Cheap GPS Store

Gets better over time
I debated for a very long time before purchasing the HP Ipaq 310. My usual habit of shopping around for anything I buy requires me to read every review I can find on the web....Need to know the features, need to get the best price...etc. Gotta admit, this process is sometimes excessive to the point of frustration. I've owned and used about 6 GPS units in the last 5 years or so...they included Navman, Magellan, Lowrance, Garmin; that averages about 1 GPS per year. However, in reality, I had been using Garmin 350 for the last 2 years...everything else were fairly brief. Garmin 350 was simply a breeze to use; it does the GPS' primary purpose very well and is the easiest to use GPS out of the box I've had. The HP Ipaq 310 is NOT easy to use straight out of the box. I fully expected this after reading all of the reviews here in amazon, and cnet, and more exotic sites like [...]; Now, I usually would consider myself somewhat of a techy kind of guy (I've always been the one friends and family would consult for electronics advice) and I rarely have to read instruction manual on most of anything I buy in order to operate them. I received the Ipaq 310 from amazon...got in my car, turned the thing on; then for the next 20 minutes could not make it take me to a destination! I was fully humiliated in front of my girlfriend. So, the thing is not very intuitive straight out of the box. It took me a good 1 or 2 hours of "alone time" at home to figure everything out (and I still didn't read the manual). The marked difference between the 310 and all of my previous GPS in navigation is what made the initial learning so difficult. You enter an address and fully expect the unit to just take you there as with all of the other GPS I had before...not the 310; you would have to perform anothe step of assigning the address as either "destination" or "starting point." And repeating entries because you're not sure if the unit registered your destination correctly are simply added onto the route. You would have to go to another menu to edit the route and delete previous addresses. Really, it makes perfect sense now after I've learned the HP interface. And it really DOES provide some really good features that the other GPS lack. Essentially, the 310 allows you to do that route planning thing you do using Yahoo Maps or Mapquest; you can find out the distance/travel time between any two points on the map. Most of other systems only allow you to calculate route from your current GPS position to your entered destination. This is a really useful feature that some newer higher end GPS are starting to offer (e.g. Garmin 700 series). The 310 had quite a few hardware and software issues that are well documented in various user forums, most notably the sound quality and lockups and crashes. But, here's where HP is coming through with some very nice product updates. There had been at least 1 major update and 1 minor update since the product release. Earlier users also experienced unreasonably difficult process with the automatic update. That had improved by the time I did my update; it took less than 1 hour. The sound volume improved to adequate level. However Susan Text-to-speech still sounds annoying and not as clear as I would've liked. Rerouting seems to have improved. The crashes are VERY infrequent now. I think my review of the 310 turned out a bit more negative than I really feel about the unit; All and all, I was so very close to returning this thing back to amazon; but after the update AND after I learn how to use the interface, I find myself liking it quite a bit now. The screen is bright and sharp. I also like the fact that the battery is user replaceable. My Garmin 350 is basically a permanent wired unit now that the battery won't hold charge anymore. Still haven't played much with the video playback, MP3 stuff. But what's very encouraging is that HP is releasing updates...indeed this unit has tons of potential and it's getting better with each update.

Too much too soon?
When I got this unit via the Amazon Vine program, I was looking forward to it. I have an older Magellen GPS unit for my car, and it works great. The only problem is that it's rather bulky. The iPAQ 310 promised a much smaller and lighter form factor, as well as the ability to run with it away from a power source. Unfortunately, the promise didn't measure up to reality, and I think I'll be keeping my Magellen.

The 310 looks really nice, but I was less-than-thrilled with the routing paths it provided. On a number of occasions, it ignored an obviously more direct path to take you on a round-about trip. Since the main thing I wanted it for was navigation, it failed in the primary task. The additional stuff like MP3 player and video player are nice, but I already have iPods and iPhones to do that stuff. I would have preferred it be really great at one thing (navigation) rather than mediocre at a number of things.

If you're willing to look at this as a true iPAQ that happens to have GPS built in, then you might have a better impression of the overall package. But if you're looking for this primarily as an in-car navigation unit, it leaves much to be desired.

top of the line GPS
I have had this unit for about 4 months now. When I wanted to buy a GPS, never having owned one, I hesitated between the Navigon 7100 and the HP iPaq 310. The reviews I read about the HP were mixed. The negative ones were not convincing to me. It sounded more as a critique because the HP does not behave like a TomTom or Garmin. I am glad I bought this unit.
One of the complaints was that the HP switches from 2D to 3D mode by itself. To me that is a feature. When you are so far from the destination, you really do not want to look at the details of the road. That is when the 2D-mode kicks in automatically. As you get near your destination, you care about the streets preceding the destination. Again, the HP switches automatically to the detailed mode showing the 3D, which in my opinion is superb.
In 3D-mode you get a super high resolution scenery of the back-ground. In my case you see the mountains exactly as I see it in front of me. Perfect scenery on the HP screen.
Do not get fooled by the Garmin users or TomTom users. This unit is perfect. I find every function to work as designed.
There never was a problem with the sound being too low. At least my unit never had a problem from day one.
Connecting bluetooth with your cell phone is a breeze.
Finding the satellites took place very quickly.
So far there has been two firmware upgrade. The only problem with the upgrade is that the provided software takes a long time to download the firmware.
I would recommend this to any body

Flexible device
Invaluable for navigation and finding the closest Thai restaurants. Was originally rather buggy, but recent update seems to have stabilized things.
Neat trick: with the installation of an SDIO wireless card, such as the Spectec SDW-820 SD WiFi Card (802.11b) and some software tinkering, you can get Opera running on it, for portable internet access, albeit only to unsecured networks.
Battery life is rather skimpy.

