Meh. Google Navigation on Android has made any standalone GPS unit redundant for my uses. YMMV.

gbinman wrote:At some of the complex multiple freeway interchanges, it is worth its weight in gold.

You think that lane assist is worth $9040.22? I agree that it is useful, but come on dude!

phantom42 wrote:To those asking whether map updates are necessary - for the most part, no. It just depends on what you're using the GPS for.

The map updates *mostly* include new POIs and updated business listings. So, for delivery drivers (or any other instance you already have the address), the GPS will find the address just fine without updates.

If, however, you need to rely on being able to punch in the name of the restaurant you want to go to, you may need the updates. Obviously, if the restaurant is newer than your last map update, it won't even be in the system.

Similarly, if there has been major road construction recently, directions may be outdated and you may benefit from an updated map pack.

Some very good points here.

I would also like to point out that if you're on the road, and the hotel (like the previous restaurant example) is newer than the last update, then it won't appear... I ran into issues with my old Navigon N100 pocket loox that I got from woot back in 2008, had 2007 maps in it... It didn't have the Disney resort my husband and I were heading to last year (note: I was using three year-old maps), or even the road that it was on. (That was the point where I realized I needed to update my maps... or maybe even get a new gps)

Does anyone know if the microSD slot will take SDHC or if we're stuck with stone age regular SD cards?

suzumebachi wrote:Does anyone know if the microSD slot will take SDHC or if we're stuck with stone age regular SD cards?

NO. MicroSD card slots will NOT take SD or SDHC cards.

MicroSD cards are WAY TOO SMALL for any SD or SDHC card sizes.

Many times MicroSD cards are packaged with the larger SD card adapters to work in SD card slots.

So here is a story about my first time ever using a GPS. It was a Garmin (not this one though).

I put in where I wanted to go, and drove. It wasn't telling me where to turn, or how far away I was, but I kept driving thinking the satellite was taking a long time to work. 15 minutes later I'm lost in a horrible part of town and the damn GPS still isn't working. It's just sitting there, occasionally shouting out names of streets I haven't seen at all, streets I'm pretty sure weren't even in my state. I'm sad, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm lost, I'm concerned about the chance of my being shot. I pull over across from a rather seedy looking mechanic shop, lock my doors. I call my boyfriend, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU AND HOW DO I GET THERE?" I resort to my crappy phone GPS to get me to the location. I rip the GPS from the window mount and wipe the tears from my eyes... then notice the blocky antenna on the back I never flipped up.

Flip your antenna up, people, or you may find yourself crying on a corner in front of a possible prostitute.

P.S. Now that I know how to use the GPS properly it's been great, and I would recommend a Garmin to anyone.

Adorialea wrote:
...Flip your antenna up, people, or you may find yourself crying on a corner in front of a possible prostitute...

Yes, reading the user manual and becoming familiar with your product's features BEFORE attempting to use it can save you a lot of headache. Any time I get a new piece of electronics, I take its manual with me when I have to drop the Cosby kids off at the pool.

bsmith1 wrote:Yes, reading the user manual and becoming familiar with your product's features BEFORE attempting to use it can save you a lot of headache. Any time I get a new piece of electronics, I take its manual with me when I have to drop the Cosby kids off at the pool.

The worst is I did read the manual. I always do. Something about hearing the fresh paper crinkling makes me very happy... I just totally forgot about the antenna in my YAYNEWTECHNOLOGY excitement. It's shameful, really.

Depending on how quickly the area you live in is building updating is not that big of an issue. I've had the same Garmin Nuvi for 6 years without a single update and the only issue I run into is it won't be able to find newly constructed places by name, but have yet to find an address is doesn't know. For example, you find a Toys R Us at 123 Fun St, it won't know about the Toys R Us, but it'll still find 123 Fun St.

phantom42 wrote:To those asking whether map updates are necessary - for the most part, no. It just depends on what you're using the GPS for.

