Anyone have feed back on the Garmen navigation system?

I've not used a Garmin but thought this site might be of help:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=86

Check this out if you've got time too. 3D street level navigation. Pretty cool:
http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS6146656870.html

>Garmen navigation system?

Which one?

I'm using the iQue 3600 in the E - should post a picture.

It's OK... well, actually it works great, it's just that there are a couple of fine points to it that I'm not fond of. First is that it doesn't handle the E's 12V on/off with the ignition very well - if you leave the antenna in the "on" position when shutting off the ignition, it runs down the GPS's internal battery in less than 2 hours, which in turn forces you to reset it.

The other bug is the maps (which themselves are super, BTW). If you wander off the map set you pre-selected on the memory card (SD type), you have nothing... not even basic main highways. Their other GPSs work that way, so you've got me.

A comment more than a complaint - it includes a rather extensive database of "businesses and attractions" which you can search by name, type and/or location... which in some instances is spot-on, in others 5-10 years out-of-date. It's a bit of a crapshoot.

I've been using the Earthmate from Delorme and think it is outstanding. Very reasonably priced, works with pc's laptops and handhelds, accepts voice commands and includes Street Atlas 2004.

http://www.delorme.com/earthmate/

I'm using the Garmin StreetPilot III... works great, my beefs with it are:

1) meager memory - with the supplied 256mb (proprietary) flash memory unit, i can only fit all of california in it. it's fine now, but what am i to do if i wanna do a cross country drive? but it does have main arteries stored onboard for all of the US and Canada.

2) crappy input system - everything is controlled via thumbpad, which makes address entry a pain, what with having to scroll through letters to spell out words. in addition, it's kinda slow, i'll press the buttons 5 times in quick succession only to have the unit be behind by 3 button presses.

3) slow to acquire - when i first turn the unit on, it sometimes takes a few minutes to acquire satellites.

4) slow reroute - when i drive off the suggested course, it takes a few minutes to reroute.

5) slow to route in the first place - after entry of the address, it sometimes takes a few minutes to create a route.

even with these drawbacks, i still love the unit as it's portable and it speaks (i replaced the standard speech set with british - it makes my car sound more sophisticated...lol)

i bought it for around $650 a few months ago, but you can find it for much cheaper now. if you find the drawbacks to be too numerous, i suggest the newer garmin model with the touch-screen (MSRP $999 - i forget the model) that should make data entry much easier and i've heard they've imporved draw speeds.


here's my unit with the non-slip "beanbag" mount:

http://e-shen.com/element/e-mounts04.jpg

Thanks for the insight. I'll check those sights provided.

I am currently using the Eclipse DVD/CD/MP3/Navigation unit and I haven't had any problems yet.

I've been using the Delorme earthmate on my laptop. The laptop/GPS works great and gets a B+. The set-up/boot-up of the laptop makes every day use time consuming and inconvienient(C-). If you go off route with the Delorme, it gets all messed up. Other then this, this GPS rocks. It has shown me routes that have saved much time. It also shows my actual speed (as compared to speedo) as well as direction at all times.