My Ideal GPS

 

Lots of sales going on now, it seems, so I think I will "upgrade" my Magellan 4000. I like it well enough EXCEPT that it doesn't have TTS. It says: Right turn in one mile, instead of Right turn on Elm Street in one mile. You wouldn't think that is a big deal until you have tried to use it for a while. In some circumstances it can be VERY important.

So, friends and neighbors, what is the least expensive Magellan Maestro with 4" screen and TTS? Is it the 4040 or something else? I do NOT want Bluetooth, Voice activation, FM Xmitter, MP3 player, picture viewer, etc.

How about a Garmin with the same requirements?
I'm comfortable with the Maestro but not opposed to switching if I can get a good deal.

TIA

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Garmin GPS

I can only speak about what I have and use. I have a Nuvi 260. I was looking for a GPS without all the bells & whistles. I bought a nuvi 200 without TTS. I knew that I would like that feature (TTS) after 1 week. I returned it and started to look at other Nuvis. The 350 had great reviews and more than I was looking for, the 260 had TTS and more maps, the 750 was to much money. The 260 has been great,I just returned fron FL. and it worked like a charm. I paid around $260. when I bought it from Amazon. As of today the 260, with a 3.5 screen is $214.00, the 750 with a 4.3 screen $374.00. All with no sales tax and free delivery from Amazon. Also there are some new units comming out later this year from Garmin.

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Paul..... Nuvi 765T

Garmin NUVI 750

After a considerable amount of reading reviews and hands on looking I settled on the NUVI 750. It is available at PC Nation for $357.15 with no tax and free shipping. Although I also did not want to spend a lot I decided the unit had new features not available on older units. I also convinced myself if I was going to buy one, that I should spend a little extra on one that will last for a long time.

I made the right decision and would highly recommend this unit.

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Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

GPS

No matter what you decide to buy I would get it with MP3 and phone capability. You will enjoy the downloaded poi's if you can put a icon and sound to them. I have a 660 and use my phone all the time. Not saying to buy a 660 now that they say their out of production, but if then they are very good units. I would upgrade to one that supports routes if it wasn't that I have three now.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

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I don't know anything about Magellans. I'd say wait for the new 255 (3.5" screen) or 255W (4.3" screen) soon to come out and now listed on the Garmin website. They should be priced about the same as the 250 and 250W which they'll replace. Or they may replace the 260, since they have more features than it.

I've never found a need for TTS since I've never made an incorrect turn because of no spoken street name. If you occasionally make the wrong turn for that reason, what's the big deal? The unit will recalculate.

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nuvi 200 | lifetime maps

Magellan Maestro 3225

ka1167 wrote:

Lots of sales going on now, it seems, so I think I will "upgrade" my Magellan 4000. I like it well enough EXCEPT that it doesn't have TTS. It says: Right turn in one mile, instead of Right turn on Elm Street in one mile. You wouldn't think that is a big deal until you have tried to use it for a while. In some circumstances it can be VERY important.

So, friends and neighbors, what is the least expensive Magellan Maestro with 4" screen and TTS? Is it the 4040 or something else? I do NOT want Bluetooth, Voice activation, FM Xmitter, MP3 player, picture viewer, etc.

How about a Garmin with the same requirements?
I'm comfortable with the Maestro but not opposed to switching if I can get a good deal.

TIA

Here is a link to Costco ad for a:
Magellan Maestro 3225 GPS
$199.99
Item # 710322

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10306204&sea...

Stay in your comfort zone, Stay with Magellan if that what you know. All GPSr's have their own quirks, and people will tell you to change, but don't listen, stay warm and fuzzy with your equipment.

This unit has two of the most important factors you need, the Chipset is SiRFstarIII and it also has NAVTEQ maps plus your request TTS.

Bob

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Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

Wrong turn

dminz wrote:

If you occasionally make the wrong turn for that reason, what's the big deal? The unit will recalculate.

Yes, if you have studied and have good recall of the general overall route, I guess it wouldn't be a problem.

If, however, you just want to punch in the destination and GO, it CAN be a problem when the exits for I-40W and I-40E are close together and the unit just says "Freeway entrance on the right".
This tends to be a bigger problem if the general direction of your trip is NORTH!! mrgreen

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Sigh....

dog_poop wrote:

Stay in your comfort zone, Stay with Magellan if that what you know.

Yes, that was my thought.
Alas, the 3225 has the small screen.
My new model number needs to start with a 4 (if Magellan).

And for some of the others who replied:

I really appreciate all the answers but they kind of bring up another question:
Why do so many people feel a need to tell others that what they want is NOT REALLY what they want ??

I'm getting a lot of good answers but a lot of them are not for the question that I asked !?!?!

So, for anybody else who feels a need to send a message that, in effect, says "I could tell you a model that meets your stated requirements but instead let me tell you what you REALLY need.".......then just save it and don't waste your time and mine.

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Magellan Maestro 4040 Portable Automotive GPS System

ka1167 wrote:
dog_poop wrote:

Stay in your comfort zone, Stay with Magellan if that what you know.

Yes, that was my thought.
Alas, the 3225 has the small screen.
My new model number needs to start with a 4 (if Magellan).

http://www.tigergps.com/refurbms4040.html?productid=refurbms...
Try this one then!
It's REFURBED, I myself think refurbed is fine, Like buying a GPSr that has been gone over and checked out. Considering most electronics don't even see power till you plug them in for the first time.

