Best simple GPS for non-techie

Yeah, I'm biased. If you shop around, you can find them at online retailers for under $450...and it's worth it.

I think this would be good and inexpensive for a novice; the Garmin StreetPilot i3 Auto GPS - Wal-Mart $198 (I'm not sure if you have to order it online or if they have them in stores.)

It appears to be the same as the C340. The only difference I can see is that this GPS uses regular batteries and the C340 has a charger. I paid $350 for my Garmin C340 a few months ago and thought I was getting a deal.

So far it's been pretty user friendly. Except for those darn Boston tunnels, it's been great. Just used it for going down the Cape. Found great restaurants on their listings.

I would suggest to look at the Nuvi 350, it's easy to use, and will slip right in her purse (pocketbook). Mine goes in my front pants pocket when I leave the car.
I am seeing that Garmin is coming out with a Nuvi 200 line simler to the Nuvi's now out, and they are suppose to be really basic.

Hi Cheryl,
I agree the i2,i3 or i5 are the easiest to use. I also feel the i3 is the best deal for the money in that series. I live in Carver and work the Boston area and noticed you are from Boston. Boston traffic has to be the worst. Tunnels and overhead roadways stink for gps's. The tall buildings don't seem to phase my i3. I too was on the cape last weekend at the British Beer Co. in Sandwich. Yesterday was 60 degrees and today close to a blizzard lol.

Ray

PCNation.com just listed the Nuvi 350 for $398.40 with free fedex shipping. I bought mine from them before they dropped the price $40. It's definitely a simple GPS to operate.

garmin c 330 very easy to use and wal-mart had it on sale for 299.00

I have the C530 and love it.. wish I got the C550 for the text to speech and Mp3 playing..

What I found from my experince and my friends is that you would want the following on a GPS

Touch screen seems to be the big thing,

The screen it self.. can you see it in the daylight?

Do you want the gps to tell you to make a left turn or to tell you to turn left on the street name (Text to speech)

Do you want to have Traffic info or bluetooth (phone and dialing capibilities)

how small do you want it to be? but not to small to see the screen

Do you want a password to lock your GPS?

Again it really depends what you really want.. Go to google and search areoun.. I found a lot of sites that will / can do a compaire between and you can then review the differnt features.. In general that all do the same but the extrras are important.

If you need help, feel free to email me and I would be very gald to help you if you need. I went thu this and had a big choice to make. I wanted to get the Tom Tom One but keeped looking and ended up with the Garmin C530 alot of it was due to the price and features at the time.. Only wish I waited to get the C550.. oh well, Love the C530 just as much!!

A lot of them have the same features but its those little ones that can make the differnces.

I love my C530 but wish ( but dont really need it) the Text to speech. Love the touch screen - much easyer.

Good Luck

I actually prefer not having the Text to Speech. When my GPS says to turn right, I take a quick glance at the screen and can easily see that there is a small street before the one I want to turn on. My GPS is located near my rearview mirror so it doesn't take my eye off of the road for a long period.
As far as the c550, I would prefer it for the capability of tourguides i.e. the mp3 player. However that was a decision based on the price difference.

The MITAC Mio P550 combines a PDA with GPS services, wifi access and Windows Mobile software.
I bought one online for $299, but be aware that the GPS service is not as comprehensive as that of the Garmin or Tom-Tom units. FYI - I use the GPS for walking in strange cities. I use a Garmin Nuvi 660 in my main car.

I went for the 550 for the opposite reason..lol
So, I could hear the street name and look for the street sign, instead of looking at the screen.
But, I still look at the screen for the street(s) prior to my turn. What was I thinkin'? However, I'm totally happy with the 550.

Thank you for all your help! This will get me started! I was on vacation and I should have checked this while I was off work! Oups....

I really like my c530 for $300 at staples. It has better anti-glare than the c3xx series, better chipset (the SiRFIII), and is able to hold POIs on the SD card. But all the ones that were mentioned are great GPSs, you really won't be disappointed wityh any of the above mentioned.