Happy overall
Since this is my first GPS, I have no basis for comparison. However, I like this GPS very much. It wasn't too difficult learning the menu options, but it did take a little getting use to. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase.

iGolf Caddie II opinion
To start this off I have quite a bit of experience using hand held GPS units over more than 10 years such as Garmin(several models), Magellan(several models), & Standard Vertex. I have used these units for normal recreation use & for survey use in locating oil well sites. I know the normal error in these units as I have used government markers in several countries to confirm my GPS readings from the above units. In short while not an expert on GPS I am familiar with them. I have not used my iGolf Caddie II yet on the course but while at my work site I set up the TEST COURSE. What I was interested in was repeatability of the readings. In other words if a point is say 100 yards from the tee box will it be 100 yards this afternoon or tomorrow. For the test I used known points over several times each day over several days.It appears to me that the iGolf Caddie II unit has a average accuracy of +/- 2 yards. In other words I had a point at 58 meters from the "test tee box" for my first test.Over the test period the point in question was found to be between 56 to 60 yards. This means it could be 2 yards short of the original reading or 2 yards longer than the original reading. This is in the ballpark for the claimed accuracy of most GPS units on the market if WAAS is enabled. Much of my golf is played in Thailand where we use live caddies and I can tell you many have worked the same course for 10 years or more. Really iGolf is not needed in that environment. Now some of my golf is played in the middle east with no caddies. Now we do have sprinkler heads but sometimes its a hunt to find them. I can say that the iGolf would save time and be easier in a no caddies environment. As far as the accuracy I think its reasonable for the mid to high handicap golfer. Lets be honest for the average golfer +/- 4 yards is pretty close for the accuracy we have with our irons. Now for the low handicapper it might not be so great. One feature the unit has is when it stops moving it locks the display on the number when stopped. Well as normal GPS units take a few seconds or even a minute or so to lock on and correct them selves. With the feature I think some accuracy is lost. While I did not use this on a golf course I feel my results are useful in that I spent quite a bit of time with fixed points. My test were in clear open areas in the middle of the desert. Tree's, clouds, rain,etc or anything blocking the view can have a effect on the accuracy of the unit. Is this a useful tool for the average hacker thats to lazy to find a sprinkler head or plays where there are no yardage markers- YES. Besides I love gadgets! I have not tried any of the file downloads from iGolf so I cannot confirm the accuracy of the data.

Good but has weaknesses
In general, there are things to like about the unit. It does what it advertises. I easily found my courses and got them on the unit quickly. The readout is easy to read, it does wander at times but will stabilize after a couple of seconds. The unit is light and I bought an IGolf case that makes it easier to carry around. I have not tried to add any distinct course features nor have I experienced any that were un-mapped.

On the negative side: the belt clip is fragile. I broke it off after the second round. The IGolf site has replacements in quantities of 1, 3 and 5 which tells me I am not the first person to break them. Second, the unit uses a great deal of power. The first batteries lasted just over two rounds. I used others that lasted less than a round (might have been low quality). The web site claims batteries will last ~2.5 rounds. In the summer I will play 2-4 rounds a week will go through a lot AAs. I guess I need to stock up at Costco and carry them in my car.

Pretty good unit but not without its weaknesses.

can't get my home course mapped
Igolf says that when you get their gps you can add one course which they don't offer, and they will map it for you. My home course was not in their database and I've requested they map it. A couple months now and they haven't done it. When I ask for a date they give me vague answers and I have little confidence that it will ever be done.

iGolf II Very Helpful & Accurate
The weather broke and I was finally able to take my new iGolf II to the course. My partner and I checked its measurements against the course's in-ground markers and found the iGolf to be very accurate. I was surprised, quite frankly, how helpful the iGolf was in strategy and club selection. What I especially liked about the iGolf II was the shot measurement feature which allowed me to see exactly how far (or short!) I was hitting clubs. What we found too often was we "didn't have a club for that distance in our bags." We also had fun by calling out the distance we thought a shot was, as we always do, and then comparing our estimation against the iGolf. We weren't always very accurate! Although my score for this first round using my iGolf II was no better than usual, I am sure that as the golfing season comes, my game can't help but improve. I'd recommend the iGolf II to any golfer. While fun to use, it's more than a toy.

Excellent Once You Get It Up and Running
I would have rated the iGolf GPS Caddie 5 stars, except that (1) the manual is weak in a few important areas; (2) the software installation wizard does not "self-start" when you run the CD (as almost all other software CD's do); and (3) the terminology on your PC screen, in the manual, and on the Caddie's display all differ in minor but confusing ways. It took me a fair amount of playing around with various functions in Windows (which I hate), but by using my head plus getting clues from the manual, I was able to get the software installed succcessfully.

Badly written software instructions are a pet peeve of mine, so I downrated the product. Interestingly, the manual's instructions on how to use the unit are clear and accurate. My guess is that techies wrote the parts about installing the software, and golfers wrote the parts about how to use the unit. (I can say this, because I used to be a techie.)

Once you're on the golf course, the unit is a pleasure to own, a 5-star product.

Here are some of the things I like most:

--Its price. It's simply cheaper than competing units offering the same functionality.

--It works. It does exactly what it says it will do: gives you the distance to the front, center, and back of the green you are going for. That's all I need to have confidence in club selection. I particularly like the precision inside 100 yards, where course markers are rare. I use 4 wedges with about 15 yards difference between them, so knowing I'm, say, 80 yards away rather than 90 is important to me. No more mid-swing "is this the right club?" doubts, guaranteed to screw you up.

--No more hunting for sprinkler heads or other course markers. No more pacing forward or backward from such markers. No more guessing at how your distance varies from the nearest sprinkler head because you are 20 yards to the right of it. No more trying to envision concentric circles around the green to adjust for the fact that you're off to the side ("I wonder what that sprinkler head would say if it were on my line instead of over there?")

--It lets you play faster and with more confidence. It's fun helping out your golfing buddies by giving them their distances when they can't find a sprinkler head.

