2 comments about Garmin Edge 205 GPS Bicycle Computer (010-00447-10).

1. Simple GPS at an affordable price, so you can track your ride, download it and return if you like. Battery life could be a little longer for those realy long 2 day rides when a charge is not available



2. Well built and useful for basic ride data. Buy a USB emergency charger for long rides. Watch out for Amazon sellers; at least one (Buy Accessories) is selling refurbished units listed as "new."

5 comments about Garmin Quest 115-Megabyte Handheld GPS (010-00306-00).

1. You really need to do your research before buying a GPS. I've owned the Garmin Quest for almost three years now and I love it. It has features that you just can't find in the touch screen models. First off it's waterproof. I also use this GPS when I go boating and it almost always gets splashed with water. It has a breadcrumb feature that allows you to see where you've been. Great for boating, hiking, or exploring unmarked country dirt roads and you need to find your way back. It has an internal battery that will last 20 hours on a single charge. As with all GPS's there are some downsides to it. The screen is a little on the small side compared to today's models. It takes longer to enter in addresses than with a touch screen model. And you do have to plan your trip carefully and load the maps you'll need before you start your adventures. (The Garmin Quest II Handheld GPS Navigator comes with all the maps preloaded. It didn't exist when I purchased my Quest.) Because of these downsides, I've recently purchased the Garmin nüvi 650 Personal Travel Assistant for North America for my wife. It has a very large touch screen (wide screen version) which makes it easier to input addresses than the standard size touch screen GPS's (such as the Garmin nüvi 350 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America). It has all the maps preloaded so she won't have to think about loading any. It's not waterproof, but she will never have a need to use it outside of a car. It doesn't have the breadcrumb feature that we love, but you just have to learn to accept there are limitations with all GPS's. Just do your research and purchase the one that's best suited for your needs and budget.



2. I Have been using Garmin Quest for the last 2 years. I think I am experienced enough to write a review for the product. This is a small, yet powerful, potential and very nice GPS that never let me down any time. I drive a lot, interstate driving and intercities driving incusive, and use my Questy regularly. It is ultimately portable, bright enough to view at any time of the day even during bright sun shine. The system gets ready in a matter of 4-25 seconds. I mentioned the maximum of 25 seconds since it took this long time twice so far (once in Cape May,NJ and the other time in Niagara falls,NY. Rest of the times, it always started in less than 10 seconds.
   
   Portability is a plus. Reroute is pretty fast and I would say instantaneous. As soon as I miss a turn, it gets ready with new direction very fast in a matter of couple of seconds.
   
   Takes a very small space to mount or store and is a very imporatnat and relaible asset I have ever bought.
   
   I will recomend this product for any one who is seriously thinking of a GPS with full featureqs, great quality, comfortable size yet superbly fast.
   
   Thanks Garmin and this is a studd for your products



3. I bought this item for more than a year already. It was and still is a good GPS that 90% of the time directs you to the right place. You just need sometime to get used to the command. The best thing to do is to first find a familiar place with this GPS and see how it directs you to the destination. However, I give it a three star because it is losing reception after one year of use for whatever reason. It used to only lose signal when I travel inside cities that have a lot of tall buildings. Now it just lose signal randowly and more frequently. Although I fix this problem by buying the external antenna, but I can only give a three star.



4. I bought this for my wife as a Christmas present and she loves it. She uses it all the time. It has saved us from going out of the way a couple and even when we couldn't see road signs it guided us in the right direction. Another great attraction is it's ability to find points of interest even if you don't have an address. All around it is a great value for the money.



5. First let me say that this is my first GPS, and was clueless as to which unit to buy. I completely relied on reviews posted on Amazon to help me learn about GPS from other owners. I wanted a unit that would be used more on the trail and kayaking then car use. But I needed a reliable unit for driving, I can only afford one unit. The Quest is small and fits a foward pocket on my backpack. Its waterproof for use on the kayak. Its recgargeable enough for day use. Only drawback appears to be it will not allow you to switch batteries on the trail. The battery is a lithium-ion battery which has a life of 8 hours of continuous use. After that recharge. So you have to concider that on your hike. The price is great, and the "city navigator" DVD I've inputed works fine. I paid only $216 for a factory "reconditioned" unit, and this unit also included the "city navigator" DVD, which is a must. The internal map that come in the unit is too basic, does not show streets, only main highways and interstates.
   So again the best thing about this Garmin Quest GPS is its compact, accurate, well made, a good value and expandable with 115 MB of memory. Could this be the best multi-tasking gps made? Maybe.

