Comments on: NEXTAR Snap3 3.5″ Navigation System Review

By: AutoFan

AutoFan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:28:28 +0000

I just ordered a Garmin 255 (3.5″ screen) for $2 less on Amazon. It’s got the latests maps and some neat features like text-to-speech, 3D terrain maps, faster acquisition than previous models and you can get MSN traffic and weather.
So, it sounds like I got a great deal.

By: kkop

kkop — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:11:09 +0000

Another vote for the TomTom ONE. The older (non-widescreen) model can be had for less than $150 now, and will do everything 99% of users need from a GPS.

The remaining 1% (the power users) can download free third-party software to enhance the unit’s capabilities.

By: robert_h

robert_h — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:06:45 +0000

It’s not hard to locate the Garmin nuvi 200 and the TomTom One for $200- both popular, well-reviewed units from industry leaders.

By: miked

miked — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:36:58 +0000

@SunnyvaleCA – The $1200 unit in the car is the high end unit from 2 or so years ago when the final decisions were being made for production. By the time you get the car to the showroom, the electronics are hopelessley out of date. Plus, I was at the dealership last week buying oil filters (for some reason my Toyota dealership sells oil filters cheaper than NAPA), and the lady in line in front of me was buying the map upgrade CD for her Camry. Guess how much? $300! If you have your own system, you could buy a completely new system every year cheaper than just the map upgrades at a dealership!

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:16:12 +0000

How would a $400 high-end unit compare to a $1200 unit built into a car? For me, I’d rather have the $400 unit so I could use it for hiking. Also, the $1200 units already don’t look all that great (to me) and will sure look ancient when the car is 5 or 6 years old.

By: AKM

AKM — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Thanks for the review. It’s really good to have some user’s hands-on experience with those gizmos!

By: blautens

blautens — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:33:12 +0000

Great review – I haven’t seen to many WinCE based GPS units that I thought too highly of, yet.

By: Landcrusher

Landcrusher — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:33:34 +0000

It’s not just the bottom end that doesn’t want to read the book. Garmin’s aviation panel mounts have popular units in the $15,000 range. Many of their owners simply use the “direct to” button and a couple other features rather than learn how to do the more complex functions which can be really powerful and add lots of safety to your flight.