Pairing the unit with your phone is easy and the Google map location finder is brilliant
935707
Practical beyond words

Review: I am ashamed to admit, but I lose my keys all the time. I also misplace my wallet occasionally until my wife claims it from the washing machine.
The XY beacon is my salvation.  A most helpful little Bluetooth device.  Pairing the unit with your phone is easy and the Google map location finder is brilliant.
These are going to make great Xmas gifts.
4135297
ok, so i got my unit on black friday. but even if i had paid twice as much as i did, i would still give it 5 stars.

i have a 2005 infiniti g35 coupe, with a factory-installed GPS system, which was around a $1000 option. i have stopped using it in favor of this little gem of a unit. i have also played around with a tom tom go 700, and a garmin c320, which are also great systems, but cost much more and aren't nearly as portable as the Mio.

PROS:

-- the screen is beautiful with extremely sharp resolution.

-- although the interface is a little complicated at first, once i played with the unit for an hour, it now seems quite intuitive. there are a lot of customizable options. one thing that is difficult to figure out was how to save my address book. you actually have to do it under 'My POI'.

-- it locks on quickly and gets a strong signal even inside my apartment.

-- the small size, and the fact my system came with a AC adapter. also the rechargeable lithium battery lasts a pretty long time between charges. this is one of the few GPS systems that i would not be embarassed to carry around while touring a new city on foot, because it is so thin that it looks like a PDA. It seems like that Mio designed this unit with this in mind because there is a "on foot" setting which takes into account the slower speed, and avoids freeways, etc. This is unlike most of the other units i have seen (Garmins, Magellan, Tom Tom), which are way too bulky to carry around. i have been carrying my Mio around on my waist in a PDA case. i plan to use it when i visit a new city to get around--it will also be extremely helpful to find stores, restaurants, hotels, gas stations (see next comment)

-- the Points of Interest function is awesome. i can search for nearby businesses by 'category' (for example, nearby japanese restaurants, or nearby gas stations, or nearby shopping malls), OR i can search for nearby businesses by 'name', for example, the nearest Best Buys, or Targets, or Disneyland. this is awesome, and is my favorite feature because in my Infiniti, i can only search nearby businesses by 'category'. (in my infiniti, if i want to find the nearest Best Buy, i have to choose 'shopping', and then scroll through tons of stores before i find it.)

-- the rerouting is almost immediate once it senses you have passed the suggested turn.

-- as the last reviewer mentioned, the zooming function also works wonderfully smoothly and quickly.

-- i have been using it in Los Angeles, and i have had no problems at all with the TeleAtlas maps. it has consistently chosen the best routes all over Los Angeles.

CONS:

I have to think long and hard to think of some cons...but there are a few

--when i turn on the unit, it sometimes freezes and becomes unresponsive while it is searching for the satellite signal for 15-20 seconds. at first i thought the system crashed. but just be aware of this.

--although there are 15 or so voice languages, there are two voices for English and they are both male! (one is an american accent, one has a english accent) it would be cool to have a british lady accent.

--the mount is a bit on the larger size, but it does work extremely well, so i guess i shouldn't complain.

--no bluetooth, but i don't think any GPS systems less than $300 have bluetooth.

all in all, an awesome little piece of equipment. i couldn't be happier with this baby.
4757266
This Bushnell GPS Personal Locator can work both as a GPS locator and a digital compass.  It's about the size of a compass but very lightweight.  The one I have is bright orange, a color I'd recommend to make it easy to find.

Out of the package, it's easy to use.  Take it outside and give it time to find a satellite signal.  If you own a GPS unit of any kind, you know it may take a few minutes.  From there, press a button to mark your spot.  There are three locations we can mark: home, car or other.  Of course, we may substitute anything for our home or car, but three locations is the most it will hold in memory.

Turn it off, walk away.  When you want to find your way back, turn it on and follow the arrow.  It's that simple.

How well does it work?  I started out by marking my house and walking around the block.  The home arrow would be a little off the direction I would normally walk.  Being constrained by roads and sidewalks, I could only go in the general direction of the arrow, but I got home, nevertheless.  I faced the same problems in a parking lot.  Cars were my obstacles, so I couldn't quite follow the arrow, and that arrow did seem a little off at times, but I could follow the general direction of the arrow and find my car.