--Operation of the unit is simple and intuitive. The manual does a good job of describing operation. It's a quick, clear read, and everything works as described. You'll only need to read it once for each function, the operation is intuitive once you have that background. The handheld unit itself is very well designed, with just three buttons: one to turn it on and off; one to navigate between menus and advance from one hole to the next; and an "escape" button that takes you to the previous screen...so you can't get trapped inside layers of menus.

--The Web site is clear, simple, and very fairly priced. For , you get a one-year membership. A huge advantage over the Sky Caddy subscription model, iGolf allows you to keep the courses in your computer. For the , you get 50 download credits (one course per credit). You also get one "mapping" credit, so you can have them map a golf course for you if it doesn't happen to be in their database. The handheld unit itself holds 10 courses, but you can download 50 to your PC and then just transfer them into and out of the handheld as needed. Once you download a course, you own that data. You don't have to maintain a subscription to keep using it. The 50-course limit more than covers my forseeable needs. We have separate winter and summer homes, so I'll have a "southern" set and a "northern" set. Within a year, I'll have downloaded all the courses I need. (So far I've downloaded 4 courses from iGolf.)

--The download includes not only the GPS data, but the course's scorecard. So as you push the button to advance to the next hole, up pops the hole number, yardage, par, and handicap for that hole. When you are downloading a course, the Web site displays the scorecard, so you can check and be sure it matches the actual printed scorecard before you download it. (Then when you are playing, you select on the handheld which tees you are playing from...that's how the unit knows what yardage to display for each hole.)

Bottom line, I think this is a fine product and service at a fair price. I have not yet mapped out my own course, nor marked hazards on particular holes, nor used the other functions that are available. I may do some of this over time. I will probably use it to measure how far I hit my drives and other clubs. But that's all gravy...the main function of the unit is to give you your distance, and it does that well. The display could not be clearer. It's simple black-and-white, with very clear letters and numbers.

A couple of notes:

One reviewer complained that the displayed distance keeps changing or drifting. I've noticed that a couple of times on an occasional hole. If that happens, just flick the button to the previous hole, then flick it back to your hole. The unit will give you a fresh, stable reading.

The manual is weak in its description of how to download a course from your PC to the handheld. Do this: (1) On your PC desktop, click the iGolf "transfer" icon. (2) This brings up a "Caddie Sync Software" box with several tabs. Click the "Send Golf Course" tab. (3) There are then three steps shown in a box that appears on your PC screen. Step 1 is accurate. Step 2 is accurate. Step 3 is misdescribed. Ignore the two things it tells you to select on the handheld...they don't exist. Instead, select "Sync Handheld" from the main menu on the handheld. On your PC, just press the "Send" button. The handheld's display will switch from "Waiting" to "Active" (this is not mentioned in the manual). The download will take place (it takes maybe 30 seconds for one course). When it's done, the top box on your PC will say "TRANSFER SUCCESSFUL" and the handheld will say "Closed." The course data is now in your handheld unit.

If I could, I would give this 4.5 stars. I've downrated it only for the incomplete/incorrect manual instructions. Now that it's up and running, I'm very glad I bought it.

Not what i expected
This GPS had to be the worst one i have yet to use. I used this unit for about a week and i just had to return it. First of all the system crashed consistently. The video playback is terrible, good luck finding the right video and audio bitrate. The Bluetooth was horrible because it doesn't connect to any Smartphone (Windows based phone). This is how i would list the pros and cons:

Pros
1) Shiny sleek black look
2) Able to use a HCSD cards (I bought the 8GB).
3) Bluetooth, video and music playback, realtime traffic
4) Comes with wall and car charger (very nice).

Cons
1) Crashes all the time. Imagine your on the road and this unit dies on you're with system or application failed.
2) The windshield bracket is HUGE. The bracket is heavier than the GPS unit.
3) Video and audio britrate is hard to figure out. Unless this system doesn't have enough power to keep the audio and video sync.
4) No map updates.
5) Software is not for Macs
6) The Voice (TTS)that pronounces the streets and exits is extremely LOW.
7) Never got the FM transmitter working right.

I love everything i buy from Amazon but I really dislike this product. If your looking for a GPS, go with Garmin!

Good Product with Room for Improvement
I often rely on Amazon reviews before purchasing products, so here is our turn to contribute.

We have owned & used this product for 6 months.
We had read some good reviews of the product earlier & were motivated to purchase it for many of its features, including the traffic service. I liked that we did not have to purchase an extra antenna as it was already included. (the funny thing is that we haven't turned on the service yet....so can't comment on it)

My husband is an actor with lots of auditions all over the place, so thought it would be helpful to have a navigation system (& it has been!). Also his greatest nightmare is getting stuck in traffic & being late for a performance (hence the desire for a traffic service).

We had become accustomed to Hertz's Neverlost prior to buying this system & possibly would have stuck with that had I known the manufacturer (which is Magellan)

I'll list some of the pros and cons that we have experienced and then I will comment on some of the other reviews. (Please note that this system comes with many, many features, that we have never used.....the Bluetooth, MP3 player, downloading of books, etc.)

PROs:
+ Great price
+ Traffic antenna included & a 3 month trial period of the service
+ No antenna is needed except for when using the traffic service
+ Announces street names (which gives a good laugh at times!)
+ Can broadcast on a FM radio or use an earset
+ Usually gets us where we need to be (but then again sometimes "she" gets confused....which is aggravating when my husband is driving in Boston as it takes awhile to get back on track)
+ Shows gas stations & other services along a route on a map
+ you have a choice as a 2-dimensional screen or a 3-d screen
+ it shows your speed, so depending on your car style, you can rest the unit on your dash, blocking your speedometer

