I am thinking about buying one, but there are SOOO many!
It's confusing!
Anyone have any recommendations about a simple, easy to use
GPS? I don't need bluetooth or anything fancy.
I do like the screen on the Garmin, it's easy to understand.

Also, do you have to subscribe to any service to use these or
are they ready to use??

Thanks in advance for your help!!

I have an Intellinav. It has a large screen, a memory card slot to use as a picture viewer and you can take it out of the car to use as a car locator. If you are looking for a store in a town that you are going to you put in say Michael's and it will find it for you and give you phone number and address and directions to get there.

I paid about $150 for mine and I love it! I don't pay for a service.

DH has a handheld one but he uses it mostly for hunting.

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We have a TomTom, and I like it for the most part. We do call it the DumDum sometimes. I know someone who has a Garmin, they call theirs the Gremlin.

I have figured out how to make DumDum change it's route for me when I don't want to go the way it wants me to - it does it automatically. I like that. I do not like it when it yells at me for speeding - I had to drive in the Detroit metro area (696 interchange) and it's a drag race there - I was going 75mph. It kept gonging at me, scared me the first time. I don't like that.

I have done one update on it, and that was free. We don't pay a subscription. I haven't updated it recently.

I like that it tells me about when the turn is coming up, and that I can see the picture to see about where it's at. That is nice. I like the estimated time of arrival thing.

We didn't really research them fully, DH bought it when he was down south because he needed something to get him to the job sites, since he didn't have a map or anything. The TomTom was on sale, so he got that over the other ones. Thus far, it has been an "expensive" purchase that we have used and been pleased with. (We do not do the whole "lets buy expensive electronics just because thing - we have older cell phones, ancient radio, old game system (PS2), and don't buy new things like that. The TomTom is the most "advanced" we are).

I think if you will be driving to unknown places often, it's a great idea. DH uses his a TON when on storm work. He calls to dispatch and they say "Go to 1234 Main Street in Wixom" and he has to find it. Before, he had to use a map and search it out, now he just punches it in, and goes. I'm going to use it for the first few weeks on my new job because I have to drive to over 100 different stores over two weeks, and the last thing I need is to get lost. I can use it to go from A to B, B to C, C to D, etc, which would be a PITA to figure out on Mapquest. If you are just using it to go from home to a new place, once, I wouldn't think it's worth it. If you plan on using it to travel about in a new city, then yes, it would be nice.

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Pretty much if you go with a Garmin or a TomTom you can't go wrong. You don't need to spend tons of money, either. I do recommend getting one with battery back-up so you can remove it from your car and use it for walking around a city or finding your car. Do be forewarned, it won't help you locate your car in a large mall parking lot, though.

We tend to have a lot of things plugged into the lighter of the van. We have two outlets and it still isn't enough between all the DVD players, game systems, the GPS, the radar detector and the cellphone chargers. We have plug-in splitters which I highly recommend. And I swear, one day auto manufacturers will devise a way to route and contain all the wires, too. But I guess that is another subject.

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There is a lot of information online...so just do your research. What is 'great' for one person, just isn't for another - kwim? Different people like different things etc

We have a Magellen and like it. Dh did the research and then bought it from TigerDirect.com for $99. It's a refurb, but we're having no problems and we've bought other refurbs from TigerDirect with no issues.

It's our second GPS, our first, we bought in Europe, and I'm not sure of the brand. It was great though and I'll never go back to NOT having GPS. I'm severely geographically challenged...even in the city I grew up in, so for me, it's awesome. I use mine every time I go out.

We bought a Garmin for my fil for Christmas. We got him one with a wide screen. When we were researching my dh was going between the garmin and a megallen. We decided on the Garmin. He is very happy with it. I am thinking about getting us one.

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Dh wanted one for Christmas. I found one at Belk for $99...a Nextar. It does everything we need. It has a wide screen. I like the feature that will find restaurants, ATMs etc if you need one. It is annoying though if you are going more than 5mph over the speed limit it will beep until you slow down. If you have to change routes, it will reprogram itself. You can go online to their website to update on any changes. They recommend doing it once a month.

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My DH got a Garmin for Christmas and loves it, it's easy to use, easy to see the screen and you can also take it out of the vehicle when not in use.

Thanks for all the info!!