So, I wondered if I was hiking off a trail and got completely lost, would I be able to find my way back?  Is this arrow being "slightly off" a problem?  Having no desire to actually get lost, I went to a large park with an open field, where my walk would not be impeded by sidewalks, roads and cars.  I marked my car, went to the other side of the park and resolved to follow that arrow blindly.  I walked and walked, despite my internal protestations that this was not a straight path, that the locator was taking me away from my car.  But, yes, there it was!  When all was said and done, I ended up next to my car.  Looking back, it was as straight a path as could be, but trees and grass and hills gave me the illusion when I was walking that the arrow was a few degrees off.  Wow.

After my little experiments, I do trust my Backtrack.  This personal locator will be especially useful in the backcountry on poorly marked trails.  It's coming with me on all my future camping trips.
1459732
Got this for my Garmin DriveSmart 50 NA LMT GPS navigation system instead of using that silly one that comes in the box that supposedly mounts and sticks on the dash ( it never stays). This is the one that inserts right into your Cd/dvd player. It is so easy to use!  You can even play a CD while this is in if you wanted, doesnt interfere.

Easy set-up. You attach the ball-joint thing in the back of the Garmin  (ball-joint thingie is the technical term of course), then you insert it into your CD player and adjust the knob slowly just until it is tightened. Do not over-tighten or you will strip it.

You can turn the Garmin any which way you like, face the driver, the passenger, down, up, etc. I got the Garmin that is touch sensitive and blue-tooth so we can input through voice or touch. That is handy when taking calls or adjusting your route en-route.

Love this unit.
3011718
I had to replace my old iPaq 1910 and my Navman ICN 630 GPS.

This time I tried to get only one device. The iPaq RX5915 was the device of choice combining a GPS, a PDA with wireless LAN and Bluetooth.

When I received the iPaq RX5915 the first I did was to turn on the WiFi to get linked with my home network. The iPaq immediately detect my network. I just had to click on the network name, then the iPaq asked me to enter the security key and voila in less then 35 secs I got connected.

After I installed Skype on the device. I installed quickly the CAB file on the iPaq. Logged into my account. I was able to call quickly my friends with Skype.

Last thing I did was to pair my Nokia N73 with the iPaq over bluetooth. The process was very simple. Just turned on the bluetooth phone manager on the iPaq and it recognized almost immediately my phone.

I charged the iPaq all night long because the next day I had to travel to northern california.

I installed the iPaq inside my car on the dashboard. Turned on TomTom. I less than 90 secs the iPaq acquired the satellites signal. I entered the final destination and the iPaq gave me a precise itinerary in less than 20 secs.

On my way to San Francisco I decided to check the traffic. I turned on bluetooth on the iPaq and on my Nokia N73. On the TomTom menu I clicked on traffic. The iPaq connected to the TomTom server very quickly. I noticed on the screen an accident between two exit on the 101. The GPS offered me an other itinerary that I decided to follow.

