Should I get a new GPS? Which one?

[packrat44]

My last GPS I bought 1 year ago was a Garmin Nuvi 1450 for $100 delivered and no tax from TigerDirect. It was sold as a refurbished unit (I could not tell it from a non-refurbished). Works great. I especially like the lane assist and the speed-limit features. EggHead also has good prices on GPSs. My prior GPS was a refurbished Magellan which worked fine (until DW misplaced it, found 1 year later at her parents house) but did not have the lane assist and speed-limit features.

 

[SteveNU]

We have the Nexus 7 and use an app called co-pilot. It is inexpensive and all the maps are loaded onto the nexus. Seems to be pretty good. There are several apps that are similar so try them out.

Google maps can be downloaded for use offline but they can't be used for turn by turn navigation, only route planning.

I usually just use my phone and Google maps but only works if you have data available. We have the nexus for longer trips when we know we might be unable to get data on the phone.

 

[Corporateburnout]

I've used a Garmin Nuvi 1490LMT since 2010 and I still love it. I even replaced the battery earlier this year when it wouldn't hold a charge long enough to suit me.

Lifetime free updates on maps and it includes a receiver for live traffic updates on the go.

Less than $200 and highly rated.

+1 I have been using the 1490LMT for a couple of years now and DW uses the 1450LMT which is similar and we both like the units especially the lane assist and the free lifetime updates. The traffic feature has also helped us avoid traffic jams on a few occasions.

I have added a 4 GB micro SD flash memory to both units which cost $6 and that is more than sufficient to handle all of North America map updates.

 

[Texas Proud]

Anybody have recommendations on the window holder

We also have a Garmin 255W, but the window unit would not hold... bought a new one... that lasted two years.... bought a third... that lasted 6 months... bought a fancy one that looked impressive, but it does not hold the unit tight and it slowly moves downward...

Or, is there a way to 'fix' the silicone so it does hold?

 

[Corporateburnout]

Anybody have recommendations on the window holder

I use the suction cup mount and have not had any problems with is staying on but I also keep the portable friction mount which sits on the dashboard available in the car if needed.

 

[travelover]

........

Or, is there a way to 'fix' the silicone so it does hold?

Is this the one that lays flat with a rubber coated bottom? If so, I found that mine lost its stick after awhile and I was able to rejuvenate it by painting on silicone caulk over the bottom. That, too, loses its stickiness over time and needs to be repeated.

Now have the suction cup on the windshield and am much happier.

 

[Texas Proud]

Is this the one that lays flat with a rubber coated bottom? If so, I found that mine lost its stick after awhile and I was able to rejuvenate it by painting on silicone caulk over the bottom. That, too, loses its stickiness over time and needs to be repeated.

Now have the suction cup on the windshield and am much happier.

This is the window suction cup like below.... after awhile they just do not continue to stick to the window and will fall off after awhile....

 

[omni550]

Anybody have recommendations on the window holder

We also have a Garmin 255W, but the window unit would not hold... bought a new one... that lasted two years.... bought a third... that lasted 6 months... bought a fancy one that looked impressive, but it does not hold the unit tight and it slowly moves downward...

Or, is there a way to 'fix' the silicone so it does hold?

Make sure the interior of the windshield where you are trying to affix the window unit is kept sparking clean. (It may look clean but all of the plastics in a vehicle's interior off-gas, especially in sunny, hot weather like in TX, which ends up as a light, hazy coating on the glass.)

The rubber base of the window unit may also be degrading over time due to prolonged sun exposure. I'm not sure what can be done to 'refreshen' it without damaging the flat surface needed to ensure a good vacuum seal. Ideally, some sort of a liquid solvent 'wash' that would remove the degraded/oxidized rubber without damaging the rest of it.

(In tire plants, they used to use benzene to "freshen" uncured rubber when it lost its stickiness. I wonder if there's something similar for cured rubber? For wiper blades, I've used an emery board nail file to gently remove the oxidized edge and freshen the blade. But that's a thin straight surface which is easy to do, whereas the window unit is a large round pad. I guess if you have a pad that is not holding fast to the glass and would need to be replaced, it might be worth a very light sanding, making sure to keep the pad totally flat and parallel to the extra-fine grit sandpaper.)

