Next month I am going up to the states again and plan on buying a GPS. Doing my research I am finding a slew of GPS's available that are all close to one another in price and what they can do. Does anybody have any suggestions as to which brand and model to get? It MUST be capable of being used in all parts of Mexico. I see that some models can be used with a backup camera and that would be nice, but then the question arises, which camera? Another question, some camera's have a limited range of use away from the GPS unit, so then what?
Of course, whatever I buy will be obsolete the following week, so need to get something that even if it quickly becomes obsolete will still work for as long as the satellites remain up there. Also don't want to pay an arm and a leg if I am only going to use the arm. Bottom line, which brand and model will provide the best bang for my buck?
Next question, where to buy? I will be going to Fry's in Austin and they have a bunch of GPS units there.

 

I have only used garmin Nuvi gps units. Garmin doesn't offer any in the US with maps outside of the US factory loaded. you can however buy the SD memory card with various countries. Some countries are better than others.
My Nuvi 205 is a couple years old. it still works fine.
As far as which one. depends on what features you want and need.
an external antenna is nice. you get your signal quicker and dont loose it as bad when your in places like down town houston.
spoken street names are nice if you have time to find a street sign.
Bluetooth interface with your phone so you have an instant hands free device is an option.
You can also use your gps as a personal media player.

A basic, stand alone garmin nuvi is gonna run about $100 to $150 depending on what you find on sale. it wont do much of the above, but since they all use the same navigation engine, it will go point B to point C. The rest is just fluff.
For that matter, the GPS in my phone does that too.

 

Love my Garmin Nuvi 800 (now the 855). Walmart = $399.00
I wanted the "widescreen" and the 3-D look. Widescreen is big plus in populated areas but may not be important to you?.... They start just under $200.00 US.
I drive to lots of new & unfamiliar areas so I went with higher quality screen.
Your money....your choice! But hard to beat Garmin, IMO.

RJ

 

I agree on the garmin. they have the wide screen version in many of their products.

the 800 looks like it uses MSN services to update traffic conditions. probably not available in MX.

Another feature of garmin that I find really useful is the browser plug in so I can send locations directly from google maps to the gps.
Your going to frys in austin? find frys in austin with google and send the location to the garmin. now that location shows up in your favorites.

 

Thanks for the answers so far. The more research I do, the more options I am finding, the more confused I am getting. (doesn't take much to cornfuze me)

 

Stan, I have a fancy garmin and don't use half of its features. I would advise you to get a garmin with only the stuff you think you will use and save a few bucks.

 

Stan...
What are your requirements? What features can you absolutely not live without?
We can discuss nice addtional features later.

 

Was doing more research and it looks like the new Tom Tom 140-s or the XL-340-s may fit the bill. Still doing my research as I have a couple more weeks before I head north for the purchase.

As I will be using the GPS mainly in Mexico I don't expect something that is fancy enough that can tell me which lane I should be in before a junction of something like that is coming up. Nice to have, but not essential. I do need a unit that can tell me where I am and direct me to where I want to go. Things that would be nice to have, but can live without are:
- Text to speech
- Fuel prices
- Bluetooth
- Lodging and ATM's
- MP3


I absolutely have to have something that can have the latest maps, especially for ALL of Mexico upgraded as required. (SD?) It would also be nice to have a GPS that can have a backup camera plugged into it. Bottom line is that I do not need anything that has every bell and whistle imaginable, especially if I can't use them in Mexico. Would prefer to purchase a GPS that already has the Mexican and American maps installed, rather than sending away for them or having find a computer to do it.

 

I dont know about the tom tom, the garmin, you might be able to load MX and US on the internal memory. I have Europe takes almost 3 gig on a memory stick.

 

I got a Garmin Nuvi 4.3" screen on Sam's auction about a year ago for $118. It was selling for $249 at the time. Love it, especially when hooked up to the fiver. It can take forever to get that long thing moved over a lane on the interstate - - nice to hear that voice tell me to move to the left long before that exit lane sign appears. There are lots of sites for downloading maps. I have not checked Garmin site for mexico. Good units. Have all Garmin stuff on the boat - - good equipment.

Bob

 

Anybody have any experience with the Roadmax VMAX 483? I can attach a backup camera to it.

 

Just thought that I would bump this up to the top. Heading north next week to buy a GPS, but still am unsure as to which one to buy. The choices are very confusing. Anybody have any other suggestions before I head up? The Roadmax VMAX 483 appears to have a lot of nice features and good reviews with a good price, but I know nothing about that company. Does anybody?

 

A buddy of mine just bought this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMTOM-GO-730-CA...item19b7f0bb0c

 

Not bad. That is a refurbished unit. Unfortunately I can't use eBay or any other company that ships as I don't have a US shipping address. One thing that bothers me with that unit is that they talk about updating maps, but it looks like only for the US and Canada. I can't see anywhere on the TomTom site where they say anything about maps for Mexico for the GO 730. I am leery about TomTom due to the way they replied to my queries, so doubt if I will buy anything TomTom, but the jury is still out on that one.

Any GPS I buy has to have the guarantee of having maps for all or most of Mexico and still would like to attach a backup camera to it.