Ok, time to buy a GPS for my car. Nothing fancy..

[Ralph]

I recently bought a leftover Garmin (a Nuvi something or other) with 5" screen. $69 on Amazon. Has turn by turn voice, etc. it has life time updates....which seem to be available about every 3 to 6 months. I have garmin.com on my laptop, so when I connect the Garmin to my laptop for a charge, it automatically searches for latest updates....or tells me if updates are available. That's only reason I ever connect to my laptop. it says the life time updates are available as long as the memory in the unit is large enough to take the last update. When update exceeds available space....I image they will stop the updates.

My other cars have factory Nav.....but I like the portable Garmin better. Like it better than using my phone. BTW....I use it with a bean bag base from Garmin. Some of the newer portables have even larger than the 5" screen cheap.

[choke]

I'm with the majority....get a Garmin Nuvi.

These guys have some great vehicle specific mounts...far better than using something portable IMO. They can be removed quickly when you're not using the GPS. https://www.proclipusa.com

[cp43]

Originally Posted by Ralph

I recently bought a leftover Garmin (a Nuvi something or other) with 5" screen. $69 on Amazon. Has turn by turn voice, etc. it has life time updates....which seem to be available about every 3 to 6 months. I have garmin.com on my laptop, so when I connect the Garmin to my laptop for a charge, it automatically searches for latest updates....or tells me if updates are available. That's only reason I ever connect to my laptop. it says the life time updates are available as long as the memory in the unit is large enough to take the last update. When update exceeds available space....I image they will stop the updates.

My other cars have factory Nav.....but I like the portable Garmin better. Like it better than using my phone. BTW....I use it with a bean bag base from Garmin. Some of the newer portables have even larger than the 5" screen cheap.

All of the (three, so not that many) Garmin units I have had have a slot for an SD card, which allows you to expand the storage. So, you're not necessarily limited to the internal storage of your device.
This feature also allows you to add maps for another region using the SD slot.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by choke

I'm with the majority....get a Garmin Nuvi.

These guys have some great vehicle specific mounts...far better than using something portable IMO. They can be removed quickly when you're not using the GPS. https://www.proclipusa.com

I have a Pioneer NEX with Waze integration. The built-in GPS is a backup. I'll never go back to GPS only.

That said, I gave my son a Garmin Nuvi with lifetime everything for $69. It's a great unit for what it is. He uses it with Waze on his phone, side by side.

[AngryScientist]

whatever you get, make sure to remember a good secure mount that puts the device someplace where you can glance at it while keeping your eyes on the road.

fumbling with gps on a phone that is not well secured and convenient to look at is, IMO just as dangerous as any other device related distracted driving.

i guess if you rely on audible turn-by-turn directions this point may not apply, but i prefer to follow a "route up" style map.

i rent cars travelling constantly, and am often in totally unfamiliar territory, i've learned the lessons above the hard way.