Good GPS....I will deem it as smart investment
931804
I recieved my GPS from Amazon Today. Used it little bit to try it....and I am luving it..this is the first time I used bluetooth handsfree calling...it was crystal clear....and GPS directions are good so far....I will say it is one of the best models in market based on my 1 day experience and my friends feedback who have used this one for few months.
1744940
It is superb of buying this one with this price range. I am new in US and trying to find workable GPS for new driver. I bought this one & very satisfied. This is the review from an Indian. I updated the lifetime maps also. It's cool. Go for this . please keep in mind that price tag also.
1188208
I strongly recommend this GPS. I work on the road, from one site to the next. I previously relied on the phone and Google maps. I would have to type in addresses on the phone and that meant having to loose some time sitting on the side of the road.

Now with the 2495LMT I just speak the address while I and driving. I never touch the darn thing except to add favorite addresses. I just say the address. including city and state, and 99.9% of the time, is gets it right the first time. It then routes me within a second and lets me know how long it with take for me to get there (very good estimate to give the customer). I like that it has all the icon for points of interest near by. And if you need a specific bank or supermarket, just say "place" then the name of the place. It will find and list all near by base on distance from your location, then you just chose from the list, by saying the associated number. Very handy when you don't know the area very well.

It also does some nice little things. Like when I type a name for a favorite location, the 2495 speaks the name I gave the location exactly as I type it. When I am done for the day, I just say "go home!" and it guides me home. I love using it so much that I use it for routes I already know. I show off this "voice command" feature to anyone who rides with me. They are amazed at how responsive it is, and how well it understands my words.

con:
I did have one bad experience. 2 weeks after buying it, I almost returned it. I left the charger in the cigarette lighter, which stays on all the time even after removing the key. The next morning I plugged in the GPS and it locked up after a few minutes. I called garmin and they had me force a shut down of the GPS, then had me reset all the info to default (As I first took it out of the box). I sill froze and they said I could wait for a specialist to call me back or I could return the unit. I opted to have some one call me back first, because I did not want to be without it if for 2 weeks. I troubleshot on my own, and found that it did not freeze when I disabled the traffic updates and only when plugged into the charger. The updated are received via the charger, so that lead me to believe that the bad data was coming from the charger and that it was because it was on overnight with no GPS to talk too. I started unplugging the charger when I come home, and have not had the problem since (over 6 weeks now).

I hope this was helpful to those interested in this GPS and to anyone who has had the GPS freeze on them and could not resolve the issue. To the people who have complained about the adds: Are you really serious? I barely ever notice them. You really have to look for them to see them. They are not a distraction and only work with the free traffic updates. I will take that over a monthly fee.
44654
I bought this device for $144. I purchased the add on traffic for $70. First, this is not going to be a world beater GPS system, but for the cost it is well worth it. The complaints that are out there, are easy to fix and adjust. You can adjust the text size, to make things easier to see and you can adjust all the icons to make them more appeasing to your eyes. You can even take out some of the stuff you won't use, to make the system quicker. All of this can be done with simply copying over some files on the unit.

Typing on some of the small inputs is pretty easy, but if you have large fingers, it may be difficult. I don't see the slowness that some have complained about, it is quick enough for me. I haven't had any issues from that perspective.

As far as looks, I give this thing a 10 out of 10. In terms of routing, I give the unit out of the box a 6 out of 10. After making adjustments to its calculations (Again taken from a GPS review site), I give it a 9 out of 10.

In the end, it works very well for the cost. Navigon is making adjustments to their "stuff" as they go to make it better. In the spring, they are supposed to release a patch that will make the routing better out of the box, and make the unit faster. (if any joe-schmoe can do it, Navigon can). The unit is nice and compact and, like I have already said, you can adjust the unit to make it your own. Not many others will let you do that.
2961863
There are a few excellent and detailed reviews already posted here, so I'll keep it short.

My GPS setup includes PalmOne Treo 650, TomTom Navigator 5 and Holux GPSlim 236 Bluetooth receiver. I live in a big city (Toronto), so I often had to use Google Maps to plan my trips from point A to point B.

TomTom calculates most routes in a matter of seconds and gets me where I want fast. If I miss a turn (and this happened a lot during the first week of use), it would either find an alternative route or ask me to make a U-turn when possible.

I've been using it for about a month now and, overall, I'm very happy. One issue I had with it is that it asked me to make a left turn at a few intersections with "No Left Turn" signs. I was actually signalling and getting ready to turn then noticing the sign at the last minute, so keep your head up and don't put all your faith into the software.

And of course, it doesn't take the traffic into consideration when figuring out your trip (unless you signed up for the optional TomTom traffic reports), so the TomTom-recommended route is not always the best one.