CONs:
- It takes a long time to warm up, sometimes as much as 15 minutes (& sometimes it is immediate)
- There is no "key" or "screen" locking (due to the sometimes long warm up period, I want to leave the system on & keep it my bag when going into a store....I then hear `beep, beep, beep' as the screen gets touched accidentally) - not sure if this feature exists on other systems.
- The Point of Interest search is definitely not as good as the Magellan's Neverlost, which shows restaurants by exit number. The Sanyo lists all restaurants by distance as the crow flies, with only street names as detail. What this means is the restaurant could be in a direction that you are not traveling. In addition, you might think it is worthwhile to go the 2 miles out of the way to go to a restaurant, only to find that as you navigate to it, the restaurant is really 8 miles out of the way. Knowing the town at least would be helpful.
- The next might be more user error - Say I do a POI search, pick a restaurant & put it in as a stopover point, only to discover it is way out of the way. I haven't been able to figure out how to cancel that stopover point without cancelling the whole trip.
- Talking of errors, sometimes the system crashes with a system error. This would be in the middle of the trip, when I might be searching for a POI or something...but it is inconvenient. It seems like it happens right when my husband needs to be making some turn & I need to start nearly from the beginning (find the recent address & re-navigate to it).
- Once the distance is under 1 mile until the next turn, the distance is displayed in YARDS. I'd much prefer if the distance stayed in mileage...like 0.7 mi, 0.3 mi, etc. (who wants to do math converting yards to miles??? And I work as an engineer!)
- The traffic antenna is somewhat cheap...My husband pulled the suction cup off by accident within the first few days (not really repairable). He then dropped it on the kitchen floor another day & the retraction of the cord broke.

Comments:
1. As far as the low volume, you can broadcast on the radio or use an earset (it definitely was hard to hear when driving a convertible on vacation)
2. The final destination is marked on the map as whether it is on the Left or Right side of the street.
3. Good suggestion on the pencil eraser. We had wished it came with a stylus like Palm provides.
4. It is true that the system asks for date & time to be entered manually when you first turn on the system. I usually skip through this & what I found is that once I get a GPS signal, the time is updated to the correct time. The time is important as the system shows the time you are expected to reach your destination (whereas I believe the Neverlost system displays the expected travel time).
5. We don't use the mounting kit for 3 reasons: (1) it doesn't fit my husband's curved dash very well; (2) it reduces the risk of windows being smashed by thieves looking for the suction cup; & (3) we don't need it. We just rest the unit on the seat next to us.

Sanyo NVM 4070 GPS unit with bluetooth
Great product but I can't find a replacement wall charger. Google search doesn't cut it & Sanyo site doesn't even acknowledge having a GPS much less the indicated model.

best gps for the price
I've been using this gps for a month now and personnally I do believe this is the best gps for the price consider its operation and features.
I got this from Frys electronics for 0
I also owned a garmin C340,which is quite old.I will try to be more specifics on the major features.
1)the gps on the sanyo is super quick,it reroute instantly without recalculating,the signal is allways there even indoor,I never experienced a signal lost with the sanyo,while it occured quite often with the garmin.
2)bluetooth works flawslessly with my sanyo phone,u can import phone book,edit etc...,u can call POI directly with the sanyo,read its description.
3)mp3 player works perfectly,u can listen to it thru the built in speaker or your car stereo using the fm txmitter,try different channel for best sound,and look like the gps have to be mount directly above the stereo unit for best sounding
4)video player works really good,but u need to convert your video files to mp4 format because this is the only format this player will read.I'm not sure if any of the Garmin offer this features
5)u can add a sd card for extra stuffs,the gps have roughly 1GB internal memory for u to use,I heard that the sanyo is compatible with HCSD,if that the case u can add up to 16gb hcsd card
6)3 months free of TMC(traffic info)
7)photo viewer,no problem at all
8)the gps come with winshield mount,car charger,ac charger,usb cable,tmc antenna,cd and dvd.The winshield mount is very well build and designed,really easy to use,believe it or not I can uninstalled the gps with 1 hand while driving.
If anybody know of any gps that can do all this for less than 0,please let me know,I'd appreciate that.
Try this gps and save yourself alot of money.

Sanyo customer support is the worst
If you want to run the risk of no customer supports with your expensive GPS navigation system, you can simply go to buy a Sanyo NVM-4070. Any questions you have, you can call 1-800-421-5013, after waiting for over 30 minutes, you can get the answer like this "Sanyo doesn't provide any updated software for fixing these issues, you can just use it as is or return it to the store." It is very surprised why Sanyo did release such kind of product to the market even if they do not want to provide any technical supports ?

The critical issue is that: there are only 3 so-called Voice Skins (English only): Female with Text To Speech (TTS), Female without TTS, Male without TTS. The fatal problem is that when you select the Female with TTS, the Volume is too low even if you set to the Maximum value. It is very hard to hear the prompts when you are driving on the way.

There also have following minor issues:
1. Compass display is too small and too low. Especially when driving to East or South direction, it is very hard to determine which direction is the North. It should be Bigger and Upper, and a little Right shifted.

2. When reached the destination, it is just said "the destination is reached." It should be better to say "the destination is reached on your right." Or "the destination is reached on your left." Like most of other GPS navigators do.

3. Date and Time should be added such kind of option: adjustable by GPS automatically. Especially the Time Zone.

4. the number of POI is a little small. It should be better to have more, and can be added by user.

5. It should be able to use an USB power adaptor. When I connect an USB power adaptor to NVM-4070, it always said "connected to a PC", then you can do nothing other than user it as an USB storage.

Again, please keep in mind that Sanyo does not provide any technical supports for this product.

Works as expected- It will help your game
My SG5 works as advertised- set-up went smoothly, course availability is excellent. This unit replaced the SG4 I accidentally destroyed, but links up faster and gives an accurate reading quicker than the SG4. Yardages are fast and accurate. On customer service- they ARE terrible. Don't expect them to walk you through set up if you have problems. Go to one of the skycaddie forums online if you need assistance. If you must deal with customer service- send an email through the skycaddie desktop (though chances are they will just ask you to return your unit).

