Overall, the best GPS to fit my needs
586640
I initially tried the Tomtom GO 700, here in Northeast USA, Boston area.  In the first day, using it on routes I knew already, it did fairly well, but sent me astray occasionally, and once on a very strange route.  (Instead of taking the proper left at an intersection, it had me take a right, drive 1/2 mile to a rotary (a.k.a. traffic circle) and loop around the rotary to make a U-turn to come back to the same intersection.)  I felt that if I had to second guess its route, it was not doing what I bought it for.

I then tried the c330, since it uses a different company for its maps.  After two days with it, it has not yet led me astray.  I also tried that same intersection above, and it properly told me to take the left.

I considered the c340, but there are many reports of it locking up... not good.

So, I'm settled on the c330.  Comparing this to the Tomtom 700, here are the pros and cons I found:

Pros of the c330 over the Tomtom 700:

- Routing and maps superior on the c330 in my limited time with each

- Points of interest (POIs) are much better on the c330.  A more extensive database, phone numbers of POIs in the database, and a better user interface.  Tomtom's POIs are fairly useless.

- Ability to zoom out and in on route and have the view stay that way (the Tomtom insists on resetting back to its preferred zoom level after a short time)

- Audible tone setting preceding voice guidance; it's good to have a consistent tone to get your attention so you know what to listen for, especially when cranking tunes.

- $200 cheaper!

- Service seems to be better from Garmin than from Tomtom, from what I've read (no first-hand experience)

Things I liked on the Tomtom that the c330 doesn't have:

- While the ability to add new voices sounded appealing, GPS forums indicate that the "funny" and celebrity voices get annoying after a few minutes and most have reverted back to the stock voice.  Still, a cool feature nonetheless.

- Brightness setting.  The c330 has only two brightness settings, and I find the dimmest is still quite bright and annoying at night.

- Route demo.  Very cool features of the Tomtom that allows you to preview the route at 5x speed or slower.  C330 can step through route, I believe, but not as slick as Tomtom.

- Bluetooth phone compatibility, of course.

- Traffic compatibility, although I don't think I'd really use this (a pay service and hardly worth it in my area).

- In general, the Tomtom is more user configurable

Some annoyances of the c330:

- Silly startup screen which warns you about not typing on it while driving or something like that.  Requires user to hit OK each time starting up.  Dumb.

- Mount is a bit short, which doesn't enable me to mount it low on my windshield, where I would have preferred.  Tomtom wasn't much longer.

So, overall, the c330 will be my GPS.
4779015
I have been using this for a week and am quite pleased with it.  I downloaded the maps for CA and the surrounding states (AZ, NV and OR) and they all fit with room to spare in the 256 MB SD card of my 4355.  I have used the Magellan several times when I rented from Hertz and I found the interface much much better.  The feature that I like the best is that you could set your destination using your Outlook contacts; no need to enter address or street names.
I am giving it 4.5 stars because of an annoying feature of the flashing BT blue light from the 4355 (which is not really the fault of the GPS device)when driving at night but otherwise a really great product.
1733804
I have both MS and DeLorme.  Both have their strengths, but I find Microsoft works best for me as I use it for on-the-spot navigation.

We use it in our motorhome where traditional GPS units (such as Tom Tom, etc) are not practical.  With a rig that is 12' high, 40' long plus another 20' for the tow, I need more information and I need more hands-on involvement with directions.  MS Streets with GPS serves me rather well in that regard.

My biggest complaint with Microsoft is that they never update their maps.  I bought updates every year for five years, but will do so no more.  I've used their embedded system for reporting errors, but none of the reported errors were included in any updates.  I do not rely on it to take me to a location, such as a rural RV park because it is too often wrong.  Instead, I plug in the actual street address, AND I compare it to the directions given me by Woodalls RV Park Directory.  In-city locations would probably work fine, but given our size, we are rarely in cities or looking for in-city sites.

It allows me to print wonderfully detailed maps of cities that we visit in our car after parking the motorhome.  Details include parking spaces, restaurants, business districts, and much more.  I can print anything from overviews to turn-by-turn directions with maps.