5 comments about Jensen NVX-225 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. The Jensen NVX-225 is a great GPS at an affordable price. Looking at all the other GPS's I could have bought this is at the low price end but doesn't sacrifice quality. The screen is large enough to be readable while driving if you must and the voice loud enough to drown out background noise. I wouldn't try to add a destination while driving without pulling over. Literally the only thing it doesn't have that my sisters $300 + GPS has is that it tells you when to turn and in how far. Sis's tells you the name of the road to turn onto. Hey for $200 cheaper I can follow the directions "turn left in one quarter mile". It automatically switches to lower tone colors for night driving and re-calculates directions quickly if you miss a turn. I'm completely happy with it.



2. I have used this product 5 times and each time took me way out of my way to get to my final locations. (Even thought I had it set on quickest route not the shortest route) If you have nothing better to do with your life then take the scenic route then this is the product for you. Go with Garmin and save yourself time and gas.



3. Overall, I got exactly what was advertised and exactly what I wanted. I had to play around with the settings at first, any GPS takes some getting used to. I'd recommend.



4. This was a great buy, have had no problems with it! For the line of work I do, this really helped me on finding adresses and locations! Already recommended it to other people.



5. Based on the reviews and comments I read about this product, I thought it a great deal for the money. Was I wrong! The product did not work right out of the box. Called tech support and was told there was a problem with the programing and to return the item; which I did and requested a refund instead of a replacement.

No comments about GARMIN CITY NAVIGATOR NT FOR EUROPE VERSION 9 (010-10887-00).

5 comments about Mio C310x 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. 2/26/08
   The price was the defining factor for me, I wasn't expecting anything amazing because it was so cheap but it came in handy many times. The accuracy is off by maybe a house or 2 in some cases but no biggie. The options of color scheme and views are good. It took me a little bit to figure out how to work the map but I didn't read the manual so what can I expect.
   The mp3 player is nice and works fine with or without headphones. I use it at work (I don't have an IPod or anything else)and can charge it on the computer using the USB cord when I step away. The random mode doesn't seem to be too random, it picks the same songs everytime unless you add or delete some songs...wierd but not terrible.
   Overall, great for the money,most navigation systems don't even offer the added mp3 player so that counts for something.



2. I like this GPS because it has all the features I need. Its maps are upgradable at a reasonable price. It's really compact, very portable, can play music through the SD card slot. All the maps are in its own memory (1 gig internal). It allows you to set wave points. Though I don't care much for the mount because it's bulky and it has limited freedom to move it. All in all, it's a great product that I would recommend. Cold Eyes



3. You get what you pay for they say: With the Mio C310x that is what you get... clumsy menus and the issue many are talking about: The voice is off by 100 yards which is not only confusing but DANGEROUS when driving because you constantly have to compare the voice to the display. The maps are from a European based company and are not as up to date as Navteq.
   
   Last but not least, I put a 4 GB memory stick with MP3s on it and it does not allow sorting by folder... so you are stuck scrolling through 1000 songs! UNBELIEVABLE! SO BAD!
   
   I give it 1 star - it works somewhat ok



4. I've got the product. It works great, but unfortunately I didn't get the DVD and the original box, as described in product ad.



5. Bought 2 on Black Friday just for the toy affect. Gave one to my girlfriend and kept one. Then along came my gear-jamming daughter with her Atlas. Yep, mine went with her. I bought another one for me. The GPS is well worth the money. Simple to use and has the MP3 to use while running in the wind. Must say, Mio has a hard time working on the Big Island of Hawaii. IF it had Text to Speech, it would be the ideal GPS. I say buy it!