Works Like a Charm
I am not sure what is causing the problems of the previous two reviewers but my SG5 works great as advertised. Syncing up was no issue and I had 10 courses in the unit in a matter of 30 minutes. Accuracy on the course seems to be very good and I haven't found a course that isn't in their database. There may be better GPS units available but the course database is the key in my decision to purchase a Skycaddie. Hands down, they have the largest database for the U.S. and Canada which is my primary interest.
I am sure that the next generation of Golf GPS's will have pictures of each hole with all of the same courses as in the database today. But, until then, this is a very good unit.

aweful, aweful product
The SkyCaddie SG5 can't be detected by Windows. Try to contact customer support, and you'll get so angry you end up throwing it out the window. They offer two solutions. One is to return it, the other is to send it in so they can "fix" it. I bought this thing last week, so I kind of doubt that it needs repairs. Save your money and buy a laser rangefinder, or a competitor's GPS that actually works. Anything from SkyGolf just isn't worth the cash or the frustration when you take it home and realize you have a broken walkie-talkie in your hands.

terrible product, even worse customer support
If you are thinking about purchasing a GPS rangefinder, this is NOT the one to consider. What the manufacturer won't tell you is that SkyCaddie comes with everything you need: handheld GPS unit, belt clip, and crippling software and hardware malfunctions. Unless you are lucky enough to find a unit that isn't defective, and you won't be, you'll find Windows (XP or Vista) doesn't support their desktop client, nor does it recognize the device when connected to a USB serial port. Think you can fix the problem? Guess again. Customer support is worse than abysmal, I'm not exaggerating when I say I've dealt with AIRLINES that are more helpful. After waiting on the phone queue for 120 MINUTES, I was told by a smug and unconcerned customer "support" technician that the only solution to fixing my newly purchased 0 product was to return it. Golf can be a frustrating hobby. Why make it worse by having this glorified paperweight in your pocket?

Usually easy to use -- and fun!
I have used the sky caddie at my home course, and on several away courses. It seems very accurate, based on yardage markers on the course, and gives instant easy to read distances. I have kept it clipped to my golf bag, walking or riding, and it is getting to be second nature to check it on a regular basis. One must load the proper courses on away trips, however, and beware of using an incorrect course name when playing at a resort with four different courses -- there is no time to get to a computer to download the correct course when you are teeing off on number one. The display is clear, the size is right, and I am happy with this purchase.

Poor routing algorithm
After using the Mio C520 for over 3 months now I truly regret I bought it. the device performs poorly in route calculation choosing the most bizarre routes you would ever imagine.
Fortunately also owned a Garmin 200W and the TomTom One. both outperform the Mio in suggesting much faster and more logical routes. THIS IS THE MOST BASIC FUNCTION OF A GPS DEVICE!
The bluetooth speakerphone is useless as there's so much background noise. besides, you have to pair the phone each time you turn the Mio on.
Overall nice feature/function but poor design, stay away!

Mio C520
I read a lot of product reviews on this and several other brands. If you take them all seriously, most likely you would never buy a GPS. The C520 works just fine and probably equal to all others in its price range. The most difficult thing is in deciding which options you need or want. I choose this model as an upgrade from the C230. I wanted the wide screen. I like the Mio brand because of the unlock and options you can add if you have some computer experience. It now has more games and gizmos than I will ever use. It has always locked onto satellites in less than a minute and never yet lost a signal while traveling. It seems to be accurate within 20 ft. The voice is very robotic and some street names are mispronounced. If you like gadgets then this is a fine choice. For grandma or grandpa that don't use a computer or a cell phone maybe a TomTom would be a better choice. I commute 150 miles a day and my Mio C520 sure helps.

Mio C520
Great product. excellent usability.
Works great as blue tooth connector for talking in cellular while driving

Disappointing
I bought the C520 in Jan 2008 and found it to be pretty easy to use, although the interface can be maddening at times.

The biggest complaints I have are (1) Re-boots frequently and (2) Maps hopelessly out of date. The re-boots occur when the volume on the text-to-speech is muted - after a while I get really annoyed at the 'GPS babe" announcing that I'll need to turn in 700', 400', 200' etc (it's like having my wife giving me directions!) Oh, then she announces for me to turn left at the next turn - after I've already passed the turn (again, my wife...) The unit will run for a few minutes and then re-boot, not a good thing when you're traveling in traffic and need to know where the next turn will be!

The maps are very out-of-date; however, I was willing to pay the to update the software. Unfortunately, after going through the web form on their online store, I was informed that "this merchant does not accept this credit card." I had selected American Express from the drop-down box, but they don't accept Amex??? When I wrote them asking what the problem was, they ignored me for two weeks, and when I wrote again, they indignantly responded that "the problem has been corrected." Well, it hasn't - I wrote to tell them that about a month ago and have never heard back. I don't know what country these guys are in, but when I can afford it, I'm buying something "Made in the U.S.A." - this is a waste of my time.

The Mio C520 is amazing
This GPS unit came ready right out of the box. The first time it was turned on, the colors on the screen were vibrant. The gps oriented itself in just a few seconds. All the nearby streets were identified. This was my first personal gps unit, so ease of use was important and the Mio C520 unit did not let me down. I ordered this unit and received it within five working days, this was important to me since I was traveling from Longview, Tx. to Detriot Mi. a week after ordering. Thanks Amazon. The day after receiving the Mio C520 I typed in the Detriot address and began my trip. It took me right to the address in Detriot. What a stress reliever as I darted through traffic like a local not having to worry about if i'm in the right lane for the next turn. This unit comes with all the bells and whistles, Touch screen,text and speech, Mp3 player, picture viewer blue tooth and a million POI. The point of interest feature was great for finding hotels and restaurants on the trip up to Detrioit. It found a couple of museums and shoping malls in Detriot.

keep your garmin
Concept is good, but the reality sucks.
Heavy, slow response time, hang-ups, takes forever to look for POI's.
The unit is so heavy that suction arm keep falling. Where do you hide this anyways?