I.e. Do you like the sound of the spoken voice, or do you actually like to get where you're going in the city, where there is constant construction somewhere in town.

iansmom24 wrote:Would never buy anything from Garmin-- they are a right wing contributor up there with the Koch brothers. BOYCOTT!!

Wow I am glad I bought Garmin products as they clearly are a company that believes in allowing people to think for themselves rather than allowing the goverment to dictate to others. I guess they must also believe in the free market system.

Remember, this isn't healthcare the government isn't forcing you to buy a GPS.

maceone wrote:Okay so what is the purpose of the memory card slot? Why would you need a card in the unit?

To hold addresses & contact information of various locations.

tallgu66y wrote:You will have to buy them. Also, since it is refurbished, Garmin will not give you a free map update to begin with. This model is approximately 3 years old so the maps will be a little old. I have one and has advantages and disadvantages.

My previous Garmin C550 was also a refirb and the website denied me the map update. All I had to do was call Garmin customer support and describe my situation and they sent me the map update for free. Garmin has great customer support and will take care of you if you purchase one of their units.

borntohunt wrote:NO. MicroSD card slots will NOT take SD or SDHC cards.

MicroSD cards are WAY TOO SMALL for any SD or SDHC card sizes.

Many times MicroSD cards are packaged with the larger SD card adapters to work in SD card slots.

I fully realize that. I'm talking about storage size, not physical size. What I'm asking is if it will take high capacity microSDHC cards in addition to regular microSD cards.

On Garmin's website on the accessories page for the Nuvi 855 they sell a 4GB "microSD" card, which frankly, doesn't exist (2GB is the largest you can get for regular SD, 4GB would be SDHC).

So I'm confused about whether it's regular microSD only or if it will in fact take larger STORAGE size microSDHC cards.

LOL

roadhunter wrote:
Ever hear of a little thing called Android ??? I am pretty sure smart phones have eaten Garmen up.

Good thing you're only "pretty sure", as you're completely wrong.

gaugh753 wrote:I have one of these. It works fantastic! Fast updates and prompt notice... Just don't forget to update your maps every three moths or so!

Yup update those maps, those roads keep moving around every month or so.

Can I have your old watches and cameras too?

kamilmarkowicz wrote:Meh. Google Navigation on Android has made any standalone GPS unit redundant for my uses. YMMV.

Ya know, it's funny.

Everytime I actually find stuff to buy in a woot off, my credit card info gets stolen. Didn't realize it until today when I saw some odd charges on my credit card starting yesterday, and I bought one item in the woot off a couple days before.

Last time I had my card info stolen, was in the last woot off I purchased something from. Not saying it's woot's fault, not pointing a finger, I just find it funny (not ha-ha funny) that my credit card theft coincides with woot offs I participate in.

I'd still like to get a GPS though....

iansmom24 wrote:Would never buy anything from Garmin-- they are a right wing contributor up there with the Koch brothers. BOYCOTT!!

BUY THREE!!!!!!!!

stonefry wrote:I have an iPhone 4 and I use it while riding. Never had a problem with GPS reception in my pocket and I have used it in downtown San Francisco which is sometimes difficult to get good GPS reception with the tall buildings.

Maybe it depends on the jacket. My 265W gets good reception while in my pocket. My iPhone 3G does not. Maybe the GPS is better in the iPhone 4. The Garmin iPhone app does pretty much suuck though.

bsmith1 wrote:Recommended POI: 3239 Rt. Harwood
Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC J7V 8P2

I was wondering W-t-flamingo this was supposed to mean until I clicked on the POI link. I almost passed my Coke through my nose and onto the keyboard.

Now I can't get the image out of my head of fresh pizza being delivered by recently-flaming (now smoking) flying monkeys with smoldering capes screaming like they've seen the fires of hell....

atroxell wrote:When you're just driving down a simple street, then yes, common sense tells you that if you're making a left turn you need to be in the left lane.

Not in New Jersey, Every left turn on a main road is a jug handle. You actually have to be on the right most lane to turn left. I have yet to see a GPS that point me to the right lane correctly.