I keep MS Streets with GPS open and in front of me as my husband drives the RV.  This allows me to zero in on local diners when it's time for lunch, or keep tabs on towns that we may want to walk through as a fun break from travelling.

If they would simply update their maps, I would be their biggest sales person.  It has gotten us out of some pretty tight situations.
3338434
Overall I like the Nuvi, but I am on my 7th year as a road-warrior and have always used Hertz Neverlost (Magellan) GPS systems in my rental cars.  I think part of my problem is trying to compare the handheld GPS to a DVD-based GPS system and am expecting too much in the handheld.

Pros:
Great touchscreen, Perfect "pocketable" size, good sound, voice direction commands usually come before the turn you need to make (which is nice, and not always the case with voice GPS systems), easy to mark favorite locations

Cons:
It does not always pick the best routes.  I played with it a lot around my local area and it tried to take me out of my way on several occasions (in the worst case, getting off a straight road I was on, talking sort of a circular detour, and getting right back on the original road just further down the line. I don't care how you try to explain it, that route is neither the fastest nor shortest route available), Traffic add-on module probably not worth it for most people, bluetooth functionality probably not worth paying extra for, battery life is less than I would like (only a few hours), satellite acquisition generally works quickly, but when it doesn't, it takes a while for it to recover, even in large metro areas (San Francisco, being one) outside on clear days, typing layout is abc, not qwerty (there may be a setting to change that, but I haven't found it,at this point)
3169752
My car has a gps and my phone has one too, but I still use this.  It is easy to use and to update the maps and has a big enough screen  I can see it easily.  I like all the features on it.
4970469
I recently revieved this GPS for a gift and I love it. It's very sturdy and it has a nice color display. The reception is outstanding, I can even recieve strong signals in my basement. The only down side to this device would be the roadways. They are not very detailed, but interstates, state roads, and county roads still show up. I find the ammount of roads in the US plentyful, but there are very few roads in Canada displayed. Although this may seem as a downside it is not that bad, because software can be purchased giving the roadways full detail. Another Pro to this device is that it is much smaller than it looks in the pictures. This makes it nice and easy to fit in your pocket or put in a cup holder in a car. I especially like the GO TO features on this device. You can search airports, parks, lakes, cities, roadways, etc. You just type in the name of the place you want to go to on the GO TO display and it will draw out a route from your current position. The routes that are displayed are shown as a crow flies, which is a downside, but it's quite simple to find the quickest roadway, allong the line drawn. This device also has many points of interest to mark including, highway exits, hotels, gas stations, airports, campsites, and a whole lot more. In other reviews it has been said that this device is "hard to use with too many displays" I disagree. This divice is very easy to use once you get the hang of it. It has many features and the screens are customizable to your preference. It has many helpful features like a barometer, fish and game calculator, and sunrise/sunset. I also enjoy how it gives me an exact speed (more acurate than the actual speedometer in the car) It tells you estamated time of arival, how many more miles to arival etc. So far I have only gotten to use this device on one trip, but it was extremely useful. Instead of searching through a huge map I just scrolled around on the display making it allot easier. The best advantage of this device is the price. For a device of such high calibar it is extremely cheap, although only on AMAZON. There are better color devices, but you are going to be expected to pay a couple hundred dollars more. This is a great item, and if you are looking for not-so- complex GPS, or you want a more economic device, and want a beutiful color display, this is definately the GPS for you.
3232874
I had another brand that I struggeled with, but thankfully it was stolen from my car. The nuvi 255w cost me less and I'd say the benchmark for GPS's. It does it all, except that the time of day does not appear on the screen when traveling to a destination. I should have bought one with MP3, though.
28800
I recently moved to Houston TX and got one of these gadgets to explore the area by myself and not have to worry about reading a map while driving.
It's great, well almost perfect.  I'll talk about the only negative points I have found using it.
1. Driving along the interstate in the slow lane and suddenly it thinks your not on the interstate anymore, it decides that you are on the frontage road - "Off route, recalculating..." it says.  That is annoying.
2. It sometimes decides on routes which take longer and involve more turns than required. (But i guess if you know a better way, then go for it, it soon realises that you are off route and recalculates accordingly)
3. I was trying to find the nearest Outback Steakhouse from my location and the nearest one it found was 12 miles away, which is completely wrong as there is one less than 5 miles away.  I suppose it can't know everything.
4. I was stopped by the police for doing 69 in a 65 zone and the police woman spotted the Ique on my dash while writing me a warning for my speed, she asked what it was.  After I told her she said that it was illeagal as of September 2003 (in the state of Texas) to mount any device on the dashboard which blocks any part of the drivers field of view.  She wrote me another warning for that.  So now the Ique sits on the arm rest in next to the drivers seat, but the signal is not half as good there and it often looses a satellite reception.
All that said though, I still reccomend it to anyone who hates maps or who has a spouse who's terrible at map reading.  Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to drive without it.
739008
This is a great product compared to the competition in the advertised features, their functionality and usability. Here's what I liked.
1. Lane assist and reality view work and add value.
2. Exit Guide - this proved very useful to plan ahead in a roadtrip.
3. Dead reckoning - although Navigon never advertised it, i suspect it is there. The device tracked (estimated) through several mile-long tunnels west of Harrisburg on the Pennsylvania turnpike.
4. Traffic rerouting seems to work.