5 comments about Garmin StreetPilot 2730 Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I purchased this GPS device as a Christmas present for my wife who is a realator and frequently maps several showings for a specified client. She is not usually a person who accepts new technology when offered and tends to place such items on the top shelf of the closet. That was not the case with this particular gift; as usual, she shied away of using it until it was programmed for her and placed on the dash of her vehicle for an afternoons showings.
   The result, and only drawback, after that afternoon isthat I can't fetch this from the top shelf of the closet and use it at my whim. She drives three different vehicles, and with deft hands moves this device with her.



2. GPS is awesome Power cord sucks...i am on my third power cord and they are $45 bucks each. the other pain is that the speaker is in the power cord so if you want to plus it in your center storage area you can hear it. other then that it is pretty nice!!!



3. I purchased this product about two years ago and need another one for a new car. This is an excellent product and I'm sorry Garmin has decided not to manufacture any more. the replacement Garmin is now making costs $1000 more.



4. If you buy this like I did, plan on the expense of map downloading and replacing the power source in about one year.



5. I am very please with the product. The only problem I have had, is that the cord broke where it secures into the back of the garmin. Thankfully, I could purchase another one.

5 comments about Magellan RoadMate 2000 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I've had this product since Dec. 2006 (paid $225 for it at the time). It has worked great: got me where I needed to go, provided me with the nearest Taco Bells, suggested alternate routes when it detects that I'm stuck in traffic, and etc.
   
   However, it only comes with a one year warranty. Low and behold, after 14 months of service (not much since I don't drive everyday and only use it for the occasional trip), it decided to die on me this month. I can send it back to Magellan for repair but that'll cost more than a new GPS. I don't think I'll go Magellan again.



2. I've owned this GPS for almost a year, My unit takes about 7 minutes to connect to the satalite and get a location fix, after its initially turned on. The Points of Interest database is useless. It barely has anything in it compared to most other gps units (2 million vs. 6 million). 2 million may sound like alot, but its not, its really only like 20% of stores/gas stations/ resteraunts/ etc. Magellan just sent me an email about a map, software, and points of interest update, that they just released. They charge $79.99 for the update. Great way to retain customers Magellan, charge them for updates! The battery on the Roadmate is trash. The unit does not have an off mode, only hibernate, which consistantly drains the battery dead, if left "off" for more than a few days. So basically the unit must remain plugged in constantly like it has no battery at all. The user interface is poorly thought out. If for instance I want to store a new location then navigate to it. I must store the location and name it, then navigate all the way back to the home screen (by pushing "X" five times. Then all the back to the save points list, then I have to locate my new point I just saved on a long list that only shows about 8 points per screen, so you have to scroll down and find it. It should be just be you punch in an address and click navigate, but its not. Oh and another minor anoyance with the roadmate, is that you cannot see the map and your speed at the same time, on the same display. You have to click the top bar to see your speed. Then hit "X" to get back to you map. Also zooming in and out is excruciatingly slow.



3. I got this GPS as a present about a year and a half ago. It is not the best GPS you will find, but if you want a small, inexpensive unit, this is a good product to look at for the price. Here are some pros and cons:
   
   Pros:
   1. Reliability
   The unit will get you from point A to point B. I have seen it re-route after a wrong turn and it will usually (eventually) find an alternate route that is suitable.
   
   2. Ease of use
   The unit is very easy to use, and the interface is pretty good. I just bought a Garmin and the huge disadvantage to that unit is that I cannot search locations by zip code. With this unit, you can search by zip or by city name. I also like the "Home" button right on the main menu. Touch the button it will route to your home without having to go through multiple menus. Also, it has many POIs and they are easy to use.
   
   3. Routing options
   Another nice feature is the routing options you are presented with every time you enter an address. Before it plans the route you can pick "Shortest Time", "Shortest Distance", "Most use of freeways", or "Least use of freeways". This is especially nice when driving home in rush hour traffic when you want to avoid the highways, or making long trips where you want to use all freeways. Also, you can click "Avoid toll roads" for any of these options, which is great is you don't have an EZ Pass-type device.
   
   Cons:
   1. Routing & maps
   The unit has always gotten me to where I need to go, but sometimes it doesn't calculate the fastest route. Also, Magellan doesn't update maps very often so sometimes you might run into a situation where a road has changed and the map is not updated. Another con to this is that the unit does not save your favorite route to stored locations.
   