Despite these minor flaws, it is a great product. I am impressed with the detailed maps, application speed and the ability to get wherever I want fast, without getting lost in a big city. Navigator 5 is a good investment. You won't be disappointed.
3940427
I always used to scorn GPS units, preferring the time tested method of map and compass (often to the dismay of passengers when I'd hand over a map and ask them to find where we were at on it for me). When I needed a better set of directions, I'd just print something off the internet.

Well, the maps still may be in the map pockets on the doors of the truck and the compass in the glovebox, but my Magellan has finally gained a spot on my dash. It came as a result of my brother getting one and being able to see him use it to navigate around... And after despite all of my maps getting mighty confused a couple times trying to find some places I needed to go in the city (without a copilot,  it's kinda tough to use a map in city traffic).

So far, I'm quite impressed with it, it's helped me out a number of times now with navigating around, but it's not flawless (at least not yet, hence why I haven't thrown out my maps yet). Most of the time it's pretty much right on, but I've seen it tell you that you've arrived when you still have up to a half mile to go yet (seldom, I've only come across three places so far that it was off more than a hundred yards). But if you're paying attention, it's no big deal.

Has a ton of features that I haven't even begun to decipher, but it's nice because you can take it out of the box, throw it on your dash, and get on your way and learn the extra features later. I've recommended it to a number of people I know already.

Update:

Not so good after all...
Made it just out of the factory warranty (fortunately I had an extended warranty) and it died to the point that it wouldn't turn on at all, even plugged in. The replacement was a refurb unit that made it only a few months before dying. The next replacement lasted less than a month. Then I got one that was DOA. The last replacement made it about 7 months before the back of the case swelled up - I'm presuming the battery blew up since it holds no charge, will often freeze, refuses updates, will not read an SD card, and will not save things. Of course, the warranty is up so Magellan doesn't want anything to do with it anymore. Looks like I may be picking a different brand if this is the kind of customer service they give for my next one.
79052
Odd title for a comment, isn't it?  Here's why - you MUST realize that I am submitting a review while I have not used it THAT much.  So I am commenting on what I have experienced so far. There are great things about it, and a few frustrating characteristics as well.
The screen is well-organized, the colors are not distracting - they really do help you see which direction you will be turning.  The [female] voice is comical and robotic, but understandable, and the touch screen is very sensitive - which is great.  No need to firmly shove your finger down on the screen like some ancient martial-arts "death spear" punch; light taps will do.
Now for the frustrating stuff:
1) Sometimes it thinks I'm in Kansas; don't know why, I live in L.A. CA.  Other times it thinks I am [still] where I was yesterday. And sometimes it thinks I am where I am.  (Wow! Now there's a concept...!) If it thinks I'm where I'm not (???), then it takes a while to finally lock in my accurate position and begin directing me. (Now see point #2 below)
2) Most of the time it takes a loooooooooooooooooooooong time to "acquire satellite" positioning after I have entered my desired destination.  Haven't timed it - but I would not be surprised if it took about 5 minutes to lock in my current position. If I'm completely lost then that equals waiting a loooooooooooooooooooong time before I can start driving.
3) Its ability to direct me accurately is wonderful.  So I can rely on this thing when I am in unfamiliar territory (which IS the point of a GPS system, is it not...?) so that's good.  But it's as stubborn as all get out. It INSISTS on guiding me along a particular route which my not be the fastest, and as I insist on going my own way it utters the word "recalculating", and tries to figure out how to best get me back onto the route IT wants to take.  So efficiency is not it's most reliable attribute.  But - as long as it's accurate...!  And since I got it for less than $200, I'm fine with it! I'm stubborn too!
133070
I'm happy with the unit.  This was the most affordable, up to date dedicated GPS I could find that had lifetime maps for USA, Mexico, Canada, and Europe.

I added a 32gb micro SDHC card to it (the slot is very small and hard to see, right next to the USB plug on the back of the unit.) and ran all the updates.  You don't need a 32Bgb card, an 8gb or 16gb would probably be big enough.  I think the updates used about 9gb total between the card and the on board memory.

The Tom Tom website is not the best, or the easiest to use, but it does work.  I was able to update all of the maps within a few hours.  Just don't do the update the night before you leave and have some patience.  If you don't add a memory card, you may have to offload some map to get the full updates.  That said, it had all the maps already on it from the factory and adding memory allows you to load all the newest maps and information completely.

Switching between North America and Europe is easy, just go to settings and scroll sideways till you see the tab marked "change map"  click the one you want and it loads up.  Its fairly intuitive to use, and if you have a little experience you should be able to figure out a few more advanced routing functions like multiple waypoints, routing from destinations that you aren't physically at, etc.