REFURBISHED Magellan Maestro 4040 Portable Bluetooth Automotive GPS System ($20 REBATE)

Item #: RF980920-01

MSRP Price: $599.00
Our Price: $329.00
Sale Price: $199.0
Condition: Refurbished with One-Year Warranty
Returnable: Yes
Warranty: Tiger 60 Day, Manufacturer 1 Year

TTS,Navteq maps

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Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

Thank you

dog_poop wrote:

REFURBISHED Magellan Maestro 4040 Portable Bluetooth Automotive GPS System ($20 REBATE)

Finally an answer to the original question!
Maybe they don't make a model with TTS but without Bluetooth? Guess I could just ignore BT if I don't need it.

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Ideal Gps

Glad you finally got the answer you were looking for but you did open the door for other comments about other gps's with your last statement in you thread. Hope you find the one that works for you.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Just to explain....

johnm405 wrote:

Glad you finally got the answer you were looking for but you did open the door for other comments about other gps's with your last statement in you thread.

Not to beat a dead horse (much) but my message specifically said what I did NOT want and your first reply ignored that and, in effect, said "You really DO need those things you said you don't want".

Not only is that a bit rude, but I disagree with the idea. Most reports I have seen indicate that most of the fancy add-on features are less than desirable for some reason or another. Bluetooth is unreliable on many units; MP3 is not great because of the small speakers, etc.

I am indeed open to other BRANDS, as long as I'm not paying for a lot of features that I don't want or need.

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Ideal GPs

My last comment as well. I wasn't trying to tell you what you what you needed. I think you miss understood what I said. All I meant was if you wanted to have alerts then you may want to look at one with MP3 capability but not that you needed to get that because I said so. Sorry for the miss understanding I don't try to tell anyone to get what I think they should have, only give ideals they may not thought of.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Its all about the bundle

ka1167 wrote:
johnm405 wrote:

Glad you finally got the answer you were looking for but you did open the door for other comments about other gps's with your last statement in you thread.

Not to beat a dead horse (much) but my message specifically said what I did NOT want and your first reply ignored that and, in effect, said "You really DO need those things you said you don't want".

Not only is that a bit rude, but I disagree with the idea. Most reports I have seen indicate that most of the fancy add-on features are less than desirable for some reason or another. Bluetooth is unreliable on many units; MP3 is not great because of the small speakers, etc.

I am indeed open to other BRANDS, as long as I'm not paying for a lot of features that I don't want or need.

I think the point to take away is not that you should need those other features, but that you may not be able to find a GPSr with exactly the subset of features that you want. When I went looking for a replacement for my stolen GPS (which had been a gift so I hadn't selected its features), I was looking for (1) larger screen (old one was 3.5", I wanted 4.3") and (2) Text-To-Speech. I found that in the Garmin nüvi 750. It also has BT, MP3 player, JPG viewer, calculator, currency converter, ..., well you get the picture. It also has the wonderful ability to connect to my computer and let me install my own POIs, download favorites directly from Google Maps, optimize multi-stop routes, and more.

I agree with you. I will never use the BT as I have a uni-tasking BT headset for my mobile phone already. I have an iPod and a way to connect it to my car so I have no need for the MP3 capability. My Treo650 already has a calculator and it goes everywhere I do (and it does unit conversions even if the currency conversion is lacking). But the nüvi does what I want it to so if Garmin can sell more units by including those other features for the benefit of other consumers and in so doing keep the price a bit lower than it might otherwise be, then I don't mind ignoring the parts for which I have no need.

-Rob

.

TIA and Rob,

Rob, you didn't shop enough. The nuvi 260W has exactly what you wanted at much less money than the 750.

TIA, as I said, the newer nuvi 255W has what you want, or the older 260W. Sorry that I gave my opinion on TTS, but I didn't use my opinion to tell you what model to get.

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nuvi 200 | lifetime maps

Thanks

dminz wrote:

TIA, as I said, the newer nuvi 255W has what you want, or the older 260W.

Now to go back and look at the ads again!

BTW, TIA is "Thanks in advance". mrgreen

The way things worked out, maybe I should have left that off! wink

Ken

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

700 v. 260W

dminz wrote:

Rob, you didn't shop enough. The nuvi 260W has exactly what you wanted at much less money than the 750.

dminz,

Possibly, but I just did a side-by-side comparison on Garmin's site and the auto-routing and the ability to store routes on the 750 may have tipped the balance to the 750 anyway. (The price I paid for my 750 was pretty close to the MSRP for the 260W so I'm OK with that; besides, price wasn't really on my list of criteria.)

-Rob

Need to embed a radar detector in GPS units

If the major GPS companies would just provide a unit with a radar detector embedded, it would be a perfect match for states that allow that.

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Dave - Nuvi 760

Auto Off

Quote:

If the major GPS companies would just provide a unit with a radar detector embedded, it would be a perfect match for states that allow that.

And it will auto turn off/on as you enter/leave the states.

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Allan Barnett - Garmin nüvi 885T/765T/Pharos GPS (bluetooth) w/MS Maps on PPC