Is it even worth it?

 

I have a family member who has a Dell gift card, using that along with online discounts, he can get a really cheap Pharos Drive 150 GPS. I've looked at the specs and it has a Surf StarIII (Which my nuvi sadly is missing). It is a really low end unit, and doesn't allow for Red Light POI or others to be loaded.

I ask those of you with more GPS experience than myself. Is this even worth owning? He's reluctant to pay for a Garmin, even knowing they are superior since the Pharos is almost free for him. But if it is a piece of junk we'll skip the offer. Please advise, all comments are appreciated.

Link to the product description:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&c...

--
Matt ~ Nuvi 760

Gift cards can be used for anything, right?

So, who says it has to be used for this?

On issue to consider is if the maps can be updated, and if so, how often? Another is how big the POI file is that comes preloaded? If it's very thorough then maybe that's all he needs. If it's munchkin sized, then he'll have problems.

A third is if POI-Factory has something to offer, like red light cameras, that he might find valuable vs. the stock stuff that comes on a GPS.

Bottom line: it's generally better to grow in to a gadget rather than grow out of it. I never thought I'd use uploadable POI's on mine, but I have. e.g. I've created my own files for national and state park trail heads, which I doubt any GPS has. And boat ramps and munchkin sized kayak put-ins. Ditto.

His money, his needs, his choice.

GC

--
Nuvi 350, GPS Map 76CX

Perhaps

I am not familiar with that unit, but the Nuvi's are not all that superior compared to other units out there, in fact, they are downright embarrassing (Garmin, hide your faces in shame) ... maybe yours won't accept POI's, but it might have other features the Nuvi doesn't have, like route planning, etc. Depends on what you need I guess. I outgrew my Nuvi in a matter of days. If you decide against that little unit your looking at, don't limit your search to just Garmin ... Magellan and TomTom make nice units as well.

Cheap can be good

Do a google search on it adn you'll find all sorts of reviews. Here's a link to Pharos' web site: http://www.pharosgps.com/products/

When you say almost free, are you talking $10? $20? $50? My personal take on it is that if its $50 or less, I'd just do it. This looks to be a pretty capable GPS. It doesn't appear to have any internal memory or the ability to load custom POIs. But thier web site isn't clear on the details so I'm not postitive on those points.

That said, I did a LOT of research before choosing my Nuvi. I'm very pleased with it. the only thing thats really missing is the ability to do custom routing. If I were to look again, I'd not look at anything other than Tom Tom or Garmin. Unless of course I could get one for next to nothing...

Here's the real question: What does your friend have to lose? If it turns out to be a groaner, he can probably sell it on e-bay for twice what he's paying for it.

--
Chuck - Nuvi 200, Nuvi 255W

Feedback

When I mentioned "almost free", it would cost around $30.00 for him. Doc I understand your point about 'what's he got to lose' and I like the Ebay idea...

The unit does not accept POI files of any kind - Their maps are updated annually for about $60.00 - Built in POI file contains "Between 1 to 3 million POIs"

Those were the questions I received answers for from Pharos' Tech Support since I couldn't locate them online. The only real drawback seems to be that it won't accept POI files. I didn't want him to end up with a unit without the possibility of any expansion and not experience what we all do from this site's POIs and more.

However it will work as a basic GPS and as was stated, it's his choice. I did check the reviews and most were positive. Thanks for looking into this unit and for the helpful feedback everyone. wink

--
Matt ~ Nuvi 760

$30, it's a no brainer

I say go for it. The unit already has a substantial number of poi's pre programmed into it. Custom POI's are nice, but a luxury. You can certainly live without them. If my GPS did not accept custom POI's, it would still be the best gadget I ever purchased.

--
Garmin Nuvi 750 & c530 with RT's vol. mod., Vulcan Nomad

go for it

I recently got a c330(cheap) and thought oh man this thing is going to be old school old tech and generally just a pain. I was so wrong it is a basic unit but just to get into the world of gps is really worth it. So go for wahtever you can get your hands on. That's just me tho.

--
Flip Garmin Street P.330 Garmin 255WT Garmin LM50

Heck yeah, I agree with the

Heck yeah, I agree with the above...its a no brainer!!!

I spend more then $30 on coffee a month. He can get it for a backup and then get a nicer one if he perfers

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

GPS ordered and on it's way

Thanks everyone, I was really over engineering the decision! You all slapped me back to reality, especially the "no brainer" comments... grin

I'm looking forward to the experience of sharing my GPS experiences with him, and maybe with a little help from my POI-Factory friends wink

Matt

--
Matt ~ Nuvi 760

Cheap is Good

I saw at Costco the Nuvi 650 on sale for $350 and the Magellen 3225 for $199. I purchased the Magellen 3225 for my father for a birthday present. A little over my budget, but not being a Garmin fan anymore, I barely looked at the 650.

I have to say that I am quite impressed with this little $200 buck GPS.

- The screen is bright and clear
- The touch panel is accurrate
- North up, track up, 2d, and 3d modes
- The GPS has the new SurfIII receiver, no antenna
- The voice directions (text to speech) are just as good (not better, not worse) than Garmin. They both misproounce my street the exact same way (and when I think about it, they are technically pronouncing it correctly, just not the way the locals do).
- Lots of features and configuration options
- Route planner, POI manager on CD (haven't tried it yet)
- Very impressed with the maps. I do not know what kind of maps they use, but they have really recent streets, road that my Nuvi with Navtech 2008 maps do not have yet.
- The cradle is what Garmin should use, especially with Garmins wide screen GPS's ... The gps will not move when you press the screen
- From the playing with it we did in the car, it is quite accurate, acquired the gps signals very fast when powered on, has a poi database that we haven't really checked out in details, but it found us our Tim Hortons without issues.
- Options to display user selected poi category icons on the map screen (Nuvi users, eat your heart out)
- Where am I button with gps coordinates, current address, nearest past intersection and nearest coming intersection, great for tow trucks or 911 calls.

- It does not have a mp3 player, audiobook player, bluetooth, traffic or fm transmitter. It is just a pocket sized gps.

- Being a pocket sized gps, very light weight and easy to carry, it really should have come with a little case to protect it. But I have seen little cases at the Dollarstore that will suffice.

- I noticed the text for the street names only prints left to right (no verticle or slanted text) to follow the direction of the road, however, it does put a red dot on the road the text is referring to.

Moral of the story ... cheap is not neccessarily bad. You can find some really nice units out there without spending $700 bucks.

Magellan

Aconite wrote:

Moral of the story ... cheap is not neccessarily bad. You can find some really nice units out there without spending $700 bucks.

Different strokes..........

I've got a 4000 and all your comments apply to it too, except it has an even larger screen and only fits in a LARGE pocket.

HOWEVER.......

Even though I like my Magellan, especially for the price, there is a danger that you won't like it if you ever need service or support. Bad stories abound, here and elsewhere.

--
Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Still Impressed

ka1167 wrote:

Different strokes..........

I've got a 4000 and all your comments apply to it too, except it has an even larger screen and only fits in a LARGE pocket.

HOWEVER.......

Even though I like my Magellan, especially for the price, there is a danger that you won't like it if you ever need service or support. Bad stories abound, here and elsewhere.

Garmin is a good company to deal with when you have technical problems, definately. I just wish they will stop taking away features instead of adding them. I have never dealt with Magellan or TomTom personally, so I don't know how they are to deal with at all, and probably something that should be researched especially when purchasing a more expensive model of gps.

Nevertheless, I am really impressed with the features packed into that little Magellan for the price.