GPS

I know some guys have talked about this, but I don't know much about GPS and don't use it.

My son is starting a small landscaping business and wants to put all customers in GPS ... would like you guys opinion on which one to buy (and where?) --

He doesn't need all the fancy bells and whistles, but something good quality that will do this for him. I always hesitate to buy anything based purely upon price - you get what you pay for, usually in that regard. But don't want to spend money on 'fancy' that's not necessary.

Anyone help me here ?? Thanks M44

Hey Monkey!

I have a Garmin 750 Nuvi that I purchased about 18 months ago at Sams for $400 and I would not leave home without it. Sometimes it does some strange routing but that is rare.

The ability to find something nearby when you need it is a great feature particularly when you are in a strange area. A neat feature is that Larry has a file with the coordinates of all military campgrounds that can be uploaded to the Garmin so you have all of the military campgrounds already in your Garmin.

The prices are all over the place but your son should be able to find one around $200.

Curt

Actually, it's dad's birthday present to him -- so comes out of my wallet. Just want to be sure I get good value for the money ...

He said something about '50' contact points, or some have '500' contact points -- can you tell me what that means.

I have a Garmin 350 Nuvi and very pleased with it. Got this model only because I wanted one with ability to use external antenna. By the way, Circuit City is going out of business and saw on TV where they are discounting GPS units up to 40%. If you have a store in your area you may want to check them out.

Rich - Greer SC

I also have the Garmin Nuvi 750. Although I paid almost $500 for it, they can be purchased for under $200 (SAM's Club).

A "waypoint" or "POI" (Points of Interest) is a custom location you add to the GPS. This would be your son's customer's locations. Most of the Garmin units accept 500 waypoints. DO NOT get one that only accepts 50!!!

If your son is like most people, they'll soon want their GPS to do more. DO NOT waste money and purchase a basic GPS. Geezzz.. for $200, this a fantastic GPS. Even if you don't think you'll use all of the functions, you may want to soon.

When I purchased mine, I didn't think I'd care for the GPS also being a MP3 (music) player. However, I now find that feature fantastic while traveling in areas where I can't get a radio station.

I would suggest a Garmin. I have a nuvi 660 and it is great. Another feature I like is the ability to find a location on Google maps and download it to the Garmin. I found my Garmin on Amazon.com which was the cheapest. He might want to look into the feature of Blue Tooth where he can connect his phone to the GPS and talk hands free with all his customers. That way, he can talk to his customers while driving while his phone is still in his pocket. Both the GPS and phone have to be bluetooth compatible.