As of today I really love this device. The SIRF chipset inside the iPaq RX5915 is very precise and very fast to pick up the satellite signal. The WiFi is very good as well. Very easy to setup, anybody can do it. The screen is very nice. You can watch movies on it without problems. You can stream sirius on this device too. It's incredible what you can do with this iPaq. I highly recommend it to anyone considering getting a GPS or even to anyone considering a new PDA.
3410064
I researched all the Golf GPS units (including free apps for my smartphone) and decided that Golf Buddy Voice gave me what I needed at a most reasonable price.  The Golf Buddy tells me how far it is to the green...front, back, and center. (I can also measure how long my shots were, but more about that in a sec.)  When I'm playing, I only need the distance to the green, not what club to use, where the OB stakes are, how deep the lake is, what club Tiger would play, etc, etc. The rest, I can see...
The Voice is small, light, has a strong clip, and when you push the button, tells you how far to the green in a pleasant female voice, loud enough to hear but not so loud that your golf buddies can hear her. (Or you can look at the display which gives yardage and a diagram of the green, but mostly I just used the voice.)
It is easy to "set up":  I arrived at the course, turned the unit on, and it did the rest...found the GPS satellites, found the course, and when I got to the first hole, it announced that I was at "Hole #1, 435 yards."  The Golf Buddy kept track of which hole I was on and announced when I got to the next hole.  I clipped the unit to my cap bill and never knew it was there until I needed to check my distance, a simple button-push done without needing to look at the unit.
Battery life so far is excellent: it is internal and rechargeable and it has plenty of juice to get through probably two rounds or more. (I recharge after each use, so can't say exactly how long it lasts, but it is enough.)
You can measure shots too by pushing two buttons simultaneously when you hit and again when you get to your ball.  The Voice will announce the distance from the hit.  Not so useful unless you are looking to brag about your monster drives, or maybe checking your club yardage, but it's there anyway.
I checked the Golf Buddy website to be sure all my local courses were available (they are) and could look through a list of over 30,000 courses which are catalogued.  Even if your local "Hogtrough Links" isn't listed, they say they'll try to get it for the database.
In short, if all you mostly want is the distance to the green, this is the product for you.
2176468
This device works great for both my Windows Mobile phone with Tomtom and my Blackberry Pearl which has its own Maps software.  It was very simple to pair it up with both phones.  The Bluetooth range is very good, I can go the back of my full size van while the GPS is on the front dash.  Although I live in the suburbs and not an urban canyon, I've not lost satellite contact yet.  It must have a good antenna, but there is nothing to flip up or align, just push the button to turn it on and you're golden.
1299159
This has to be the best little gadget I've ever purchased, next to my iPod and Game Boy Advance, espcially considering how easily I get lost.  Setup is pretty easy, just install the map software that comes included, download the selected maps to the GPS unit and you are basically ready to go.  The unit sometimes takes a little while to find the satelites, but never longer than 5 minutes unless you are in a really bad area, often it only takes about 10 seconds.  Once the satelites are found you have access to TONS of navigation information.  Basically anywhere you have downloaded maps for you can find places to eat, shop or have fun.  You can find everything from Subway sandwich shops to Post offices and shopping malls.  Finding street addresses isn't hard at all, just type in the address in the unit and you are ready to go.  There are even a few different options for how it should calculate the route, using either shortest driving distance, shortest estimated time, avoiding highways etc etc.  Calculating routes takes only a few seconds and if you happen to make a wrong turn it quickly recalculates the routes!

The only real problem is if you plan on going on an extremely long trip and run out of space to store maps on the unit.  Although if you are selective with which maps you download you should be able to get all you want.

I've never had a GPS unit before so I don't have much basis for comparison, but this unit seems to be a great value as it has great functionality combined with a good price compared to other units which cost over $1000.  If you want a really nice GPS unit that is extremely portable and pretty easy to use, go for this one, I love it!
4828363
As soon as I turned it on, it showed my exact location and when I typed in a destination, the GPS figured it out no problem.
1912307
I love my TomTom.  My husband was against me investing in a separate gps device when both of our phones had navigation apps but I finally insisted  because I was tired of being stuck with no navigation on my phone due to shoddy service.  My TomTom has never let me down.  The controls are easy to navigate and pretty intuitive.  The search feature is quick to identify my destination, whether I am search for a street, house or store.  I use the voice control with great success, even in a van full of loud boys.  The graphics are easy to follow and the multiple voices are fun to play with, even though you only have one option if you want the street names read aloud.  My favorite feature is the scrolling bar on the right of the display which shows the trip progress as well as any upcoming gas stations along my route and with traffic info when connected to my phone.  I have my TomTom connected to my phone, which is on an unlimited data program, so this feature might not be for everyone, but I have found it reliable and easy to use when I have needed it.  I have it attached to my windshield and the unit stays solidly in the holder, yet pops out with little pressure.  Overall I could not be happier with my TomTom.
143602
This is the 3rd GPS unit we've owned, and the 2nd Garmin. It is a very attractive, well built unit with a fantastic touch screen. The magnetic mount is brilliant. I scoffed at the vertical orientation until I tried it. I like it better than horizontal. We changed the voice recognition command to 'Madam Leota' for kicks, and it's fun and remarkably accurate. Keep the kids and radio quiet when talking. Unlike my smartphone, the text and buttons are large and driver friendly.

