STVTalk.com

Sorry to ask this question, but after reading two months worth of
postings, I don't have enough information to make a decision. Most of
my use is in the Northeastern U.S., but it would be nice to have the
GPS in Europe as well. I currently have an Acura GPS, which is superb,
but will be getting a new car in the spring and am reluctant to spend
$2,000 when apparently decent portable units are available for far
less. The TT 300 seems to get pretty good reviews and from what I
understand one can get maps of Europe for same. I've seen the specs on
the 500 and 700 and wonder what advantage, if any, they provide. I've
looked at several Garmin models as well and occasionally see comments
that indicate their maps are outdated. My budget is up to $800 and
would appreciate all suggestions for Tom Tom, Garmin or other brand.
Many thanks.

Sounds like you are looking at dedicated unit only
Have a look of
http://www.usglobalsat.com/item.asp?itemid=62
It has the most updated and reputedly the most sensitive chipset (SiRF
Star III high sensitivity chip set)
Your budget of $800 can get you both Europe and N Am map

Daniel

Yes, I am looking at a dedicated unit. I'd never heard of the unit you
recommended, but it seemed like quite a good value. It would be
interesting if I could try it for a while against the GPS in my Acura.

Thanks.

Globalsat has been a major player in the gps hardware side only.
You should check out which map they are using (Navtaq or Teleatlas ,
the map used by Garmin or Tomtom respectively).

Daniel

The TT 300 is a good device as is the TT 700, which I recently had a
chance to borrow from a friend. Both use the tele atlas map and are
easy to use and follow. The biggest difference I found between the 300
and 700 is that the 700 has bluetooth capability, so you can make hands
free calls when using it. If that appeals, you may want to go with the
700 over the 300...

nrwayne wrote:

Sorry to ask this question, but after reading two months worth of
postings, I don't have enough information to make a decision. Most of
my use is in the Northeastern U.S., but it would be nice to have the
GPS in Europe as well. I currently have an Acura GPS, which is superb,
but will be getting a new car in the spring and am reluctant to spend
$2,000 when apparently decent portable units are available for far
less. The TT 300 seems to get pretty good reviews and from what I
understand one can get maps of Europe for same. I've seen the specs on
the 500 and 700 and wonder what advantage, if any, they provide. I've
looked at several Garmin models as well and occasionally see comments
that indicate their maps are outdated. My budget is up to $800 and
would appreciate all suggestions for Tom Tom, Garmin or other brand.
Many thanks.

After looking over the various options, it strikes me that Garmin's new
Nuvi 350 is the GPS of choice. Seems to be available in the low $700s.
I'd be using it strictly for navigation, not for calls. Any thoughts
on this?

nrwayne,

from my experience using navteq (recently with the streetpilot 320) and
teleatlas (with the ttgo 300) I think I prefer the ease of use with
teleatlas. It really helped that the touchscreen was easier to use on
the 300.