Help choosing a GPS from Garmin

One of my Garmins is a Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa. At first I didn't pair it to my smartphone, but it does provide better, more up-to-date and reliable traffic data when paired with my smartphone.

I haven't loaded any Custom POIs on the DriveSmart 65, yet. I did downloaded POI Loader and was able to add Custom POIs to my Garmin Zumo XT. I assume that it would work with the DriveSmart 65, too.

I have spent more time adding additional maps lately. ATV trails maps are quite useful when off-roading. I also use a Garmin Zumo XT on my e-bike. Downloading bike trails are very handy, too.

As fr as Traffic goes, your Drive will give you better service than the FM Traffic does. And you cannot use both at the same time, One or the other.

the info is very insightful.

My DriveSmart 65 paired with the Garmin Drive app does a better job of showing traffic than what I would get with just the traffic cable. But, it's far from perfect being slow to define a traffic issue and slower to clear it. For the most up to date traffic I use Siri & CarPlay to load Google maps and have it set to show traffic.

I'm very happy with my DriveSmart65. I've loaded a number of POIs and they work great.
I've used the Trip Planner, and made good use of the Shaping capabilities, to help force the trip directions the way that I like.
Traffic with Garmin Drive is very good. If you're worried about Data Usage, I found that Garmin Drive only uses about 1 Mb per hour.
I'm getting used to using Samantha that gives Real Directions and it's excellent.
Consider getting a beanbag mount. I use that and I can put it right in the middle of the dash, where I can see it easily as well as my wife.

Also recommend DriveSmart 65. It has been excellent pair with the Garmin Drive app.

I purchased a Drivesmart 65 and a bean bag by Deco.

Question: Is it ok to un-suction the Garmin from the bean bag mount each time I use? Will the suction suffer as a result?

Nah.. just leave it, too much trouble. Over time it will lose its suction (possibly years) but crazy glue can fix that and make it a permanent attachment.

I leave mine attached, but over time, it loses suction and falls off. If you attached it to the windshield, you'd probably have it on and off a lot more.

When I stop and park to go to eat, etc, I leave it attached and lift the whole works and slip it under the seat, so people can't see something that they might try to steal. Suction to the windshield leaves a telltale ring, that lets people know that you might have something of value.

I will try this. Thanks.

Thanks.

I had an unusual beanbag problem. The beanbag fabric, that had the beans or the sand or whatever it was, extended about 1 to 1 1/4 inches higher than the suction cup mounting surface. This made it very difficult to connect.

I used pure Canadian ingenuity and crazy glued a hockey puck to the beanbags mounting surface. The hockey puck was the perfect height, to mount, especially since my mount had a swivel that allowed it to be raised or lowered.