So why not 5 stars? It has a couple of quirks, many of which others have mentioned, but one that I'm not fond of is what I call 'Speed Racer' mode where 1/2 the screen shows a animation of the highway and the on/off ramps. It's useless and distracting. I'm driving the real road, so I don't wish to see a Speed Racer animation. The street sign view is wonderful. I'd rather keep that on the screen. I also miss the 'security location' feature on previous models so if it's stolen, all your addresses and home location are now very easy to find. In fact, I've set 'home' to our neighborhood's mailbox area just in case. The polarized screen is mildly distracting.

Keep in mind this thing is working from GPS, not A-GPS or S-GPS, so it will work anywhere you can get a shot of the sky. That means tunnels and tall city buildings can mess it up, but it also means if you are really really lost out in the boonies, it will get you home, no network or wifi needed.
2093924
This was my first GPS unit.  For years I have balked about getting GPS, thinking why do I need it when I have Google maps on my phone?  Then I went on a trip with someone who had it, and immediately saw the difference.  There is no comparison.  This model is a great value for the price.  Plus it is really easy to use.  Very intuitive.  It did not come with a manual, but you really don't need one.  And you can download one from the Garmin website anyway.  Used it last week for a vacation trip all over The Berkshires and it worked like a charm.

As for Amazon, I received it the day before the expected delivery date.  That's always a happy surprise.

Very happy with this purchase.
2232949
I love this, it's quick and easy to plug in and get synchronized to my phone. The app show so much information and everything is seamless.
2457978
Although GPS are becoming obsolete due to fact that most of smart mobile phones already have it, I still like the idea of a portable GPS with a wide screen and easy to read and handle, and this one does what it takes to be a great companion on the road.

Very accurate, inexpensive (under $99), mapping re-calculation is actually fast and picks up signal efficiently quick. I had a Tom-Tom before, it broke in less than 3 years, screen was a lot smaller, it was sluggish picking up signal and paid +$350. Couldn't be happier with my Garmin nvi 260W, and the price range makes it more than affordable. 100% recommended.
3754035
After spending a few days researching GPS receivers that were good candidates for motorcycles I narrowed my list to the Garmin Zumo 550, Garmin StreetPilot 2820, and TomTom Rider.

Although the Zumo 550 seems to be the more popular choice lately, I decided upon the StreetPilot 2820 because it has more features (ex: multiple via points on a route and a higher resolution screen).

It is an excellent choice for a motorcycle --it can easily be operated with gloves on, it's waterproof, it's easy to read, and it can pair to two Bluetooth devices (in my case a Bluetooth helmet and my Blackberry).

The maps that come with this unit are outstanding --I can fairly reliably tell the difference between paved and unpaved roads (something you can't do with Google Maps, for instance).

I have found one bug with the device: If you're using the music player and attempt to voice dial a phone number, the Bluetooth connection gets flaky and I need to reboot the unit --I'm hoping a future firmware update will fix this issue.  At least I've found a work around to this annoyance --if I manually pause the music and then make (and complete) the call and then unpause the music everything seems to work okay.

Garmin technical support while I was trying to diagnose this issue was outstanding.

I highly recommend this unit.
2574291
I don't feel like paying Verizon $10/mth to use the internal GPS of the Blackberry 8830, so I purchased the M-1200.  IMO it is $60 well spent!

The device is small, about the size of a disposable lighter.  It is easily carried in a pocket or on a keyring.  Setup is quick, no problem discovering or pairing the phone and GPS.  Performance of the M-1200 is fantastic.  It gets a GPS lock very quickly.  When placed on the dash it regularly locks onto 9-11 satellites.  Two small anti-skid feet keep the little block from sliding around.

The device can be charged via a wall plug, a cig lighter plug or with a common USB-mini cable.  Real-world battery life has been 10-12 hours.
566639
Preface---I purchased this unit instead of updating my vehicle's GPS maps and traffic subscription.  Also, this was not purchased through Amazon because a better price was obtained  through B&H.

So far, this unit makes it easy to plugin destinations and keep favorite places.  Just after entering a few letters of the place you want to go to, it already makes suggestions.  Once selected, very quick to provide guidance.  Entering interim stops is no problem while enroute.  I cannot address traffic rerouting at this time since I have not encountered a situation when this required a change in course.

So far, I am impressed by this unit and glad that I spent the money on this versus upgrading the software and map on my built in GPS.

I also recommend that you read the owner's manual for this device to avoid some programming headaches.  Also, if you don't like the purple used to indicate your route, use the NAVIGON map option so that your route appears in yellow.