Buying a GPS is very scary experience lol

Get on to ebay and buy a 7" GPS, see item 120886377459, install Oziexplorer and you have full mapping as well as turn by turn.

Hi Boo, you realise that if you have a smartphone you already have a GPS? They all come with a navigation program of sorts, if not there are free app downloads.

The maps are frequently updated for free too.

I have a Garmin but don't use it anymore, the phone is always with me. I usually know where I am going & just turn it on when in unfamiliar territory.

I don't need it on for example driving across the Nullarbor as the Garmin as the Garmin was.

Cheers Neil

Gidday

I reckon at that price point it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. Sure you can go to ebay, buy software, use your phone ... But if you just want a simple city navigator, which it sounds to me like you do, either would probably be OK. Both brands will have their devotees and knockers and there are sure to be people with stories about how their Garmin lasted a week and then failed ... but i would be happy with either. It might come down to what's on special this week and things like map updates. Or maybe even something as important as the Voice!

Cheers

What you might buy depends on what you want to use it for/where you will use it. More info = better answers.

Cheers,

Val

I just bought a Garmin 2597LMT to replace my old TomTom BooBoo (lol). On special atm from the Good Guys for $165. Has Bluetooth which I won't use and voice command which I haven't yet tried, but which apparently works very well. I was after a mid-range unit and after reading some reviews this came out as a pretty good all rounder. Free LMT updates is handy depending on where you're going.

Couple of things which are minor annoyances. Speed limit warnings are hit and miss. I tried this yesterday and got no beep but later on a different suburban road it worked. The visual spped display (hardly useful) always works - the speed is surrounded by either a green or red cloud. Don't know if this lack of consistency is a software or mapping issue, maybe both. Also, so far Garmin's implementation of the quickest route (which should be based on the mapping) has been relatively average. It obviously gets you there but not necessarily by the quickest or "most direct" route. However once you ignore it it quickly recalculates a new route based on your current heading. I would also say that the camera and speed alerts could be louder/more distinct. I don't like the volume up but I like to hear those clearly, especially when I'm in unfamiliar territory in a city. With so many signs and distractions in places like Sydney and Melb every little bit helps.

The 2597 is much more responsive than my old TT and acquires satellites "instantly".

Here's a review: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-car-gps/

Oh yeh another thing. The Aussie girl's voice is okay but she has no idea of how to pronounce some basic names (eg Kingsford, or as we all know it Kingsfd is, according to "Karen", Kings ford) so I'm going to give Aussie Lee or a Pommie voice a go.

I can't believe people are still buying a stand alone GPS. My phones do the job just as well if not better with Asssisted GPS and I don't have to pay for software upgrades. In fact you can use Whereis or Google for free.! I also like the fact my phone stays with me so it's not a target for thieves. Anyway that's my 2 bobs worth.!

spot on with the phones I get the choice of using Navigon or Google maps

both do a good job. thing I like about google maps is its far more intuative than stand alone gps for finding things

little things like addresses suposedly in one suburb but are actually in another due to that suburb being adjoining and better known stops normal GPS dead but google maps still finds them

Unless you are full-time on the road, doing the "big lap" or whatever else takes your fancy, 99% of the driving you will do will be places where you don't need instructions.

So, it makes sense to install a unit that you can use for "other stuff" when you do not need the GPS capability.

You could certainly do far, far worse than use a 7 or 8 inch android tablet, with "Navigator" software app (which uses free, user supported/editable maps) for the GPS functions and then the other stuff you can do - I have Mahjong, Chess, crossword apps as well as the usual suspects like email and web browser on mine.
This means that you can find your way to a Maccas for a semi-decent coffee, and check the emails while you are there! Then you can stop for the night anywhere you want, park or freecamp matters not, and have a game of mahjong while you wait for the pizza delivery (just joking ;) ) and then kick up the GPS kit on the following morning and continue on your way.
You can also track expenditure, keep a diary, etc etc etc using, often free, apps - take fairly reasonable (not studio or competition winning) photos, and vids as records of where you've been - and any number of other apps - mind blowing, really!

I have 2 Garmins an old 4 inch and a 1490T with voice/bluetooth and congestion warning
The red and green on the speed are whether you are under or over the speed limit as understood by the Garmin. My maps are old now so not always correct.

The Garmin maps are good in the country but if you want small tracks you need Garmin topo which will load into the Micro SD slot.

Both of mine have been trouble free for years except the 1490T had a dummy spit once and needed a reboot which is explained on their site.

You have to clear the memory ie "Recently Found " and favourites every now and then or it becomes slow to calculate a route.
I am very happy with them and find them very intuitive to use. I recall that I had a Tom Tom in a hire car in ZA and I never did figure out how to work it, whereas you can use a Garmin from minute one.
Regards Philip A

I just bought a Garmin 7" screen, 2797 for $240, the smaller version is the 5" 2597 $180 if you want a smaller screen. It has lifetime maps and traffic for the actual life of the unit. I just retired the old Garmin 760, it was locking up every 15 minutes, driving me crazier than normal. I bought a current Garmin Topo Micro SD on Ebay for $22 and has turn by turn. With paper maps and Garmin Topo should get me out of trouble. On sale at DSE at the moment and so much better than the 5 yo Garmin 760 in features and thinking!! Michael