Best unit for the price includes Canada too

IWAY 250C
From
Lowrance



We were taking a trip to Utah from Connecticut. Since we had all the time we needed to go (we're retired) and wanted to see the country we opted to take the car. I wanted a GPS to have as the navigator and didn't have the $600 plus to buy a really great GPS I looked at less expensive ones. I settled on the IWAY250c from Lowrance. I purchased it at Staples for around $250. They had another cheaper one for $200 but, it didn't include Canada and since I thought someday we might take in parts of Canada I chose this one.

Downloading the latest info from the website was really easy with the supplied cable and the info from the manual.

After that I tried it around the area to get familiar with the controls and touch screen. Easy to use and the screen is large enough to see but not that easy during the day with the sun hitting it. But, it's almost not necessary with the voice telling you every turn to make. The more expensive units will tell you the actual streets to turn on to this only says turn right in 500 ft then turn right. I can life with that. Now we are ready for the big trip to Utah.

The GPS took us right through New York with out any problem. But, when we got to New Jersey that was a different problem. I’m not sure what happened but, one of us lost the way and the GPS (now with a name of Abbie that my wife gave it) either lost position or I took a wrong turn and the GPS was correcting the route and then I took another turn and the GPS again started to make a new route. If you keep doing this the GPS can't keep up with you changes. You have to stay on the same route and let it catch up with you. By the time we we getting reports of where to go we were deep in Patterson New Jersey. The route Abbie(the GPS) took us was scary to say the least. We had no idea if we were going to have to stop and ask someone where the heck are we? But, we continued to listen to the GPS Voice and it took us to RT80 going in the right direction. Lesson learned: listen to the GPS.
When you stop for lunch it is best to, leave it on so you don't have to wait for the GPS to find it's position. The locate position can take several minutes and several times it took up to 10 minutes to locate it's position. I presume it's not just this unit it may be typical of GPS.
Going through new construction is a problem with any GPS they have no idea they changed the exit ramp from the left to the right. So that's something you have to understand as you take a right off the new exit or take a left onto the wrong road. Either way the GPS will direct you in the right direction directly. Occasionally she would get left and right mixed up. She told us to take a right going north and the road sign said left was north. But, this is really minor. Another lesson learned: A GPS doesn't replace brains.
In the 8000 miles we traveled I was confident in the GPS and enjoyed the ability to find a restaurant or motel or any of the attractions it had in it's memory. It's well worth the money and I think I made a good purchase.

update 7/18/2007
I see there are price reductions now on these units and there's also a model 350 available that has an FM modulator. this may be the next one I get. They just keep getting better and better.
I still think I made a good purchase