GPS That Works -Sort of

We purchased two of these units after visiting Best Buy and seeing what brand was the easiest to use and what features were available. We have factory GPS in one of our vehicles, but this was cheaper than purchasing a disk for the area we moved to - and it works better!

We live in a small town in Northwestern Illinois. I had a BMW with factory GPS and it was hit-or-miss for finding addresses or roads in this area (I traded the BMW for a different car without GPS). Our Mercedes needed a different disc for this area, so my wife started looking at portable GPS units.

We decided on the Garmin as they are very easy to use. This particular model has an electronic voice that states the name of the street/road you are to turn on. While using as a map, the bar at the top of the screen shows the name of each side street/road. In the bottom corners the unit shows your speed and direction.

When using as a directional unit, the unit shows the road name you are on at the top, expected arrival time, and distance to the next turn in the bottom corners.

Where the unit fails, and this is a failing for most units, it shows or tells one to turn or take non-exhistent roads.
For example, in the village I live in, it directed me to drive over a foot-bridge and take a walking path. Some of the streets it wants me to take disappeared with the advent of the automobile.

Other than this, the unit works very well. There are many features built-in, i.e. find local hospitals, gas stations, restaurants, local interest, etc. The unit can also be attached to a computer and updated through the Garmin web site (something Factory units cannot do).

The unit comes with a USB cable, suction-cup base, and adhesive pad to attach to surface for the suction-cup.