GPS Devices Life

Get a Garmin StreetPilot 2620 and never ask for directions again. - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver When I bought my new car, I passed on the GPS system from the factory. As the next year wore on, I was regretting...

Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver Product 010-00357-03 Key FeaturesDesignationAutomobileForm FactorFixedMap capabil...

I wanted a GPS for a while. I had a few ideas of exactly what I wanted. I know I’ll use it more in my truck than on my Harley so the hard drive didn’t worry me.

My main pre-requisite was that everything I needed to use it on a trip should be self contained. The Garmin 2620 fit the bill. However, it also had to be priced at a point I thought worthwhile ($1,000+ is far too much for one of these things in my mind). When I saw one advertised at a much more reasonable price, I jumped at it.

The unit works great. Plug in and you’re set to go. Drive off the route it suggests and it recalculates really fast where you want to be to get back on track. It is also very accurate. The remote makes searching whilst driving much easier than using the screen inputs (even though they caution you not to do either).

So, I like it. That said, here’s my wish-list of things that could be better:

1. Include software with it as it’s much easier to plan and plot on the computer and transfer. Nice to have everything self contained for when you need it (long trip to Florida and you decide to come back to Michigan through Texas, for instance) but it’s more convenient to use the mouse and big monitor than type using their input. I did not realize that the Mapsource software did not come with the unit. I may have thought harder about a 2610 with a large memory card had I realized that.

2. Better shock resistance would be nice so you can use it on the bike. The 2610 might work better if this is the main use for the GPS, it’s not for me. I doubt I’ll have a problem with it the infrequent times I will most likely use it for this application.

3. A battery (even a small one for an hour’s use or so) would be nice. It would be useful to pull the unit out of the truck/off the bike so you can plan the next part of your trip whilst eating.

4. Improve address finding capabilities. The street addresses are all there but searching for them is limited. “West Saint Andrews Road” is the street address of my office. The road’s been there for decades. I can point to it on the map but I can’t find it with a search.

5. I’d have the alpha-numeric entries listed in QWERTY format rather than alphabetical. Much easier for input.

That’s about it. The unit really did work straight out of the box. Great, in fact. If I wanted it more for the bike, I think the 2610 might have been a better option. The missing map software and battery are shortcomings in my opinion - “they should be there” rather than “I wish they were there”.

Hope that helps anyone out there considering one of these things.

Overall excellent - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver I have had a StreetPilot 2620 for over four months and have used it to get around unfamiliar cities and to drive f...

Helpful, but not Flawless - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver Overall, I'm happy with my purchase of the Garmin StreetPilot 2620, but the unit isn't as flawless as Garmin would...

Which Garmin to Choose - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver I purchased the 2620 to replace a stolen 2610 that I had come to rely on during long distance drives and business ...

Cool Device That’s A Hassle to Update - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver I bought this device for two reasons: (1) to experiment with GPS technology, to which I was new; and (2) because i...

Very Easy To Use, Great Performance, Good Price - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver Considering getting GPS in your next car? Impressed by the system your friend has in his buff new car? Did you kno...

Used it a week now, and it’s going great! - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver I'll only talk about some things here I've not seen mentioned or at least emphasized in some of the other reviews ...

Excellent unit, bought a refurbished unit - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver

This device makes maps obsolete - Garmin StreetPilot® 2730 Car GPS Receiver