Here's what I didn't like, or would like to see improvements.
1. Software stability. After some up time (a day or so in my recent experience), the device needs to be restarted. Usually not a biggie, but could be a concern or annoyance if it happened in the middle of routing and without a co-driver.
2. Lane assist/reality view could be enhanced to guide to the right hwy/road outside some exits. For example, NJ Tpke exit 13A - I think that's one helluva complicated exit, and some of the road signs are misaligned. Sadly, neither reality-view/lane-assist come to the rescue there. Given my observation that reality view at least kicks in unfailingly before every major hwy exit and interchange (and I tested this on a roadtrip from NJ shore to Rapid City, SD), I suspect Navigon has overlooked the case I mention here.
3. There is a limited option (but still better than the Garmin StreetPilot, which is the only other GPS I used) to add intermediate destination on the route. I would like to see this enhanced, such as "add a Starbucks stop wherever up to 40 miles out, and detour no more than 1.5 miles from the route" - now that would be great!
4. The advertised "digital compass" is not a real compass, it only works when the car is moving. A real compass could have been used in implementing better navigation to guide the car out from standstill inside a large parking lot, for example.
182520
Great all round GPS, but has a few annoyances. It has blue tooth that I love using to send addresses from my phone to the GPS (using their app), but when it's connected I can't figure out how to NOT use it's build in speaker phone (my car has a much better speaker phone). Also, I can't get it to show my compass heading and arrival time or travel time. It has a several options for what it can show in the lower right corner, but it can only show ONE at a time. I also tried the voice recognition, but it was terrible. Every time I told it to find something, what it thought I said was NO WHERE NEAR what I had said.

Now, with all that out there, everything else about this GPS is PERFECT! I bought this because I was sick of the Google Maps on my phone letting me down. It's never given my wrong directions and I have never missed a turn.  It doesn't freak out the instant it thinks I am off route because it has my location slightly wrong.  It doesn't talk too much, but never missing something I need to know.
744489
I bought this for the hubby a short time ago, and I'll tell you what.  It's great.  I find myself using it more than he does.  I'm the type that has to do a lot of research on things before I buy anything, so I did a whole bunch of research before buying this, and it paid off.  Sure it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that a lot of the others do.  But those were also double the price!  THis has everything that I could want, plus LIFETIME TRAFFIC!  That works great in Texas, btw.