The battery only lasts 2-3days and after that it takes like 3 minutes to restart. When the battery is gone, internal memory is out so it restarts like a Windows machine.
I really like the concept of being connected through cell network and user-feedback information. However the hardware doesn't seem to be ready and it probably needs a bigger company to develop a comprehensive product system like this. The lack of experience and not having enough manufacturing and hardware resource really shows.

Great
I love it... but don't by the accessory kit... all of the stuff is already in the Dash Express box... the "buy with" is very deceptive marketing...

Good and improving
I ordered this unit on the first day of sale because I happened to be looking for a GPS that day and it sounded like the future. Got it a few days later and made a trip from Tucson to San Diego. It did a lot of nice things including updated gas prices but since there weren't many units on the road yet, the traffic info was pretty sparse until I got to San Diego. Did a nice job of getting me through interchanges and I rolled up to the hotel with no problems. The window mount/ suction cup thing is actually illegal in California so I jury rigged a stand in a cupholder. Used it a few weeks later in Houston on a rental car and it worked OK but still hated the mount. The send2dash bit is great as I was able to send destinations to the device. What is most impressive about the unit is the ability to upgrade. They have forums on their web site where they respond to requests and talk about what they are working on. I just got an update this week that speeds up imaging, allows me to train the unit to select my usual route and upgraded a few other items. So I really like the unit but I hate the mount. I did go buy a Bracketron cupholder mount to replace my jury-rigged setup but the unit weighs about 13 oz and while it is better than I had, there is still more movement than I'd like with the unit. Since I paid 0 for the unit and they've dropped the price to around 0, they gave me 3 months extra connect time before I have to start deciding what kind of contract to get. I'm leaning towards only activating the connect feature for the months I'm on the road out of town. At /month, I probably only need to pay for 3 months a year and that would be less than the 0/year of a 2 year contract. I don't need the daily traffic stuff for my short commute to work and I don't even take it to work. When you do connect, you can catch up on all the upgrades and map changes you missed so there is no real penalty for not taking the continuous contract.

Dash exceeded all my expectations!
This is a great product for someone who wants it all. Here are my favorite features:

Being able to send addresses from my desktop is awesome. When I'm planning a business trip, I review my itnerary, enter the addresses online and they are magically waiting for me when I arrive in an unfamiliar place.

Movies on the fly- it tells you whats playing, time, location everything.

It has yet to fail me and I continue to get updates wirelessly.

I looked at all the competitors and I have yet to see any other Nav device deliver what Dash does.

Dash Express - advanced GPS of the future
I have been using the Dash for 25 days. Having used 2 other GPS units in the past this is one that is far superior in many ways. The DashApps available on their WEB site are extraordinary and though I'm not in real estate an agent shouldn't be without it.

Garmin Golf Logix is a WONDERFUL thing!
I researched different golf GPS units before deciding on the Garmin. (I had actually gone to the store to purchase the 2.5 Sky Caddie, but after looking at it, I realized I couldn't read the information on the screen without wearing my reading glasses!)

I am very satisfied with the Garmin Golf Logix. It was easy to download the software; and easy to save and load golf courses. The display is very easy to read at 6 feet away. Its lightweight and waterproof.

I am normally a 10-12 handicap, 2 weeks ago I had my first sub-par round, and my first eagle the following weekend. What more can I say?!

A great father's day present for an 81 year old golf nut
Got this for my surprisingly computer adept 81 year old father after using one myself for one month. He was able to set it up on his Mac after a little help from the support services available from GolfLogix. Unfortunately, he received a defective unit but the folks at GolfLogix sent one out to him fairly quickly and it works very well. He is very happy with it but disappointed in the distance of his drives now that they are measured accurately. All of the courses he plays could be installed on the device so he is pretty happy and hoping to shoot his age any day now.

Better than yardage markers, but not great
My problem with the Golflogix is that it only gives you yardages to front, center, and back. I really don't care all that much about those yardages. Maybe a professional would, but I want the yardage to the hole. So one still has to consult a pin sheet, which aren't accurate either, and then do the math and they're just approximations. I also, in checking it against GPS systems mounted on carts, found that it was off by a few yards. When I double-checked with my Bushnell's it was shown to be imperfect. It's rugged, it's compact and they have just about every course in the country mapped. The software is not great; it's cumbersome to navigate through the 15,000 odd courses. Look, it's better than walking off sprinkler head yardages and getting out your calculator and it's true you don't have to take out a pair of distance binoculars and hit that pin, sometimes a little difficult at long yardages, but I still prefer my Bushnell's because it gives me an exact yardage to the pin, which is what I want. With Golflogix you're still at the mercy of pin sheets. I tried it for a week and went back to my binoculars. I thought I could use them in combination with each other, but that's just too many devices in one's bag. Still, I would recommend it, as long as you understand its limitations.

On balance, I like it
This product is pretty much as advertised. A few kinks: 1)the "battery low" indicator is displayed with very little time left so unless you're halfway through the back nine when you first see the indicator you're going to run out of power before the end of the round. Consequently, you need to carry replacement batteries with you or use rechargable batteries and replace them after each round. 2) the hole display doesn't always advance to the next hole so sometimes you must manually advance it. 3) the display becomes "confused" when using the device on a hole closeby or parallel to another course that is part of Golflogix database. This happened to me on a 27 hole course where each 9 holes is considered a different course by Golflogix. Hole #8 on one course was parallel to hole #3 on another course that I had programmed into the device. At that point it became "confused".

These kinks I consider minor and on balance I like the product and am glad I purchased it.

Golf GPS review
The product is decent. but is cumbersome on the course. I find it difficult sometimes to update to the next hole. Many times the unit switches to another course.

A good budget unit
This is a good budget GPS. I used it to discover a couple of short cuts to work already. I modified it to support calculator, notepad, photo viewer, word/excel/ppt/pdf viewers, and mp3/video players, etc. in additional to the Destinator GPS program (Thanks daniel53 and others). It's a very nice toy especially for tech-savvy users (5 stars for being able to modify it).

