I hear that this is one of the best aftermarket nav systems out there. Anything better for the money ($800)? I'm not planning to buy for another 6-9 months so is there anything that I should wait for instead? Also, if any of you guys have the garmin, what is the best mounting solution for it? If you have any pictures, please post them. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

my mom got a magellan 700 or something like that, and that ROCKS!!!

 

I have the SP 2610, and love it. I chose it over the 2620, which is a fine unit. After talking to Garmin Tech Support for about 30 minutes, the only hardware difference between the two is the Compact Flash interface, which was modified in the 2620 to accomodate the specific hard drive they decided to use. Apparently, there was a known flaw with the drive which made it incompatible with the 2610; instead of fixing the drive, Garmin "fixed" the interface to accomodate the flaw.

Since I work with computers all day, I have no issues having to download data to any device. I prefer to have the software and data available in case something goes wrong with the media in the GPS. Since the 2620 did not come with backup software/data, I went with the 2610.

 

Here's a link to the Nav solution I plan on picking up in a couple of months. I researched all in one units (too expensive for the limited functionality in my opinion) and bluetooth based set-ups that can be added onto a PDA (don't want the additional wiring clutter or worry of having a separate part to get stolen) so I ended up deciding on this:

http://www.miogps.com/products_168features.htm#1

Its only about $479 online (though many places seem to be out of stock) and I figure for that money I'm getting a full featured PDA and integrated NAV plus the inclusion of software that is a re-badged copy of this:

http://www.buygpsnow.com/item.aspx?itemid=250

which is from my research one of the better NAV software packages (very well reviewed and award winning).

Considering this type of set up comes with all accessories needed (car mount, AC and DC chargers, software pre-installed on PDA, software CD for PC, and sync cable) for $479, I can add a memory card large enough to store street level maps for nearly the entire country and still be $200 or so richer than if I had bought a stand-alone unit. The footprint of the Mio takes up less space than a stand-alone and can be carried around and used as a PDA when I'm not driving. For me it was an easy decision, but that's just my $.02. Good luck making your decision.

 

Thanks guys - Lots of good info!