He hardware that comes with it is fine.  The cable is long enough, the suction cup holds well, and the power adapter works as it should.  It powers up quickly, finds satellites in a reasonable amount of time, and so far has routed us accurately.

The unit works fine in North America, and I assume it will work the same way in Europe.
1643997
Got this on the "Prime Day" deal.  Had been looking at it for a while and the discount justified it.

Fairly good GPS that will give you a reading to green center, front, and back.  This model does not give you distances to specific landmarks or hazards.  Distance tracking is fairly easy to do.

Only gripes: The GPS could use a "button locking" feature.  Sometimes the buttons get pressed when in my pocket.

4/5 would buy again if not at MSRP.
1395749
I got S&T with GPS only a couple of days ago, but I am too excited not to write a review. I've painfully deliberated on a GPS device to get for over a year. I've been using S&T since 1999, and I love the software. You can find both addresses & businesses, and you even get the phone numbers! Better yet, the software is intelligent enough to figure out whether you are typing in a place or an address. You can even mix the two! E.g., if you type in "Taco Bell, CO" - you will get a list of all Taco Bells in CO! It is very intuitive and easy to use.

On the minus side, the software does miss the latest housing development - whole blocks of streets, even some of the ones that have been around for years. But that's a problem I've seen with all mapping software, so I got over that pretty easily. And yes, sometimes the directions aren't the best - but most of the time they are pretty good.

I did not have any problems installing the software or connecting the hardware (a USB cable plugs into a USP port of your laptop and a swap GPS unit - maybe a tiny bit bigger that a book of matches). I did not have to install the GPS driver separatly as someone else mentioned: installed S&T through setup, connected the GPS cable, and I was in business. (WinXP SP2 on a Compaq Presario 2108US - Athlon XP 2800+, 768MB RAM, 40GB HDD - the software needs around 1 GB if you install everything on your HDD, less if you run from a CD - but then it will run slower).

The GPS unit was able to lock onto the satellites even inside of my apartment (although it was a little "shaky" thinking that I was moving back & forth at about 1 mph even though I was perfectly still). But when I used it in my car, it worked perfectly well - 0 mph when stopped, tracked the speed well when I drove I agree with other reviewers - it isn't a good unit to use by yourself, as there is no voice guidance - you'd have to glance on your laptop or PDA screen all the time. However my wife drives and I look on the map, so it's not a problem for me. I found the unit exremely accurate outside in Seattle area. I followed the streets exactly, tracked accurately my speed, lat/long, altitude, showed time, showed a little compass with your direction. You can set the software to center the map to your position and/or rotate the map as you turn and/or "create GPS trail" - basically draw a blue line that shows where you were. I was very impressed with performance, even though this is my first GPS unit. You even get a little clear suction cup so you can stick the unit onto your windshield, and it worked pretty well.

The GPS hardware is Pharos iGPS-360 (nobody tries to make it a secret - it says it right on the unit).

You *can* use it with your PocketPC - but you probably will need a separate cable. (can be found for around $30). I have not tried that yet. Someone said that you can hook it up to a PDA with a standard cable if your PDA has a regular USB port, but I haven't tried that yet (I have Toshiba e740, but no extention unit with USB port - so I will probably just buy the proprietary GPS cable to hookup the GPS to my PDA). I will update this review if/when I do.

Anyway - I love the software (always have), and I love the extra GPS functionality - I was really missing it. I do highly recommend the unit.
4245766
I don't appreciate that buying a GPS is so convoluted. After a lot of research I found this to be a good mix of features and price. The unit does everything I need. There are a lot of different models that appear to be the same thing, some only at certain stores others simply no longer made. Features added and removed... it shouldn't be so complicated for a simple GPS.
4027085
I purchased a Magellan 2200T two weeks ago. Overall, I am happy with this GPS unit and I think it provides good value for the relatively low cost (compared to other units in its class).

The reason I purchased this unit (instead of the Tom Tom One and some of the Garmin units) is that it DOES include features that I valued like:

- Text to speech, the unit says the name of the street / road you need to take

- SIRF III chipset (faster satellite lock)

- Extended battery life (don't need to be constantly charging the unit)

This unit also excludes some "features" that others charge for that I don't feel add value to a GPS unit in this price range, specifically Bluetooth capabilities. I own a BT phone and headset, and can't imagine why I'd want to drag a GPS unit into the mix.

The NAVTEQ maps are as accurate as any GPS unit, and the POI set is adequate (I think it may contain slightly fewer points of interest vs. other units).

