bought a garmin

Jack_Berry · Sep 30, 2010

the magellan is oos. the power couple plug receiver has retreated into the unit. no screw driver to take it apart so a new garmin 1450 from walmart replaced it. after one run we really like it. features like:

the sctreen is larger than the big magellan.
larger easy to read numbers.
the arrows showing which way you go at interstate junctions is helpful
had a screen come up showing the raod ahead on approach and which way to drive.
traffic congestion warnings and where they might be

nothing not to like so far

LDB · Sep 30, 2010

Overall they are good units. Just so you'll know, what's not to like is when you are approaching I465 and your choices are to go N or S and it tells you to take I465 W or when at 0330 with little to no street lights and overcast it says "in 0.8 miles arrive at xyz on right" and it's on the left or when it says "arriving at xyz" and it's anywhere from 0.6-1.4 miles farther down the road.

I have the Garmin 780 which was an upper middle tier unit when purchased a couple years ago. I've paid to upgrade it to the latest firmware/software/maps just a few weeks ago. It still does those things after the upgrade. I bought a Tom Tom and ran them parallel for a week. It had a few features far better than the Garmin but the screen would only show one zoom level while moving. That was a deal breaker. It also "arrived" several-many blocks away from the actual destination sometimes.

Good luck with it and enjoy.

Jack_Berry · Oct 1, 2010

this garmin also has an eco challenge app so you can work the fuel mileage. from the ta at 71/76 in ohio to the petro at the 86 in tn trk got 16 keeping it at or near the best hwy rating in the program.

Dakota · Oct 1, 2010

I saw the 1450T at Walmart today and love the 5 inch screen
Did a quick check with my droid and found walmart$199 Amazon $168 also not sure if you pay tax on Amazon

Out of curiosity how much did you pay?
THis may be my next GPS

Dakota · Oct 1, 2010

Couple more questions the one I saw was the 1450T at walmart
the one on amazon is the 1450
Guess the T means lifetime traffic.
How does the traffic thing work? just in major cities or is it all over? would Fort Wayne, In be covered, not that we have traffic LOL

Turtle · Oct 2, 2010

Yeah, the T is for Traffic. It's mainly major cities, about 90 metropolitan areas. The Traffic works primarily from data collected by radio stations and the city or state highway department, which gets reported over the air via an FM radio signal that the Garmin receives. Road closures are reported. When the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis the Garmin knew that road was closed and automatically routed around it. You know those signs in places like Chicago where it says "Time to whatever"? That gets reported, too, so the Garmin knows how long it takes to get through traffic or construction.

It's hardly 100% accurate, as accidents or other traffic delays happen and don't get reported, or they get reported after you're stuck. Also when traffic clears up it may take a while for it to get reported, so the Garmin may show a delay and then you get there and there's nothing. But it knows about stalled vehicles, accumulating traffic, accidents, all kinds of stuff. If there's an accident or a stalled vehicle it will often tell you which lane is closed, that kind of thing.

But it has saved me on several occasions. First week I had it there was an accident in the construction right at the exit I needed to take, but the accident closed the exit. Within a few minutes the Garmin knew about it and routed me accordingly.

Dakota · Oct 2, 2010

So sounds like for a couple more bucks it would be worth it
I love the 5 inch screen

ebsprintin · Oct 2, 2010

I just had a verifiably positive FM reroute in St Louis last week. It automatically routed me off the interstate through crazy downtown streets (not a good thing for a truck), but I could see the gridlocked traffic on the interstate that I was passing. I'm sure I saved 45 minutes. Third such good reroute that I witnessed in the past couple months of owning my new unit.

eb

Dakota · Oct 2, 2010

Just bought the Garmin 1450T on Amazon for $198 free shipping
I'll be running it with eco route and compare it to my nuvi 205W

Turtle · Oct 3, 2010

Just don't blindly follow the Garmin, or another map, including paper maps, to the point where you get yourself deep on a road where you can no longer go forward, or backup.

Yes, it's a Sprinter, but it's also in the Swiss Alps.

Dakota · Oct 3, 2010

I hear that, it routes me wonky sometimes, luckily I know most of the areas I go into around here and in NorthWest Ohio.
The traffic feature may not be much of a help here, but I may not be running local forever.

RoadKing06 · Oct 3, 2010

We have been looking at the Rand McNally GPS unit. I currently own a Tom Tom but of course there are no truck functions on it. What would be anyone's opinion of the Rand McNally units? I thought it best to replace my Tom Tom with one that has truck functions.

ebsprintin · Oct 3, 2010

RoadKing06 said:
We have been looking at the Rand McNally GPS unit. I currently own a Tom Tom but of course there are no truck functions on it. What would be anyone's opinion of the Rand McNally units? I thought it best to replace my Tom Tom with one that has truck functions.

Here is one conversation: http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/tech-shop/41602-rand-mcnally-tnd-700-a.html

and another: http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/tech-shop/39977-rand-mcnally-intelliroute-tnd-500-a.html

eb

Dakota · Oct 3, 2010

ebsprintin said:
Here is one conversation: http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/tech-shop/41602-rand-mcnally-tnd-700-a.html

and another: http://www.expeditersonline.com/forum/tech-shop/39977-rand-mcnally-intelliroute-tnd-500-a.html

eb

WOW, Im impressed how'd you find all that

Phoenix4774 · Oct 5, 2010

I've been trying to figure out which Garmin I might like. I'll look at the 1450T. Here is one "best of" site: GPS Reviews | Best GPS | Top 10 GPS

There is a kind of comparison chart down the page here:
Amazon.com: Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic: Electronics

I'm still not sure, anyone have any other favorite models?

Dakota · Oct 5, 2010

For a basic no frills GPS the 200W or 205W are cheap and basically work just as well has the higher level models. It won't massage your back or make you coffee though.
I opted for the 1450T for the eco routing and lane assist and 5 inch screen plus a price under 200

Phoenix4774 · Oct 8, 2010

I was wondering about the map update cost on your 1450T, I know it's lifetime traffic but was wondering how much they charge you for periodic updates? Thanks.

Turtle · Oct 8, 2010

Phoenix4774 said:
I was wondering about the map update cost on your 1450T, I know it's lifetime traffic but was wondering how much they charge you for periodic updates? Thanks.

There are a couple of options for map updates for Garmin products.

nüMaps Onetime™ - A one-time update for $49.99.
nüMaps Lifetime - Seasonal (up to 4 per year) map updates for the life of your device for $89.99.

You can get these mailed to you on a DVD, or if you have a good high speed Internet connections and aren't worried about bandwidth caps (they're like 1-1½ gig ) you can download them directly.

For a newer unit (less than 3 or 4 years old I would say), clearly the nüMaps Lifetime update is the way to go. For a unit that's several years old and hasn't been updated in a while, and you think you'll only update it once, maybe twice, the nüMaps Onetime™ may be the better option.