http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-Bluetooth-Navigator-Lifetime/dp/B006SOLITY/ had a chance to play around with it some.. been using google but after seeing one in the wild, I couldn't resist.. first thing I did was update the thing.. took around 5.3 gigs of data to update the maps for just north america I have to say, this gps unit is perfect for someone like me who doesn't want to pay for a data plan (wifi is everywhere).. figure it'll pay itself off in a year.. what's really cool is the voice command actually works even in noisy situations.. it gets it right almost every time- just speak the address, city and state in one breath and your plotted in without 'did you say.. gobbler?' find locations or movies, coffee, ect using voice too I'm not sure if it would work with a british user.. like you might have to say 'king bertie' to get it to recognize no waiting for sats.. bluetooth works pretty far to take hands free calls from your phone.. store pictures or listen to audiobooks the thing that puts it over the top is lifetime map updates that covers the world pretty much, not just north america far as I know (4 updates a year).. it has a built in translator too that will say what you need in a select list of languages.. driving around is responsive and updates pretty much realtime with 3d maps and shows you a 3d view of your exit with street signs and all.. just as good as a iphone in that respect and it works indoors.. the only thing is with the language translator, it only has one female voice I could download all the car icons for free but no dashboards were available for it yet.. has all the avoid features too- and if you have a data plan, it also has real time traffic along with real time photos from cams up ahead on your route.. some other stuff too but those are subscription overall happy with it.. used it quite a bit the last couple of days driving from location to location testing out the voice command and I don't see how I can go back no data plan is what I'm talking bout willis data plans cost 30 a month here and they force it on you with certain smart phones.. compared to other gps units, this one is definitely the fastest I've seen I almost sound like a garmin salesmen.. but I like.. I was kinda syked the ups man didn't crush it like he does some of the parcels where he squeezes them in his buttocks after taking the roids anyone else run a voice activated gps that's not on a data plan? I want to be called uncle bertie
I looked at Garmin a few months ago when I got my TomTom. All the Garmin units I tried out in the store couldn't search their POI database without a satellite connection. Equaled an instant no buy from me. Which is unfortunate, because TomTom is sort of doing a public beta test with their newer units I was really impressed by Motorola's interface. It by far had the best touch screen, interface design, and map ui. But I had heard bad things about its flaky satellite connection and navigation. Hows your garmin handle dense skyskraper downtown areas?
it's really good in that respect.. I pick up reception indoors fine and there's no downtime finding sats.. haven't lost reception since I've had it (granted only a few days now).. here's that drunk guy from hak 5.. kind of shows off the ui I really like it- played with tom tom but this little unit- haven't had to mess with it traveling.. the voice activation is pretty much nailed.. I even tried it with the radio on and eating xD and it figured out what I said.. it does have trouble with places though- like anything spelled.. like if your looking for JVP Barber Shop.. it'll get barber shop but it'll try to make JVP into a word- so certain places you have to use the touchscreen pretty nice.. kind of on the expensive side but I figured if your already spending 200+ and keeping it for a few years, might as well get one that doesn't cause uncle bertie to come out
