GPS Devices Life

Great BUT - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver I got my 2610 last Xmas. What everyone says about it is right on the money. It is a great tool, BUT have a back u...

Amazing product - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver My wife got me the StreetPilot 2610 for Christmas. I guess she got tired of my male "vector in on it" system! T...

I won’t replow the same ground as the other reviews. Most of the other reviewers have compared this to other portable GPS units — I’ll deal with how the Garmin stacks up against the $2000 units. Speficifcally, I have the one from Alpine that is an option on Honda cars these days, and have seen a couple others $2000 models in action. A couple of key points:

(1) the screen on the Garmin is really small — less then 25% of the screen area of the $2000 type of units. The screen that comes with the Alpine in the Hondas (you can get this, leather seats and some minor other luxuries for $2000) is very large and easy to read by comparison.

(a) the small screen makes it hard to do certain things you can do with the full-sized models, such as using the screen as a map without inputting an address while driving (for example if you take a wrong turn but generally know the neighborhood), and verifying a route while driving without stopping (important if your making a detour due to a backed up roadway for example). OK, you shouldn’t use any GPS (or map) without stopping, but this is the real world — I do use it, and find it reasonably safe to do so, at least when in slow-moving traffic. Would be much harder to do that safely with the Garmin - I wouldnt’ try it.

(2) the $2000 models use a DVD that holds the maps of the entire country wheras the Garmin comes with 124 meg flash memory card. Now granted the entire NY/NJ area I drive in is only 40 odd megs; however, I am worried about how useful the Garmin will be on trips to Boston or Florida. If one highway is backed up, and I want to detour, will I still be in the same zone I uploaded on the Garmin? So I am not sure how well the Garmin will perform in such a situation. Certainly more effort will be involved in uploading the right maps.

(3) the Garmin does essentially everything the more expensive models do, and, with the above caveats, does them just as well. One minor wrinkle is that the Garmin seems to consistently think turns are farther away then they really are — a minor annoyance. However, even the $2000 GPS units have quirks. To my knowledge, there is no super-polished product out there yet.

(4) garmin is portable +; can be stolen more easily -; needs batteries or to plug into cig lighter -; warranty not as lengthy -; cheaper to repair if out of warranty ??

(5) Honda built in Alpine model accepts voice commands and can control the stereo and climate control. Theoretical advantage only — I can’t get the system to recognize my voice with any regularity.

(6) as for the resteraunts being out of date issue that some reviewers have raised, the Garmin is actually better in this regard then the Alpine.

(7) the voice prompts given by the Alpine feel a bit more polished/helpful, but this is a minor thing. Many turn off the voice prompts, but with the Garmin screen being smaller, I feel as though I need them.

So in short, you do definitely get *something* if you take the leap to the higher end units. Namely you get a bigger screen, and DVD based memory. Is that worth it? Perhaps yes, in the sense that a BMW is “worth it” over a Honda Accord for 1/2 the price. But as with the Honda Accord, the Garmin is a very solid product that most people will probably consider much better from a “value” perspective. (I am not saying the Garmin is as polished as an Accord — it isn’t. But the $2000 GPS units are not as polished as a BMW either. GPS units are still a bit rough around the edges, but do work very well 95+% of the time)

2610 is the BEST - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver The Garmin 2610 is fan freaking-tastic! I looked at monochrome models and the Street Pilot III as well. Mono {as...

Good Unit… - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver I did a great deal of research before making a purchase. I did have some concerns regarding the 2610. My main con...

276C compared to StreetPilot 2610 - Garmin GPSMAP® 276C Car GPS Receiver The GPSMap 276C is a great GPS for motorcycles and cars. Main advantages over the Garmin 2610: battery power ...

2610 Saved My Marriage - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver We're looking for a new house in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Our previous strategy was local maps, a lot of screamin...

Great car navigation unit - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver I have upgraded to Garmin 2610 from Garmin V GPS. I added a 1Gig Compact Flash card and was able to load ~ 1/2 the...

Garmin 2610 is PERFECT!!!!!!! - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver This is my first GPS unit. I had done about 8 months of research and chose the Garmin 2610 to use on my motorcycle...

Great Unit; HORRIBLE Customer Service - Garmin StreetPilot® 2610 Car GPS Receiver

Helpful, but not Flawless - Garmin StreetPilot® 2620 Car GPS Receiver