The user interface may not be super intuitive as some high-priced units.

BTW, make sure to try the "avoid roads" feature under the "Manage Route." You can create one or more sets of roads to avoid (or not to avoid).

If Pharos can provide free map updates, as the previous reviewer mentioned, then I'll give it a 6-star rating. :-)

Good enough for me :)
I must admit I had my reservations purchasing this item, as the Pharos brand is not as well known as some of the others, and I could only find few comprehensive reviews on the unit. However, I simply could not argue with all the features that were being offered for such a low price... so I took the chance, and I am glad that I did. The performance was peppy, LCD was bright and easy to read, text-to-speech was clear, GPS tracking functioned smoothly as expected, the interface was reasonable intuitive. The point of interest and the maps seemed a little outdated, but the customer support told me that a new version should be available early next year on their website, free of charge.

All in all, although it may lack the "sophistication" in build/software quality of the bigger companies, I'm very happy with my purchase.

Good for the price.
I like simple but powerful devices -- as this one. I really have nothing to complain if this one uses some different operation styles from other GPSs. Get used to its own style and you will find it easy to use. The only true shortcomings I have found -- some simple functions that it really should have -- are:

1. no way to know how much power is left in the battery.

2. no way to adjust the time & date.

Exiting at first, now.....not really
Pros: cheap for a unit with TTS, clear voice, good map, more streets details than Gamin, some people might not like.
Cons: Take awhile to get signal from cold start. Very poor POI

Using this for few months now. At first was very happy. Got signal very quick after cold start. Now taking awhile to get, but after initial start, later gets signal is quick. In general, hate it when first start, like it when running. I used to turn it on and car at same time for warming up then do my things. I would rate it 3.5 if I could.

Very good, but not as easy as some units
I've used this daily for 3 weeks now. I previously have only used a bottom line Garmin (I2- Back and white, no touch screen, no text to speech). The Pharos is a step up in many ways (color, faster, spoken street names, larger screen) BUT, Garmin's experience in this field shows: While the Pharos is color and larger, it was still easier to see the Garmin screen, especially in bright sun. The auto-night dimming on the Pharos works poorly, way too bright. And even though the Garmin didn't have a touch screen, it was not really more difficult to enter the destination info.

The volume adjustment is difficult to adjust near the louder end of the scale. It is difficult to touch in street names with my finger (medium sized man) though easy with the stylus. The points of interest are much more cumbersome. For instance if you are driving and want the closest McDonalds you have to punch in a bunch of info, then you only get a list accurate to the closest mile. The Garmin easily gave a list and the list automatically updated as I drove.

Anyway, at 0 this is a great deal, and very usable, just not as easy to use as I'd hoped. I bought it because my Garmin broke, otherwise I'd still be using that. Oh, BTW, I don't find the spoken street names much better than the Garmin's "turn right in one tenth mile", though lots of users seem to think spoken street names are a big plus.

Also not well thought out is the power handling. When I turn off the engine, the unit stays fully on, so if you don't want the internal battery to run down you have to manually turn the unit off then manually turn it on when you start, not a big deal, but the unit should go to sleep automatically when you turn off your engine.

NAVIGON 7100-EXCELLENT VERY SATISFIED
I am very satisfied with the purchase, I love my new Navigon 7100. However the only thing which is questioning my decision to purchase this item is the fact that iphone and many other cell phones have assisted gps applications. However I am still keeping it because it is accurate, easy to use, and in my opinion the best GPS you can buy on the market.

Where?
Has great features and is very advanced. Not for beginers per say, but techno geeks will love this. A little off on nav sometimes. Voice pronounciation could be better. (sounds like she has a speech impediment) Life time traffic for free amoung other features cant be beat.

Amazing product!!! Would purchase again in heartbeat.
I purchased this GPS for a vacation to California. Tested in our in my local area and it worked great. Then to prepare for vacation, I either found my vacation destinations thru the preinstalled POIs or keyed them myself and then saved all of them as favorites. We flew into Oakland, drove to San Francisco, Cambria, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach and ended in San Diego. There were no area's where the GPS did not work. When it is first turned on, it did take a couple of minutes to find the GPS signal. Usually by the time we were all situated in the vehicle and pulling out of the lot/garage the signal had been reached. I'm a single woman and have 2 teenage kids, this is our first GPS and we all found it very easy to use. Simple to pair with our blue tooth phone which is a Samsung Sync (A707). Now, I did have a 4 mb sd card at home so the first thing I did was copy the delivered items on the 2 mb sd card to my 4 mb sd card. Then installed the softward update onto the 4 mb card. Simply a great product and I would purchase again!!!

My Navigon 7100
Navigon 7100 4.3-Inch Wide screen Portable GPS NavigatorI loved the product ,only problem I can't find funeral homes,sometimes it takes you in a round about way

great customer service
i needed my navigon delivered in time to travel the usa
and they had no problem changing my deliver date at no expense to me
so i would get it before i should have i was totally impressed
just a great job by rcs
and by the way the navigon is great
thanks

Magellan Maestro 4250
I really like this GPS. I have had a Garmin (never could figure it out) and used a Tom Tom. The 4250 is by far the easiest to use. I like the AAA feature. The screen is big enough that even a 50 something can read it easily. It gives you plenty of warning for turns coming up. I like the little icons on the screen that let you see where banks, fuel, eateries, etc are on your route. Altho we have have not had to use it, the traffic alerts are cool. I'd get another one.

