Garmin- a great GPS, with a few small problems

Have you ever gotten in the car and had the urge to ‘just drive’? Have you ever been low on gas in an unfamiliar part of town? Do you know someone with a ‘bad sense of direction’? Than a GPS system might just be for you.

I bought this GPS to take on my honeymoon, and since then it has been to numerous trips with us, and has become almost invaluable. This is a great little GPS (about the size of a tennis ball) for a very little cost (one to three hundred, depending on where you buy). The maps are easily downloaded from the software provided into the GPS via USB cable. It comes with enough memory to hold the newest maps of a few states (128 MB transflash card), but upgrading the chip can give you the ability to hold many more. The Garmin I3 has plug and play capability, which means that all you have to do is plug it in to the dashboard of your car, and you are ready to roll. There are no fees, and no expensive downloadable upgrades.

The system takes AA batteries, and you can use regular, or rechargeable. One important thing to know is that you have to tell the Garmin that you are using rechargeable batteries. I put mine in, and they didn’t recharge. I wondered why, until I scrolled through the menu one day, and found an option for batteries. When I chose NiMH batteries, they recharged just fine.

The voice commands are very helpful if you are driving solo, and the maps and written directions are monitored easily if you have a copilot. It has to door directions, and tells you when you are arriving at your destination. It is not one of the fancy upgraded systems that tell you the name of the street, or the name of the destination, but I don’t really need that.

There are three selections on the main menu:
Where To?, View Map, and at the bottom, Settings. Where To? gives you driving options, where you can put in where you would like to go, or scan through your favorites. View map brings up a map of where you are, and if you do not have an address plugged in, it will tell you your speed, direction, and show you the streets you are approaching. Settings has a volume and brightness control in it.

Let me take a moment aside to talk about the volume. Some people complain about the volume, but I don’t think that it is a problem. I have my volume set to 3, which it is loud enough for me, and it goes all the way to 5. As long as the radio isn’t blaring, you should be able to hear it, but if you intend to turn the radio up, just make sure to preset the volume to a louder setting.

Well, now back to the Settings section. It has options for your map settings, system settings, navigation, time, language, and a option that tells you about your versions ID, and software. You can find the battery option and other system functions I the System section, and navigation will allow you to tell Garmin what roads to avoid (e.g. toll roads) and what route preferences (e.g. fastest time) or car type you have. It is for the things that might affect where it takes you when it sets up a driving route.

It has a detour function for closed roads, or traffic. The Garmin will recalculate the directions to find an alternate route if possible. It has a favorites section, with it’s own custom icons. It has a recent finds category where you can quickly access something that you recently found. This can help if you forget to save a favorite. You can look up things by intersection or address, as well as by points of interest. This makes it easy to find fuel, food, lodging or any business.

Plus, you can never get lost with the 'Go Home' feature. One touch and your home is on screen. This is great for my mother, one of the aforementioned people afflicted with a bad sense of direction. There is a review turn option as well, for those of us that would like to know the route before some disembodied voice tells us to turn, and it will allow you to simulate the route if you are indoors and planning your trip.

I have noticed some problems since I bought this GPS though. As I said, this version does not say street names, which can occasionally cause a wrong turn. It doesn’t show phone numbers, (like some of the GPS systems out there do,) which would be helpful sometimes. Some stores that are very new don't show up. Also, new routes don't show. Sometimes you are driving on what it believes is an empty field. (I’ve heard that this is a problem with most GPS units in more rural areas) It sometimes wants you to turn on roads that are still in the planned stage. The master plan for the city must show them as active, but it will sometimes be quite insistent about taking you that way, even when you use the detour function. (Another problem with all GPS’s in more rural areas)

The windshield mounting is not legal in CA, or so I've heard. That can cause problems if you are a solo driver. The screen is rather small, too. You can see the map, but it is a bit difficult in a moving car. In addition, the scrolling wheel is not as easy to use as the touch screen, even if you have a copilot, because it can easily roll past the selection you want in a bumpy moving vehicle.
I have also had trouble with the systems slowness. It has WAAS technology. That means that it sends out a signal, which tells your position to the satellites. They convey that position to ground towers that are supposed to increase the accuracy in triangulating your position. If you would like to read more on this, you can go to http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/waas.html and they can explain it better. It can sometimes take a while to locate you, but you can still enter a location, and review your turns if you have a copilot or want to pull over for a minute.

All in all this GPS is affordable and very useful for the average traveler, but I would recommend an upgraded model for seasoned travelers, letterboxers, geocachers, or business travelers.