[ATeam]

I see Best Buy has the Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS on sale for $149.99. Getting by with our laptop GPS and mapping programs, we felt no pressing need to buy a Garmin, but at that price we may take the plunge.

To those who are familiar with the Garmin product line, does the Nuvi 200 do the job a truck driver needs it to do? Is there a better Garmin choice?

[dhalltoyo]

Phil,

I know that you are a professional and that you have accomplished the goals you set for yourself.

A tip of the hat to the both of you.

That said, spend a few dollars more and get a NUVI 350 with voice prompts.

From experience I have found it to be a great asset.

I can't tell you the number of times I have had directions on the QC, confirmation via a call to the shipper/consignee and my new ring bound trucker's Atlas only to find the turn to be obscured by traffic, construction, weather conditions, etc.

Miss a few turns, hunt a place to turn around and then drive over the ground really adds up over a year's time.

UPS's new routing testifies to inefficient turns.

When the NUVI 350 says "Turn in .01 miles, counts down 500,400...100...Turn Here"

It helps.

[mrgoodtude]

Cyn and I just bought the 750 series $299 at Sams (we wanted it a year ago but it hit the streets at $699 so we waited).
So far I love this thing and haven't even begun to scratch the surface of it's capabilities.
I don't believe there is a GPS specific to the commercial driver but used with common sense in hairy areas makes it a wonderful tool.
Voice, look ahead turning, points of interest in route including Wally worlds, camping, rest etc..
My only complaint is that it is a woman's voice that when has to recalculate (reroute) seems to become agitated after the second or third go at it..
Or maybe I'm just paranoid..

[highway star]

LOL!! Yes, she does sound kind of p***ed when she says "reCALculating". Since the Nuvi doesn't have a truck setting, you'll hear the recalculating thing quite a bit. It wants to send you on these 2 lane adventures instead of sticking with the big road. The funny thing is that when you finally get to where it quits recalculating you'll frequently have shaved off a few minutes from your arrival time.

[tgic08]

World Nav truck routing advertisement lists that it will route you based on load weight, height, width, different hazmat levels and has voice. It also has a 7 inch screen. It claims to even be able to avoid tolls also while keeping you on permitted roads. Don't have it but it sounds good. I saw it at Teletype Products. It's 599 with the 7 inch screen and 399 with the 3.5 inch screen. Hope that helps.

[ATeam]

Thank you, folks, for the Nuvi information. Perhaps the Nuvi 200 is a bit lightweight. Continuing my research, I stumbled upon GPS Magazine reviews. These reviews are thorough and enjoyable to read.

[Hyperdrive]

Phil

Very informative link. I was looking at the Garmin 760 and was not sure it was the best for my needs. The review compared the Garmin with both the TomTom and Magellan comparable models.
I also found a place to buy the 760 for $303 with free ground shipping at LowPriceDigital > Home Page.
Thanks for the info.

[MCBuggyCo]

You can get the nuvi 350 from walmart.com for $198.86 and have it shipped to a local store free. That is the best deal I have found on that model.

[Tuckster]

Originally Posted by tgic08

World Nav truck routing advertisement lists that it will route you based on load weight, height, width, different hazmat levels and has voice. It also has a 7 inch screen. It claims to even be able to avoid tolls also while keeping you on permitted roads. Don't have it but it sounds good. I saw it at Teletype Products. It's 599 with the 7 inch screen and 399 with the 3.5 inch screen. Hope that helps.

This sounds like what I've been looking for. I love my Garmin but it will take you places a truck has no business going.

[ATeam]

Truckster,

You might want to read Humble2drive's review first.

[Turtle]

If I were to get a Nuvi today, it would be something in the 600 series or higher, probably in the 800 series, but it would have integrated FM traffics, for sure. An 860, 770, 710, 670 or 660, in that order. As Dave points out, the 200 series are mainly throwaways and for the occasional traveler who might use it on vacation. They don't start getting to be a serious tool until at least 350, and after that it's more bells and whistles, some of which are must-haves for me.

[danthewolf00]

i have the 560 nuvi with voice and have it set for bus not car and that help's with the height and weight... even tho i drive a sprinter

[Rocketman]

I spent quite a few hours researching Garmin units. I asked a lot of questions and got some very, very good information here: GPS Systems

I also spent quite a bit of time comparing features on Garmin's website (VERY helpful): https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134

I settled on the Nuvi 750 in the end. I have learned alot about how to work with these things since I bought this one and I absolutely love it. I would pay double for another one if I had to, although the prices seem to be coming down (as with most electronics).

