shit if possible.

Basically I'm a fuck up on the road. I operate my car well and follow the speed limits and shit, but I'm one of those people that always have multiple things going on in their head, and I happen to have a tendency to get lost really easy when I go to unfamiliar places that are congested city areas.

So at the most basic I want something clear and functional like Google Maps to find my way around, and things like I mentioned above would be a plus.

[Spyder]

I got my brother a Garmin Nuvi last year and he loves it. He's kind of a fucked up driver like you (navigationally challenged?) and it works out really well, especially in the big cities where he gets lost pretty easy.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...n+Nuvi&x=0&y=0

I don't remember which one it was...probably the 350 or 360. It meets every one of the points you're looking for and I've used it once or twice and liked it.

[Lead]

I guess its that I do shitty in areas I don't know, and remembering street names is really dodge for me. If its an area I know or a place I've been to a few times before then I'm cool. Its just going new places, or needing to be somewhere new on time that would help.

Another thing I didnt mention though is the biggest help here would be driving at night, because sometimes I'm up late at night and shit at which time the signs aren't really visible so its kind of failure times.

I'm also thinking about relocating a ways away, and driving in traffic is annoying as is running the air conditioner all day. I kind of prefer night driving so if I get the hell off the highway this shit might come in handy. Some towns are assholes and put up signs saying food\lodging is at Exit X, and when you get off the shit is actually like 5 miles down the road and not able to find easily.

[DarkSpoon]

i use a Mio C230. i like it because it runs windows ce and it's very hackable. its also one of the cheapest units to do text to speech.

[Spyder]

Yeah, plus it's nice to see what cross-roads are coming up when you're traveling 55 MPH or something.

[Lead]

Yeah thats a big part of what I want. Not just what direction to go, but I liked the one I saw in a Prius because the thing would animate the map smoothly as you drove, and you could see cross streets coming up. So rather than just some gay voice telling me what my next move was, I could see the map panning with me and prepare myself to make a move.

Being told what lane to get in ahead of time or having enough info to know what to do is nice too.

BTW what is the usefulness of hacking it to run Windows CE? Anything related to driving? Or just to get it to run other tasks completely unrelated to driving?

[DarkSpoon]

no, it already ran windows CE. a simple hack can take you out of the map software to allow you to do other tasks when not driving. like watch a movie or play some games with touch screen abilities. honestly i dont use my gps unit that much. so it's nice to have it able to do something else besides sit in my glove box. it also has very nice map animations like you were talking about. you can even change the angle and shit. It has a top down map view for planning a route but then it follows your path on the rode as well. it's a nice unit and for about $100 you cant go wrong.

http://www.kombitz.com/2007/10/31/ho...lock-mio-c230/

[Lead]

Whats the battery life on that shit then if you take it out and use it for other stuff?

As gay as this sounds, I might consider an iPhone if I didnt have to get forced into some gay phone contract, and it has GPS functionality, because it is kind of gay to pay a few hundred dollars for a little touch screen that does one thing. So putting it in something you carry with you anyway would make sense.

BTW is the C230 the only model you can unlock in this way?

[DarkSpoon]

me and uncle leadz had msn chats about this already. but if anyone is wondering, no the C230 isnt the only one you can hack.

[KMS]

I have the iPhone, and it doesn't match up to a full GPS car system. Altho, I don't use a GPS either, which I really need one, cause my wife is navigationally-challenged even when using the iPhone.

Maybe the new Google android phone will have a full GPS.

I wanted to wait for the Android, but my wife's phone needed replacing anyway.