Perhaps removing the window unit (and stowing it) anytime it's not in use might help prolong its useful life.

omni

 

[travelover]

Sometimes mineral oil (aka baby oil) will rejuvenate rubber, like a suction cup.

 

[omni550]

Texas Proud,

Have you considered keeping the GPS on your dash? -- either using one of these Amazon.com: Garmin Portable Friction Mount - Frustration Free Packaging: GPS & Navigation or I've seen some flat disks that can be glued to your dash and then the window mount unit is vaccum-attached to it. Either way, you're not fighting sun degradation and gravity quite so much.

omni

 

[Texas Proud]

First.... WOW.... that pic is bigger than I thought!!! It was a cut and paste from Amazon...

We do not leave the mount on the window if we are not using the GPS.... we do not use the GPS unless we are going someplace we do not know... so it does not get a lot of sun... the silicone is not degraded (well, it does not LOOK degraded)...


I will try and clean the window, but we do clean it regularly.... on our truck, we do have a disk down on the dash, but the GPS does not get as good of reception...

 

[meekie]

I love the Waze app myself, but mostly for the real-time traffic avoidance. I actually use it on the way to w*rk and home everyday, because around here, it can save me almost an hour if there is an accident somewhere.

Don't know how it is on road trips, and it does use a lot of battery, but since it's free, I'd totally recommend checking it out.

 

[KingB]

Texas Proud,

Have you considered keeping the GPS on your dash? -- either using one of these Amazon.com: Garmin Portable Friction Mount - Frustration Free Packaging: GPS & Navigation

omni

This is what I use and it works out much better than the previous suction cups that I have had.

 

[MissMolly]

My Mom has the Portable Friction Mount that omni550 posted. It works great.

 

[braumeister]

There are a few states where using a suction cup windshield mount is actually illegal.

I've been very happy for several years using a beanbag mount.
It's basically a small black beanbag with a flat disk on top. You place it on your dash (it really doesn't move around) and use your suction cup mount on the disk.

When I get where I'm going, it only takes a second or two to pick up the whole assembly and place it behind the driver's seat on the floor. That way, it's not visible and there is no telltale suction cup ring on the windshield so potential vandalism is deterred.

 

[Walt34]

I will try and clean the window, but we do clean it regularly.... on our truck, we do have a disk down on the dash, but the GPS does not get as good of reception...

Surprisingly it matters what you clean the window with. A sign painter told me that when painting signs on glass he used only a mixture of ammonia and water to clean the glass. Stuff like Windex has petroleum products in it that will cause paint (and presumably) suction cups to peel off.

 

[omni550]

Brief update on my eBay GPS purchase

Based on reading favorable comments, I went on eBay and 'won' an auction (slid a bid in at the 11th hour in a heated auction) for a Garmin nuvi 1490LMT for $86 plus shipping. (Seemed like a good price, as other used ones are going for $110-150, Manufactuer refurbished are $178). It was listed as being pristine and having everything except the PC computer cord. Seller said had purchased a car with built-in GPS which is the only reason he was selling this unit.

I sent the seller a quick note, asking if he'd be willing to update the maps as the lifetime maps are only for the first owner. He responded, saying that he had had Best Buy update the maps last year and he'd never registered the unit, so he couldn't update them now, however the maps are recent.

Unit arrived last night. Right out of the box, I noticed that it had the wrong window mounting bracket enclosed (from some other Garmin model that won't work with this unit).

The enclosed cord also seemed a bit odd to me, as I was expecting a fancier cord (for Traffic), yet this looked just like the basic charging cord on my 5-year old 'basic' Garmin 255W.

I was driving to a friend's house about 35 miles away, so I thought I'd bring the new GPS along, just to see how it would perform. Plugged it in to the lighter and off we went. Things seemed OK. About 5 minutes into the trip, the screen all of a sudden flipped into PC connection mode. Nothing I tried would get it to change it back to GPS mode. I finally turned it off, unplugged it and set it aside.

On the way home, I turned the unit on, keeping it on battery power only (as I suspected it might have been the incorrect charger cord that was giving the GPS fits.). It seemed to work OK, but I noticed it would drop a battery bar in about 10-15 minutes (4 bars total, so one bar is roughly 25% of the charge).

I played with a bit more when I got home, recharging it from my PC, and seeing the battery still draining surprisingly quickly as soon as it was on battery power.