Some of the things that I have found to be useful:
ETA function: (pretty accurate). It does take some acclimation, but very useful.

POI (I love the downloadable POI's and this unit seems to have plenty of capacity).

Screen size: is perfect in my opinion. The unit is small enough to not be a space hog, but the screen is plenty large enough to see.

Speaks street names: (some of the lesser units don't say street names)

Where am I feature: My carrier does not use Qualcom and this is very useful for unexpected position update calls.

The ability to edit your route. Once you touch the screen, the unit goes from driving mode to edit mode. You can zoom the map in or out as well as touch and drag the map. To choose a different road, all you have to do is touch the preferred road on the screen (a small window will show the road name/number). Once you've verified that it is the road you want, just lick GO at the bottom of the screen, then click "add as via". The unit will automatically re-route to your preferred road as well as update the ETA and mileage (great way to compare routes for distance/time). I have Co-pilot on my laptop, so when I want to be sure I stay on truck routes, I run the route through the Co-pilot, then edit the Garmin route to match.


Features that I don't really use (although they may be important to others):

FM Transmitter: Don't really need it. The unit is loud enough on it's own unless you have radio or CB on.

MP3, Audio book player, picture viewer: as far as I'm concerned they can take these off and save the memory for useful GPS stuff like POI's... or send me a refund

Car locator feature: I don't usually have trouble spotting my truck at Walmart .

The 750 does not have bluetooth phone capabilities and personally, I'm happy for that. I have other ways of talking on the phone, don't need my GPS to do it.

Traffic feature: This is a feature that Turtle likes alot, but my unit does not have. Personally, I'm not sure that it would be as beneficial in a truck as in a cargo van (Turtle is in a van). With some expense, I could try this out, but probably won't.

One thing that I could see being very beneficial for some folks that like to sight see on foot is that you can put this unit in your shirt pocket and it can take you to and back from anywhere you like. Personally, I don't tend to stray that far from the truck, but some probably do.

Overall, I love the 750. It does everything I need it to do and then some. I was having trouble making some of my pickups on time simply because I was spending too much time routing them out on the laptop, then writing the directions on paper (and making mistakes). When your pickup times are tight and you miss a road, in a truck, your late. With the GPS, I input the address and haul butt. I've had the unit for about 4 months now and I very seldom have an issue finding whatever location I'm looking for. I seldom call for directions any more. I've learned to just put the location into the GPS and go.

The one thing that I would love to have and have seen the feature on one of the other brands (tom-tom, I think) is lane guidance. This would be very nice.

Hope this is helpful to somebody out there.

[ATeam]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

Hope this is helpful to somebody out there.

It is helpful to me, Rocketman. Thank you.

Let me ask, why did you go with the 750 instead of a less-featured model? Like you, I have no need for some of the features built into the 750. Compared to less-featured models, what was it about the 750 that drew you in?

[Rocketman]

Your welcome, one thing to keep in my mind is that this the first GPS of any kind for me. Many of the things I like so well are possibly featured on other brands and on the laptop mapping softwares as well.

As for how arrived at the 750, it was definitely a process of elimination and I don't recall it exactly. I'm sure there are some good points in the thread linked to in my earlier post. But, by comparing the Garmin models, I see some of the things that I considered to be important.

First off, is the spoken street names. The lesser featured units will only tell you "turn left, 400 feet". The better units will say "turn left on Vine Street, 400 feet". The visual instructions will have the same differences also.

The auto sort of multiple destinations is something comes into the picture as progress upward in the model numbers also. This seems to be working quite well as I add "via" points along the route to manage where the unit takes me as mentioned in the earlier post.

Those are the most important differences I see. If you use the comparison table (linked in the earler post), you can see the differences fairly quickly. I currently have the Nuvi 200, 660, 750 and the 760 units chosen. It is easy to see the progression of features from one unit to the next. (having to cut this short...load came in).

In the end, I know I could buy the 750 for about the same price as the 660. I think the 750 was one of the few of the higher end units that DID NOT have bluetooth calling capability. I felt that was a good thing. I was afraid of interference and, as mentioned, I just don't need it or want it.

I bought my unit on Ebay for something in the $360-$370 range. I think that info is in the thread linked to above. They are cheaper now I'm sure.

I would strongly suggest playing around with the comparison table on Garmin's website. You'll soon find what features are important to YOU. I think I went through the entire list (4 units at a time) and printed off each comparison. Then I was able to lay them out and compare the entire lot against one another.

Gotta run, have fun playing with the comparison table.

Rocketman.