Will this work in America's Hat? Planning a trip to a francophone providence this summer.

suzumebachi wrote:I fully realize that. I'm talking about storage size, not physical size. What I'm asking is if it will take high capacity microSDHC cards in addition to regular microSD cards.

On Garmin's website on the accessories page for the Nuvi 855 they sell a 4GB "microSD" card, which frankly, doesn't exist (2GB is the largest you can get for regular SD, 4GB would be SDHC).

So I'm confused about whether it's regular microSD only or if it will in fact take larger STORAGE size microSDHC cards.

From Woot's good description:

"External Memory: Accepts up to 16GB MicroSD Card"

"Maps & Memory
Accepts microSD™ card up to 16GB (not included)"

Everything I've seen that says a device can handle up to a 16GB SD or SDHC or MicroSD card also handled a 32GB card fine too.

Yep, once the size gets as large as 4GB cards & larger are faster & assumed to also have the HC designation like with the SDHC & MicroSDHC, but obviously are faster if they are specified with the SDXC designation.

http://www.sdcard.org/developers/tech/sdhc/

http://www.sdcard.org/developers/tech/sdxc

Hope this helps.

kamilmarkowicz wrote:Meh. Google Navigation on Android has made any standalone GPS unit redundant for my uses. YMMV.

Google navigation got completely lost last time it told me to take a toll road when I knew there were local roads that would get me there, after a couple of recalculations she just gave up and went silent, and the marked route scrolled off the screen...
I got an LG GPS a year ago for $60, has Bluetooth, picture viewer and an mp3 player, only thing that annoys me is that the mp3 player and guidance won't work simultaneously (as my phone does). Anyone know if this one will do that?

iGGz wrote:Hey that's my deal ;)

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/e66d65da-ccc8-480a-b586-67351d52aa57/tomtom-xl-340tm-4-3-portable-gps-navigator-lifetime-traffic-maps-edition#0

Sorry Woot, lol

Sorry Guys,
It, or they appear to have disappeared. But then again, I'm not sure I understand the original post. Be well pilgrims.
farley1guy

There are two versions of this unit that use different chipsets. One can run firmware version 4.80, the other will only run 4.70

This unit will run version 4.80 (woot says it comes with 4.80)

Does anyone know if the 4.80 version is the better one or the not so better one? I don't want to ass*u*me that the 4.80 is better than the 4.70

farley1guy wrote:Sorry Guys,
It, or they appear to have disappeared. But then again, I'm not sure I understand the original post. Be well pilgrims.
farley1guy

The buydig web site sold out of those new $89 tomtom 340tm units 2 hours ago, but it seems to be a regularly occurring sales item according to dealnews:

"BuyDig.com offers the TomTom XL 340TM 4.3" Widescreen Portable GPS Navigation System, model no. 1EM0.052.18, for $119. Coupon code "SLICK25OFFTTTM" cuts it to $89.25. With free shipping, that's $4 over last month's mention but still the lowest total price we could find by $11."

This TomTom unit does NOT have speech recognition like the Garmin 855 & does NOT support microSD cards or any other storage media, but have 2GB of internal storage of which most is used up, although if you backup & delete all other languages except the one you prefer, then you can free up almost 100MB of storage (approx. 89MB).

Unique616 wrote:To me, it's common sense that I need to be in the left lane to make a left turn, but I guess some people needed more help, which is why lane assist was created?

I guess you must not get very far from home. In bigger cities, where you have multilane surface streets crossing each other, or interchanges between more than two interstates with more than eight lanes apiece, it starts to matter a great deal.

Heck, when I lived in Atlanta -- on a fairly quiet street, no less -- I had to give lane-specific directions to my house.

I have an older Nuvi unit and it is awesome. Don't even think about buying a vendor other than Garmin.

iansmom24 wrote:Would never buy anything from Garmin-- they are a right wing contributor up there with the Koch brothers. BOYCOTT!!