I was a bit concerned, as there wasn't any refund offered by the seller in the original eBay listing. However, I wrote the seller via eBay, indicating the issues with the wrong window mounting unit and the wrong car charger. (I didn't even bother mentioning the dying battery). Within minutes I got a response from him, stating that if I return the unit within 3 days, I'd be refunded my purchase price and the shipping costs from the seller to me.

So that's what I'm planning to do. I'll be out the $6 bucks to return the unit, but, better that, than being stuck with all these issues.

Lesson learned. Caveat emptor/Buyer beware.

omni

 

[braumeister]

Lesson learned. Caveat emptor/Buyer beware.

You were lucky indeed!

But I just looked on Amazon and they have this model (New) for $179.99 with free shipping. I would just go ahead and buy it and be the original owner for the lifetime updates.

 

[Corporateburnout]

You were lucky indeed!

But I just looked on Amazon and they have this model (New) for $179.99 with free shipping. I would just go ahead and buy it and be the original owner for the lifetime updates.

+1

He will also get the correct power cord for FM traffic information

 

[JoeWras]

I'm really weird and buy a new Rand McNally map book from Target every year for $7. They even do a pretty good job with construction (long term jobs).

But I also like the challenge of mapping it, and even taking a wrong turn.

I do see a day where I'll jump in for GPS, maybe in the next year or two. I only have a dumb phone so GPS unit does sound appealing, so I'm watching this thread.

 

[braumeister]

a new Rand McNally map book

I rely very heavily on my GPS, since I do an awful lot of driving in places I don't know well. Typically at least 20,000 miles a year, nearly all of it for recreational purposes. So my Garmin is an absolute essential.

That said, I would never consider going anywhere without a good map book tucked away in the back seat. I find that every 3-4 years is often enough to update my big Rand McNally road atlas, and every 10 years is often enough to update my local road atlas. But you'd better believe that I want them there as a backup if the GPS ever dies suddenly!

 

[timo2]

I'm really weird and buy a new Rand McNally map book from Target every year for $7. They even do a pretty good job with construction (long term jobs).

But I also like the challenge of mapping it, and even taking a wrong turn.

I do see a day where I'll jump in for GPS, maybe in the next year or two. I only have a dumb phone so GPS unit does sound appealing, so I'm watching this thread.

I actually use both a GPS and a Rand McNally or State paper map. The GPS is good for in-the-weeds directions, and allows me to drive almost directly to a destination like a hotel, whatever, and all of that. But when I or another passenger wants to look at the big picture of where we are going and what is nearby, you can't beat a paper map.

For a long time I did not have a GPS and would often close in on the destination in sort of ever narrowing circles. It drove my DW crazy. Then one time DW and I were going to Portland, Oregon. And we exited the highway on the other side of town from where we needed to be. No big deal, as I would circle over to the correct place. Except that DW says 'this place looks familiar!' Turns out, she had been watching the COPS television show, and this was the part of Portland where the entire show took place. We bought a GPS fairly quickly after that, and it has made DW much happier with my driving.

 

[Redbugdave]

I have replaced the internal battery on my Garmin units myself.
Utube has instructions. Do a search for your unit. Here's the instructions for one of my units...an older one...
How To Replace Your Garmin Nuvi 650 Battery - YouTube

Also...I get Consumer Reports. The September issue rates them. The best overall is the Nuvi 3590LMT. The best on a budget is Nuvi 1300.

 

[omni550]

I have replaced the internal battery on my Garmin units myself.
Utube has instructions. Do a search for your unit. Here's the instructions for one of my units...an older one...
How To Replace Your Garmin Nuvi 650 Battery - YouTube

Also...I get Consumer Reports. The September issue rates them. The best overall is the Nuvi 3590LMT. The best on a budget is Nuvi 1300.

Thanks, Redbugdave. Looks straightforward enough. I'll keep this in mind when my old unit decides to give up the ghost.

I'll do some research as to the features offered on the 2 CR-recommended Nuvis.

omni

 

[Redbugdave]

About the map updates...I need to update the maps but I do not think the internal memory is enough in the units since mapping is more complex. You guys mentioned using an SD card. How does that work? Do I just plug in the SD card and update maps...or is there a procedure to make the Garmin overflow onto the SD card. I have never done this before.