GPS upgrade

Of course, this is my personal opinion, but I am partial to Garmin. I purchased my first Garmin about 8 years ago. It was a handheld eTrex Legend. It has operated flawlessly over the years. My Nuvi 350 was my next purchase about 2 years ago. Again, it has operated flawlessly over the years. I also have a Dash Express. The only advantage the Dash has is its 2-way internet ability. If possible, don't let price be your guideline when purchasing a new unit. I have learned through the years, "you get what you pay for"!

Well, I'm a garmin fan. I've owned a Lowrance 350 (my first one) and it lasted only 6 months and the customer service wasn't too helpful. I then got a Nuvi 350 and it was great. Recently upgraded to a 650 for the widescreen option. I've seen many posts here raving about Garmins Customer service, but I have yet to need them.

I have not seen any other brand superior to Garmin, specially when it comes to support. Ive seen other brands in use, and was not impressed at all. I would stick to Garmin, try one of the Nuvis, compare them on the Garmin website, and see what would work best for you. I love my 670, now looking at the 800 series.

I confess that I am a Garmin fanboy ... but that is besides the point. I have had nothing but good service from customer service, my nuvi is so simple to operate and intuitive that even my mother-in-law could use it ... and she had no understanding whatsoever with anything with a microchip.

So stick with Garmin ... a simple nuvi 200 or stump up the big bucks for the top of the line nuvi 5000.

I only have good things to say about Garmin. If you've had good experience with it, why change?

But only for automotive GPSrs. They have superb customer service and support, and their automotive products are first rate.

I'm partial to Raymarine for my boat.

I am a charter bus and limo in So CA we have over 50 drivers everyone of us has a GPSr TOM, Melga and others. Everyone of them complain about there GPS or/and there customer service. BUT none of the Garmin owners complain they love there garmins and tease the other driver about just how good Garmin service is. More and more of them are getting read of there tom and melga and getting garmins. I use a c550 I use it every where and looking to get a nuvi 860 soon and give this to my wife. I hope that this helps good luck.
Jolleyr

I would have nothing else! When I went out to buy a GPS, I searched Consumer Reports...I have two of them...enough said.

I'd like to give you an alternate opinion... but I can't. I'm a fan of Garmin, too. I can't even tell second hand stories about others who love their other brands. The three who I know with other brands complain about various issues.

In fairness, I'm not pleased with the overall function of the traffic receiver on my 650. It works intermittently in an around the greater Phoenix area and I haven't been able to figure it out. I don't know if it’s the receiver or the service, but I probably won't renew once it expires. Otherwise, I love it.

Garmin is fine, Just decide on what options you will really like to have ..?

Traffic (yes/no)
Screen (Mid/Large)
Remote (yes/no)
Removable Battery (yes/no)
SD slot (yes/no)

I've used Lowrance, Magellan and Garmin units over the last ten years. I don't have a brand preferance.

If you are looking for a new unit, I think it is most important to understand what you want the unit to do, what capabilities you require. Then, one could look at each major supplier and see what options you have in each brand. Once that is defined, you can look at the ergonomics of the various unit and get opinions about the reliability and ease of use from various forums.

It can take a little time to do this, but if you are thinking of an upper end GPS costing $500+ the research can make the difference in long term satisfcation.

First, I do not have a really strong preference on any single manufacturer. As a matter of fact, I'm more the type of person (geek) that has had or tried several of them, both hardware based, and software.

That said - market share can show the preference. The opinions of this forum seem to closely mirror that:

In the US:
Garmin - 47%
TomTom - 19%
Magellan - 17%
Mio - 7%
All Others - 10 %

In Europe:
TomTom - 38%
Garmin - 19%
Mio Navman - 12%
Medion - 5%
All Others - 26%

Data taken from GPS Magazine, May 8, 2008: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/05/gps_brands_market_share_d...

I totally agree the other poster's though - you get what you pay for, however, paying the most doesn't necessarily get you the best, and researching what you want versus the capabilities of the units is key.