anyone have a 2008 gps (In car)

so i am getting my father a gps for Christmas
questions
anyone use a large 4.3" lcd or bigger gps that is easy to use. preferably touchscreen, and you actually like the interface

main concern is ease of use and large screen.
any suggestions welcome
thanks for your time

[Arct1k]

The tom toms are pretty good - I have the 720 - circuit city had a base model for only 130

[gixxer]

I also have a tom tom 720. I got it last x-mas. I wanted the xl one but they didn't have anymore so she got me the next model up.

I basically just wanted the bigger screen and for it to say the street name instead of just turn in x amount of feet. The bluetooth function also comes in handy for me.

ok thanks seems everyone agrees that the tom toms are some of the better ones, and easy to use

[TDC57]

I have the Navidon one and it's bitchen, 3d touch screen, will give me restaurants, gas stations, just about anything I'm looking for while on my path to destination, it's portable!, full color, provides you with traffic warnings and alternate paths suggestions way ahead of where your going, I'm telling you it does it all and everything you / a dad could want!.. Trust me!.. The stupid bastard even tells me when I'm speeding!! it's like the wife you can live with!..

Here is link to there main site:

http://navigonusa.com/

Hope that helps ??

[blueb8llz]

thats wierd, the area where im at...California. most of my frens recommend the garmin nuvi brand. i own one and its very user friendly.

[JERRY2KONE]

I have been all over the world using different brands and models. For the money the TomTom seems to be the best. I have had the 700 and the 720, and their newest feature is the lane designator. Instead of just telling you to move to the left or right it tells you which lane you need to be in for your next move. Very cool stuff. You can get traffic updates and weather reports live if you wnat to subscribe to their daily support, but I find that to be a bit overboard for the most part. With TomTom's you can choose the language, the accent, and even the gender of your navigator. The thing I am waiting to see is a navigator with a sense of humor. That would be awesome if she can tell you that you missed your turn dummass, now go around the block you idiot. Want me to drive for you as well moron? That would be just way too cool, especially when you have a guest in the car.

Unfortunately for me TomTom's do not work here in Korea, so we have to find an alternative for our stay here. Everywhere else that I have been the TomTom's work great.

[jhautz]

My 720 just died.... 3 weeks after the 1 year warranty. gotta love it. I got it last year in the fall. It died a couple weeks ago and I went and dug ot the reciept and sure enough 1 year and 3 weeks. I was looking for the Garmin one at the time, but they were out everywhere so I got the TomTom.

I'm geting the Garmin next time. I'm rather PO'ed at this thing right now.

[JERRY2KONE]

Can you be a little more specific? What do you mean by died? Is the battery dead? If so just contact TomTom and get it replaced. There really is not that much that can go wrong with these things that cannot be fixed easily. It is nothing more then either a huge thumb drive or a hard drive with data stored on it, and an LCD screen. The only thing that really makes one GPS unique from another is the software that drives it.

Originally Posted by jhautz

My 720 just died.... 3 weeks after the 1 year warranty. gotta love it. I got it last year in the fall. It died a couple weeks ago and I went and dug ot the reciept and sure enough 1 year and 3 weeks. I was looking for the Garmin one at the time, but they were out everywhere so I got the TomTom.

I'm geting the Garmin next time. I'm rather PO'ed at this thing right now.

[jhautz]

Died... Its dead.... Won't boot up. startes up and then just sitss on the TOMTOM opening screen forever. Wont get recognized by the computer USB either. Spent 4 hours screwing with every troubleshooting thing their website had to try and then another hour and a half on the phone with their tech support. trying it all again. Bottom line.... "send it in and well see how much it will cost to fix it" I can get a new on that does everything that it does for $150 now. I paid almost $400 for it a little more than a year ago. I'm not even gonna screw with it anymore.

Don't mind me... I'm just pissed about the damn thing.

[paoutdoorsman]

Originally Posted by blueb8llz

thats wierd, the area where im at...California. most of my frens recommend the garmin nuvi brand. i own one and its very user friendly.

X2 on the Garmin Nuvi's

I haven't used the Tom Tom, but I have used several brands and models. The Garmin Nuvi's are definately one of the easiest to use, and provide the best navigation out of all of the models I've used.

[jayjay283]

I bought me and my wife garmin 300w ? Id have to go out in the snow and upen my ice box of a car to see. Point being it was the 4.3 inch i guess, thought it was 5" the wide version of the same dealy and the guy at cicuit city said " watch the internet, you have a 30 day price refund if it goes onsale, and it will.. Meaning ask the salesman in quiet which are going to go onsale and are the best buy, I paid $299 each and got them for $199 after a trip back there with my reciept a couple days after xmas. $200 bone refund was like buy 1 get one free, almost felt I jacked my wife on a gift

[speedracer1129]

I use a Gramin Nuvi and it works pretty good. The one thing I do like is that it is compatible with Google Maps so you can upload your destinations with the contact info from Google Maps right to the GPS!

+1 on the Garmins. I have got the newer 265wt which is widescreen. top-notch and the lock-on is pretty fast even from cold start-up. Bluetooth is useful to pair with my iPhone as a speakerphone. Have TTS functionality which is one of the must haves IMHO.

[TexasSP]

My opinion would be go Garmin and here is why.

My dad and father-in-law both fly, planes now days rely on GPS to navigate. I am managing a construction project at a large private airport right now and am around piltos all day long. I am talking guys that fly little 2 seaters to one of the chief pilots for Continental Airlines. They all say use Garmin. The number 1 GPS in 99% of all planes in the air is Garmin, because put quite simply they are the best, most accurate, and most reliable GPS units on the market.

Me personally mine is built in to my Camry so I don't have one myself.