So far so good
So far I have only two complaints, and I will hold them for the end. My 4250 was packaged very well, the shipping was fast. It was simple to take out of the package and get up and running, and with the "Points Of Interest" and addresses that are already in the thing, you really don't have to do anything else. I elected not to use the adhesive disk because I stick nothing to the interior of my car, so it is mounted on the windshield, and it holds securely. It is very simple to use either through touching the screen or voice commands, although sometimes it does not respond to my voice commands, but that can be expected with the inherent background noises that exist in a moving or running vehicle. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find and address/street, but I have found if you type as far as it will let you, and then start backing up one letter at a time, you will eventually find the address/street you are looking for. They are not always in there the way you expect. A good example is people here refer to some streets as RR but they are really Roosevelt Road, you have to actually enter "Rooseve..." to get on the right page. It's not a problem just one of the little things you have to learn. If you put in your destination, and then examine you route by using the simulate mode, you can figure out which of the 4 routes you want to take, and you can fast forward or reverse through the simulation to look at specific areas of your trip, which is a very nice feature. Sometimes it just will not calculate the route the way I want to go, and when that happens I just go the way I want, turn off the volume and it will continue to recalculate my route until it gets to the one I want. So far it has not gotten me lost, although for some reason it did have me exit the interstate and then get back on the interstate at the next on ramp. I'm not sure why we did that, but I have learned to follow directions and you won't get lost. The POI software is great, I installed it and thought it was a joke at first, but then I discovered that between Mapquest and Google Earth, I can locate anything, then I can get the Lat. and Long. and convert that to the decimal lat. and long. and I can enter my own POIs. Then using this system I can create trips using the POI editor, you can just name POIs stop 1, stop 2, etc. Ok now for the complaints; To use a voice command you have to say the word "Magellan" and the unit responds with "Say a command." Sometimes it will respond with "Say a command" while you are talking to someone in your vehicle. I am sure it hears something that sounds like someone said "Magellan" and it is doing what it is programmed to do, but sometimes is gets a little annoying. The other problem is sometimes the unit seems to lock up. On several occasions I have had to wait several minutes for my 4250 to respond and allow me to enter an address or intersection. It has never happened at a critical time while I was driving, each time it has happened I was sitting still. This is a computer, and sometimes computers get conflicting instructions. I have not had to turn the unit off yet to clear a problem, but I think it gets confused sometimes. Over all, I like my 4250 a lot, and if I had it to do all over again, I would definitely buy another 4250.

I upgraded, and regret it, read this!
I had the lower model Maestro 3250 and Loved it. I gave it to my daughter as she will be moving out soon, and I upgraded to the 4250 for the bluetooth capability as well as the voice recognition which would be great. Well, it's NOT!

The bluetooth volume is so low you cannot hear the caller. The volume is set all the way up and it is completely unusable! Worthless bluetooth!

The voice command is also very bothersome! You cannot insert an address by voice which is the most cumbersome thing you have to do with the GPS. Plus it often asks for a voice command while I am talking to a passenger. There are no voice command instructions in the manual so you have to try about a thousand words to try to access the voice command mode. Once you learn that the access word is "Magellan" it is more usable, however while carrying on a conversation with other people in the car, the dang GPS recognizes some word as "Magellan"! and asks for a voice command! Very Irritating!!!!!!!

It does have many more points of interest than the 3250 had and it also announces the street name of your next turn which is very helpful versus simply turn left.

I would recommend another model with many points of interest, but avoid the bluetooth and voice commands.

PLEASED WITH MY MAESTRO GPS
Based on somewhat limited use to date, I am pleased with my new Magellan Maestro 4250 GPS. I look forward to a long trip pending later this month. I did note one strange result, however: It initially showed the fastest route from Claremont, CA to Chico, Ca as 1381 miles via Barstow and Reno, etc. The correct route is exactly 500 miles. Had I not made the drive a number of time in the past, I might have followed the incorrect route. (I did report this to Tech Support.) Meanwhile, I do like the large screen and the clear and understandable voice.

I was also disappointed that the only manual is the one on the cd, requiring me to print out the 82 pages to keep in my car for reference.

Ok, but not great...
I have been using GPS devices for a few years. I used Mapopolis on my Dell Axim, I own two hand helds for hiking, both by Magellan. My first real automotive GPS was a small Garmin I3, and then I upgraded to a Garmin Nuvi 350.

Recently my Garmin Nuvi stopped acquiring satellites after only 13 months of use, so I decided to switch brands and tried the Maestro 4250.

After using the Maestro for only one week I have decided to return it. The Garmins are just far superior to Magellan in the way the maps look, and more importantly the routing engine in Garmin picks better routes based on my experience of driving routes I am very familiar with.

Luckily I called Garmin and they are going to replace my unit with a refurbished one, even though it is a month outside the warranty.

Two times this week using the Maestro it had locked up on me and I had to reset the unit with a paperclip in a small hole in the unit. Now I don't always carry paperclips around with me, and I would have been screwed had I been on a road trip. Also I did upgrade to the most recent firmware on the Maestro before I began using it.

The Bluetooth function on the Maestro was not very good, I was able to sync with two LG phones. The voice quality wasn't that great, but it was useable. My address book did not sync with the unit, only the phone numbers showed up.

The voice recognition works only if your windows are rolled up and the stereo is off, and there is not a lot of road noise, and even then its functionality is very limited and not ready for prime time.

Traffic updates from what I have noticed are not that accurate and not that useful. Better off turning to a local traffic radio station.

The Magellan does boot up faster than the Garmin, and it also acquires satellites and locks on faster than the Garmin and the build quality even appears to be better on the Magellan, but none of that makes any difference if it doesn't do it's main function well... Navigating.

With the Magellan I went on a road trip up to Bear Mt. in NY state.. A few times a came upon roundabouts on Seven Lakes Drive, which can be very confusing on which exit to take. While I was driving around the roundabout the cursor was lagging behind the map screen so you really couldn't tell which exit to get off. Ok, so I had my stereo on and didn't hear the unit telling me where to get off, the map screen did me no good. The Garmin again performs much better in that respect.

I won't say that I'll never try Magellan units again, but for now I will stick with Garmin because I trust them and am more experienced with them.

No matter what unit you decide to buy, always bring maps, or printouts of your route with you. You never know when your unit will lock up or stop working.