The problem? They make a great product.

borntohunt wrote:The buydig web site sold out of those new $89 tomtom 340tm units 2 hours ago, but it seems to be a regularly occurring sales item according to dealnews:

"BuyDig.com offers the TomTom XL 340TM 4.3" Widescreen Portable GPS Navigation System, model no. 1EM0.052.18, for $119. Coupon code "SLICK25OFFTTTM" cuts it to $89.25. With free shipping, that's $4 over last month's mention but still the lowest total price we could find by $11."

This TomTom unit does NOT have speech recognition like the Garmin 855 & does NOT support microSD cards or any other storage media, but have 2GB of internal storage of which most is used up, although if you backup & delete all other languages except the one you prefer, then you can free up almost 100MB of storage (approx. 89MB).

Its easy enough to login to the TomTom from your computer and delete all the extra voices & foreign languages your not using. Speech recong n Garmin doesn't work all that well. "dame it, I said avoid" :>

Also it was "Brand New" for $89 total.

TomWendell wrote:My previous Garmin C550 was also a refirb and the website denied me the map update. All I had to do was call Garmin customer support and describe my situation and they sent me the map update for free. Garmin has great customer support and will take care of you if you purchase one of their units.

Awesome! Thanks for the info! I have a refurb that was bought for me unknowingly so that solves that problem. I am in an area with frequent new construction so many streets don't exist on my outdated maps. I love the lane assist and had I not just gotten this one would be in for this just for the voice activation. Lane assist is a definite must for those crazy intersections were the gps tells you the "name" of the road. The name no one knows except the gps. Everyone else, including the DOT and the signs go by the number orthe unofficial name until you are just past the point of no return. Lane assist is your best friend in those situations.

farley1guy wrote:Sorry Guys,
It, or they appear to have disappeared. But then again, I'm not sure I understand the original post. Be well pilgrims.
farley1guy

I ordered two this morning from this site:

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/e66d65da-ccc8-480a-b586-67351d52aa57/tomtom-xl-340tm-4-3-portable-gps-navigator-lifetime-traffic-maps-edition

OK First of all....WORST WOOT-OFF EVER!!!!

Not that I got that out of my system...who the HELL buys these in 2011? Every phone in existence has GPS on it...heck I think my toaster has a GPS...what nerd would buy this, at this price? Have we gone back to 2001?

krugger3 wrote:I ordered two this morning from this site:

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/e66d65da-ccc8-480a-b586-67351d52aa57/tomtom-xl-340tm-4-3-portable-gps-navigator-lifetime-traffic-maps-edition

Good job. For those who missed it since that web deal sold out, it probably will not be too long before that good deal is offered a 3rd time. Who knows, we may even see that good or better deal on Woot.

I have a new and a refurb Garmin both were updated for free. You plug it in to your computer, register it at the Garmin site and you get one free map update plus you can get firmware updates if there are any.

cdheer wrote:You clearly don't head out into rural areas.

Go somewhere where Verizon has no data coverage and your Droid w/Google Maps will suddenly stop navigating you. A Garmin, meanwhile, will work essentially anywhere.

I probably would agree with you.

regal8lager wrote:Just a little note to all you geocachers out there - These work quite splendidly for paperless caching. There is a macro that you can download and process through GSAK in order to store thousands of custom waypoints on the nuvi.

LINKY

I received one for free 3 years ago and have been using it for caching ever since - I love how you can use the main turn-by-turn feature to get near GZ and then switch to 'off-road' mode in order to get a straight, as-the-crow-flies line to your destination. Good stuff!

How do I get that app for geocaching?

EBrossette wrote:Wow I am glad I bought Garmin products as they clearly are a company that believes in allowing people to think for themselves rather than allowing the goverment to dictate to others. I guess they must also believe in the free market system.

Remember, this isn't healthcare the government isn't forcing you to buy a GPS.

My face is so deep in my palm I can see bone marrow. Way to miss the point.