One of the only minor complaints I have is that the touchscreen sometimes has a bit of a mind of its own.  It's not perfect, but that's only happened to me a few times.  But a few times is still not perfect, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars, and only 4.  5 stars means it's perfect, which is alllllmost is.  So for the price, I really think this little Garmin is one of the best out there.
4326769
I've had this about a month now, and have used it on 3 different long trips. It has been worth every penny I paid for it. It's the first GPS I have owned and/or used. I compared the routes selected locally just to see how it would do on some local trips for which I know the best route, and it has been accurate everytime. The user interface is very intuitive, though my fat fingers caused me to hit the wrong button a few times. One minor annoyance (and minor it is) is that the highway directions are a bit odd. If for example I'm driving 200 miles on the same interstate, it will actually break the highway into segments anytime another highway has an exit. So for example instead of saying stay on I90 for 200 miles, it will break it down to segments of say 40, 50, 30, and 80 (even though I never leave the highway).
2593468
I traded in a 1390LMT and got this one, and overall I've been very pleased with it. It's glass, thin, more like a smart phone than a traditional GPS and I like that. The screen is super bright, navigation calculation is extremely quick and so far I've been pleased with accuracy and function. That being said, the one draw back is that I've found while setting destinations sometimes I have to give an extra tap because I'm not used to having to tap glass instead of the old style screen. Don't get me wrong, I still strongly prefer the glass touch, look, etc. but it takes some slight adjustment to pressing style and length of press so the press will register.

I would buy it again if I had the option.
1265560
I'm still on the fence with this GPS...

The actual unit is easy enough to use, the price is not too bad

At first I didn't think I'd like the size of the screen, it's a big larger than my old GPS, but despite it's larger size, it really is sleek, and hasn't bothered me while driving.

The real time traffic info is a huge plus for me, not something I've had in the past, it is extremely helpful with city driving....the only problem is that this GPS is extremely difficult to see in the bright light, the screen just does not show up very well, it almost seems as though it's washed out a bit, thank goodness for the voice directions because without them I would have taken some wrong turns due to lack of screen brightness.

NOTE:  You do need a smartphone connection for traffic updates

You can use touch screen or voice command while asking for directions, you do need to be very exact with your voice and give the entire address.

I like how the TomTom GO 60 shows how much longer is left in your trip, I'm used to just seeing an arrival time, so this is a nice difference, you also see the time and your speed/speed limit.

If you're worried about speeding, there are also speed camera updates, which is also new to me...not something I'd personally want to rely on too much!

You can also customize the alerts to your needs, which is great, since not everyone has the same needs, I think this is a great plus, as well as the lifetime map updates, I actually checked immediately on the road to my home which does not go through to the other half of the road...not all GPS units can tell this and we have a lot of people get lost while trying to find our home, this GPS knew that the road didn't go through to the other half.  A great plus.

If it weren't for the dullish screen, and the fact you need a smart phone for some features I would give this unit more stars.  I don't have a smart phone, neither does my hubby, so I had to use my daughter's to check out some of the capabilities.
3620363
I have the Mio C230 for about a month now. I have to say it was not very easy to use at first, but after a couple of hours, I was able to find my way around it. This is my third GPS, I have a Garmin C340 for almost two years, and a Nuvi 370 for about eight months; so I can say that I have a bit of experience with the Garmin products which considered to be one of the best GPS in the market. The only reason I got the Mio is its ability to add multiple stops to your final destination (Via Points), and the ability to optimize the route for you, a feature is not available in the Garmin products. My fianc&eacute; is a realtor, and she makes numerous stops to show houses to her clients; with the Garmin, she had to enter one stop at the time, which means that she might be going back and forth or zig zaging around; with the Mio, all she has to do is to input as many addresses as she needs to, and then the Mio will optimize the route and guide her around, cool.
You can enter address either by state / city / street; or you can use zip code / street; very nice feature. Any address you input will be automatically stored in the history and you can retrieve it at any time; you can also copy everything to the SD card and store it in your computer or use the data in another Mio, cool. If you don't have the address but know where your destination is on the map, you can touch that point on the map, and the Mio will take you there.
There is also an icon for "Home" where you can store your home address, by clicking it, the Mio will take you home, a similar one is for "work". You can rename both if needed.
The detailed information available on the screen in "cockpit mode" is impressive, on the upper left corner it shows the next maneuver (an arrow going right or left), below that it shows the distance to that maneuver and the estimated time of arrival to your final destination. Next to that you have four icons to zoom in and out on the map, and to change the view from 2 to 3 dimensions and vise versa. Another nice feature is the pedestrian mode, in that mode; the Mio will take you thru the shortest route ignoring the traffic direction of one way streets. You can customize the Mio for brighter screen or to get louder if you reach a specific speed; routing can be customized to shortest, fastest or economical. You can avoid Toll roads, U turns, unpaved roads, Highways, etc.
The Text to Speech feature is also a definite plus. The only thing that I really don't like in the Mio C230 is the very limited number of POI's (about 900K), you will hardly be able to find anything in there, Mio needs to do smoothing about that limitation. However, you can add you own POI's to the data base if you know the address.
In short, if you don't need the MP3/Photo player, or the blue tooth, the Mio C230 is a great basic GPS, loaded with features that are not available on other big name brands, great signal reception, bright screen, clear TTS voice, nice design, pocket size, at an unbeatable price. Impressive
1393463
I'm not all that wild about GPS units in general.  That said, the 3590LMT is very nice.  Plenty big, good speaker, easy to operate with touchscreen or voice command.  It's accurate for the most part; when I get into the area around my office (in an arboretum setting, with private roads) it doesn't quite know which route to take.  The HD traffic is very nice, accurate and responsive.  I've only done the initial map update; it took several hours, which was sort of a surprise.  As with all GPS units, I really wish my preferred routes were more programmable (that may be due to my ignorance of how to do it) or that the system learned them better, and I wish it would quit trying to put me on the freeway during rush-hour traffic.  I also wish the algorithms that tie traffic information into routing were more conservative; i.e., I wish they'd bypass congested areas more aggressively.  As I say, all in all we've been quite pleased with it, and it has made it so my dyslexic daughter no longer gets lost!
4522797
I had previously used a Garmin eTrex (basic), Legend (mid-range mapping level), and Legend C (the color upgrade). I got very used to mapping all my hikes, bikes, and paddles with these similar units, and each time I upgraded I was happy to make the change. However, with the Garmin eTrex 20, few things got better while several features got worse. Overall, it's still a great little GPS with color maps available for free and legal from several open source websites. Here's the breakdown:

Better:
1) Time to acquire satellites is never a concern. Even from under dense cover or inside a car, it acquires a signal in seconds. Using the Russian GLONASS helps quite a bit with this as well. With previous units, I'd have to wait a minute or two, and let it literally "warm up" outside before I could set out.
2) Routing got much faster. I use free open source maps based on the legal Open Streets Map data. I can pick a point within about 100 miles and get a reasonable route suggestion in 15-30 seconds.
3) For a small screen, the resolution and quality is great for seeing maps and data well. In the sunlight, I don't use the backlight at all. At night, I turn it up to about 20% and can see it great. Only during dusk do I need to have it cranked up to see it well.
4) Battery life is amazing. I chose the eTrex 20, similar to the Legend Cx because of the battery life. I've never found the upgraded models to be worth the altimeter features at the expense of battery life. I get about 20-30 hours of use on a set of high quality 2850mah rechargeable batteries or about 40 using Lithium batteries.

Worse:
1) Routing over 100 miles isn't recommended. When I'm driving and pick a waypoint over this distance, it takes significantly more time to find a route. It appears to lock up and not show any progress for a few minutes, and it's hard to know when it will start working again.
2) I mostly used my Legend C with preloaded GPX tracks to follow for my long bike rides. Despite searching around, I can't find a way to make this model follow a preloaded track. I can see the track on the map, but not route along it. I think the solution is to use routes instead of tracks, but a route is made of a compilation of turns, and it often picks different roads between those turns, making that feature not work for me.
3) While this unit tracks where I go, that track randomly disappears from the map. This seems to happen mostly when I zoom in or out. The past section of track disappears and won't show again unless I restart the unit. Again, I've searched all over for a solution, but this seems to be a glitch.

Edit:
Now after a year of use, I re-read the review and still agree with everything I wrote. The track lines disappearing mid-ride is still an annoying bug, and I still try to avoid routing far distances since it takes too long to process. I continue to use this GPS at least 5 days a week, as all of my bike commutes, recreational bike rides, hikes, and walks are recorded. While some websites like Strava still don't work with this particular unit for easy uploading, it's not difficult to find the .gpx file and upload it manually. Garmin did just release a new touring GPS, which may be of interest to people considering a unit for cycling that doesn't just focus on the cost-added features like heart rate and cadence.