I'm nothing but pleased with my Nuvi 350 (it does not have bluetooth) and the price keeps dropping. It is easy to find it for less than $400 and from reputable dealers, too, even with shipping. Whatever you do, make sure she gets whatever GPS she gets from a real dealer with warranty.

Also, I've done GPS on regular alkaline batteries. If she is going to use it on batteries at all, ever, I do recommend a unit with a Lithium Ion rechargable battery.

Also, on any, but especially the lower priced units (sub $200) I recommend taking a close look at an actual display. Some of them are not so nice in my opinion. But that is it -- display is a matter of opinion. There is nothing like your friend getting her hands on a unit and with a little guidance from you, and letting her see how easy these new units really are to operate.

Last, in my opinion, Text to Speech (speaking the street names) is more valuable than unicorn dung, and needs to be strongly considered.

BTW, I'm a female, too so I'm coming at all of this from that point of view, though I'm pretty sure GPS is asexual.

It seems to me that many of you considered or bought your GPS online. Is that true, and why did you? I am not saying that is a bad thing, just curious as to why there have been so many online purchases vs store locations.

The radar forum that I frequent, it is the same there. Perhaps I am still in the dark ages and want an easy way to return if I don't like it or it is defective.

My Zumo was waaaaaaaay less expensive purchased online than the prices at stores. Plus, because it was new, most stores didn't have it yet.

Returning it shouldn't be a problem if you use a reliable online site. (It pays to do your research first.)

As far as it being defective, Garmin has been great about sending replacement units out for issues like that.

ok, perhaps my next GPSr (wink) will be an online purchase. Thanks!

First, online is a great place to read reviews and to sort through things and to narrow it down.

Online is a great place to find out what a good "street price" is.

Online is also a great place to find which brick and mortar stores you may want to visit to take a look at a unit you are interested in. BTW if that brick and mortar is not outlandishly more expensive than an online store and their service is good and they have it in stock -- all big ifs, I will buy it at the brick and mortar.

In the case of this purchase it was a little unusual because my son had just bought a Nuvi 350 and had done most of the legwork on it. In fact I got to road test his. I fell in love with it. I was already familiar with GPS in general and have had good experience with Garmin so that part of the decision was easy.

I had also helped steer a friend to one of the Street Pilot series last year, but I forgot which exact model -- I just helped with the research and helped him sort it out because it is something I enjoy doing. So I had a good clue that way, too

I then merely looked for the best price from a reputable online dealer. Most online dealers publish their return policies. I had 14 days and a 10% restocking fee, just to return it for the heck of it. Shipping damage, well you report that to the shipper immediately. Again choosing a reputable dealer is part of the trick. Also since I live 60 miles from a metropolitan area, brick and mortar returns are often more difficult than mail-order returns.

To me, the only other way I like is if I get to go to a large trade show with a lot of "whatevers" I'm shopping for and get to look at them and poke at them in a non-sales environment with manufacturers reps and/or trained PR people. But when I go into a brick and mortar with sales people, I want to know what I'm shopping for ahead of time and I do that online. Mostly I just like to skip the sales people if I can.

Lower price and it is easy to track the prices online. Although I purchased my c530 for over $400, at the time, that was the lowest price by far. I had no concern about returning the unit if defective.

I had an issue with my GPS C340 where it would not power on unless it was connected to the computer via USB or in the vehicle via cradle. I called Garmin, got an RMA number that they require in order to return an item needing repair/replacement and surely enough I received a new GPS c340. How do I know it's new you ask? The work order included in the package informed me of my reason for return and the reason why they had to supply new device so I strongly agree that Garmin stands by their product. The main thing they want is proof of purchase. Doesn't matter whether purchased online or in store, you are still serviced.

Were you without a GPS when you returned it to Garmin, or did you have to send it in first and then wait for a replacement? Just curious..

Yeah, I did a lot of research online. Then I went to the local store and pickedit up.

I was without the GPS for a week...Tuesday - Tuesday. I was going through GPS withdrawal..lol. Thank God I had no commutes to do for the week without it.

I know what you mean, I gave mine to my co worker to use for 2 days...I want it back!!!!!

LOL