Mike wrote:
Do you own one, if so, what brand?

Buying a gift for someone, and have been reading reviews until I'm blue in
the face. Looking to spend around $250. Been looking on NewEgg, any
suggestions for competitors?

Thanks


What's best for you really depends on intended use. e.g. for driving
navigation there are plenty to choose from, there are some that can also
be used for hiking, biking, boating, etc. and a lot of what you are
paying for are the maps (don't believe me? check out Garmin's site -
buying a map that your unit isn't loaded with costs about half as much
as the unit itself) so it pays to get what you need up front. Also
updates are good - I recently bought a Garmin and it was useless until I
took advantage of my "free" map update. Haven't had to go outside my
sphere of influence since updating so can't say how out of date the
"current" maps are. Took about 4 hrs. on a 56K connection to do
everything. I also downloaded an enforcement camera database as well so
it can warn me when Big Brother is watching (I live just outside of DC,
there's both speed and red light cameras all over the place. That also
explains somewhat why an out of date map isn't much use to me - there's
tons of construction projects going on around here and all the way out
into Loudoun County...)

But short answer, if we knew what you were going to be using it for, we
might be able to give you better advice. Me, I got a Garmin nuvi 500,
which is pretty much an all-around compromise - it's mostly driving
centric, but doesn't have spoken street names and has a smaller screen
than some other models. It's waterproof, but only has a rough topo map
and no marine charts. It costs about the same as a better unit for
driving only. So if your priorities are different than mine you might
be disappointed with the unit I bought... (and who knows if I even
bought the exact best unit for me.)

nate

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