Again, overall I'm happy with the features, quality, and functionality. My only "wishes" are for a more robust POI database and a better online documentation from Magellan.
3415257
The Garmin 855 is a fine GPS. There's not much to set it apart from the competition. The one thing it does do -- and quite well -- is listen to you. When you press a separate button the unit goes into listening mode. Then you can speak your commands directly to the unit. You can speak any command that is on the screen plus a handful of commands that are good anytime. For example, you can say "go home" anytime and Garmin will answer with "Navigating Home". The whole thing works and really does make it a lot safer to use the unit. Everyone knows you shouldn't mess with your GPS while you're driving. I think everybody does it at least a little. I have. Once you get used to it you'll prefer voice commands to manual entry even when you're not moving.

I have a couple of quibbles:
* The video is a little jerky when it updates your position. I suspect it uses most of its memory for voice recognition.
* It can be a little late telling you when to turn. I've missed a few turns because of that.
* The sound could be a little louder.
* You can transmit directions through your car radio but I found the quality wasn't good enough plus there's background static.

The instructions recommend you put your separate "listening" button on your steering wheel. I tried it but it gets in the way. I attached it to my emergency brake and it works well there.

It's a solid GPS with one really good trick. I like it.
1642395
I like it.  It's a work GPS.  It gets me to the job, and back home.  I wish I had my wife's newer, fancier Garmin. I tend to already know how to get to the general area I need to be in;  I like it for routing me in closer (one-way streets, etc.).

  As with other reviewers, it does show its age.  No smart features, Bluetooth, not compatible with newer traffic receiver-you know the score.  I do have to reboot it on the fly when it freezes on the way to work.  Just hold the power button down, screen goes black. Hit it again, Garmin wakes back up.

  It is very imaginative with its routing-in a random way.  You clearly know a shorter, better way; but Garmin knows best.  There is a several-trip tug of war until it compromises and goes into common-sense mode.

  A memory card is MANDATORY after the first map update. At least 8 GB will make it almost hassle-free. Garmin Express is a lot more cooperative these days.  At first, it was an exercise in frustration!  Now, it nearly is plug-and-play.

  If you seek no-frills, cheap, lifetime updated(don't get me started about the traffic cable-looking at you, NAVTEC. I followed the police down I-90 to an accident scene. I was already backed up for about 2 miles. I saw the lane that they were avoiding, and got as far over as I could.  I got the update for that 12 minutes later.  Its getting worse reception.)
As the title says, these are at least 5 years old. That's a big grain of salt.
1693085
Very solid GPS & a good price @ around $100 in 2009.

Solid interface, solid features. Usually finds position in under a minute so not the fastest but not terribly slow either. The windshield mount is very stable. I had the GPS fall twice but I believe it was probably user error.

Cons:

-very little on board memory so you can't load many extras on there.

-spoken street names is hard to understand

-Some menu features should be easier to use but you learn them quick enough

-Vastly prefer Magellan's style of entering address.

-Does not tell which side of street your destination is (more important then you would think)

Overall very happy with my purchase & would/will buy a TomTom again if they continue to release this type of solid performer.
4349103
I picked this up on sale, needing a GPS system as I tend to get lost on long trips even with the best written instructions. I put it to the test with a trip to my roommate's parents' house to be on the safe side. While it seems to have funny ideas about local side streets, once out on the highway the unit performed like a champ- even saving me some hassle when I accidentally picked the wrong off-ramp onto an Interstate, giving me guidance on how to get back on-route in an area with pretty poor street signage. Voice guidance is accurate and easy to understand (although silly-sounding at times) and gives plenty of time to prepare for turns, in most cases.

However, there are some pitfalls here. Syncing the device with your computer requires Microsoft ActiveSync, which must be downloaded separately; nothing in the manual or on the company's website mentions this. (Speaking of the site, the online registration page is completely broken.) Placing MP3s on the device is impossible due to the included flash memory being full. The sound tends to be very loud sometimes when navigating menus, regardless of the volume setting. Touchscreen navigation without the stylus is iffy. The onboard battery could best be described as "pathetic"- but it will recharge from both the USB adapter and car adapter included with the unit.

All in all, though, I'm not at all sorry I bought it. I don't travel very much, but it's good to know that when I do I've got a decent navigator for the next time I get lost.
1166900
This is my first GPS, I liked because it was easy to use.
I did not read the instructions,and I was able to set it up.  I didn't have time to charge it inadvance so I did it in the car while driving.  It shows crossing streets, nearby restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and important landmarks (name of lakes, museums, airports), it even shows if there are airplanes flying above you.
It will let you know in advance and in detail when is your next turn.  It had very clear instructions when we encounter mergers of different highways that out of the sudden split up.
It also tells you the approximate arrival time to your destination, so you know if you will make it on time...
For a firsttimer, it had everything I needed... for local and out of state travel.
The only Con I had so far is the house number is 300 ft off. and battery life is a little short, but you can recharge while driving.