   2. Not many extra features
   The unit is basically for GPS only. It doesn't have any of the fancy features the GPS units have now, such as Bluetooth, MP3 players, etc. It is meant to be used as a GPS only. It also does not have text-to-speech capabilities, meaning it will not announce road names, but instead say "turn left in 1 mile."
   
   All in all, this is a good little GPS unit for someone who just need to get where they are going. There are no flashy features in it, but it gets you to where you need to go. I especially like being able to touch the one button during a route and look at all the turns for the route from start to finish. The routing is pretty good and the time estimates are almost always dead on. It's not bad for a first GPS.



4. We've had this GPS for over a year now, and it has worked quite well. We used it on our move from New York to Texas and it held a signal the whole trip which was what we hoped for. I've been using it in our new city and its predominantly been a champ. This area has a number of new constructions so the maps seem outdated (mainly missing developments) and it appears you can't update them. It seems to spontaneously reset when I hit one particular spot downtown- its annoying, but at least I know exactly when its going to happen so I can look at my next few turns before that happens.
   Overall, this is a great little unit if you're new in town and want a GPS to help you get where you need to go until you know how to get there on your own.



5. MY MAGELLAN ROADMATE IS THE BEST THIS IS MY SECOND ONE
   I WILL ALWAYS USE MY MAGELLAN ROADMATE.
   
   DEON

5 comments about Pharos 150 Drive 3.5-Inch Touchscreen TTS Portable GPS Unit, Blue.

1. Easy to use, easy to carry. And my wife loves the pink color. Overall, a good value.



2. I am very pleased with the Pharos. I don't have any problems with the directions at all. My daughter bought a high end GPS and always has to reset it. She constantly asks me to use mine when she is driving.
   
   I carry it with me all of the time and it works whether I am walking or driving in an unfamiliar area. I like the fact that is also has the stick to help type the address and make selections. I feel like I am using a Palm device. I love the fact that it tells me when I am over the speed limit. I sometimes go over without knowing it and now I can correct it quicker than in the past. The user interface is easy to understand also.



3. this item is always searching for a signal and I am going to return it.



4. I've used the Pharos 150 for about a month now and its ok but does have some annoying things about it. First you have to depress and hold the power button for 30 to 45 seconds and sometimes longer before it will boots up. The screen is readable but not very bright. The screen is almost invisible with almost any amount of sunlight on it. Conversely at night it nearly blinds you even with "night colored " maps. One thing I find very annoying is that as your speed increases it incrementally zooms out. If you depress the zoom-in button it may or may not zoom in (no rhyme or reason to it). When it does zoom in, it will remain zoomed in for only a few seconds then zooms back out. At speeds around 45 or less it behaves quite well and responds to zooming commands as one would expect. Another annoying characteristic is the sensitivity of audio click for touch screen buttons. It will click at with relatively light pressure applied although the function will not activate unless more pressure is applied to the touch button. It forces one to look at the screen to verify that the selected function did in fact activate. Another complaint is that it tends jump the map in steps rather than scroll smoothly at highway speeds. Its like the processor can't keep up with the movement of the vehicle. The good side is the maps seem to be accurate (at least as accurate as my other two vehicles that have in dash nav units). Route calculation is good but a little slower than I like. All in all, for the price, it's an ok starter unit, but for a few dollars more better portable GPS units are available. As a side note, I have a Blackberry Curve with an imbedded GPS. I downloaded Google Mobile maps (its free) and it does an equal is not better job of displaying the vehicles path in both map and satellite modes. If only the screen was a little bigger..



5. I bought the Pharos's 150 because of its low price and the walk mode. It worked well for me for the first time. The second time I used it, it had an "desination.exe" failure and told me to shut if off. I did and was able to enter the address again. But it turned itself off after about 20 min while I was on the way to a new place. The unit would not turn on and I ended up spending 40 min more to ask around for directions and getting lost many times in light rain. When I got home, I charged it overnight and it still would not turn on. I called customer service and was told to reset the unit and it turned on. I was told that this happened because it was a new unit and once it had been used for a while, this would not happen. I never expected new things to not work well, my mistake!!! I used it for a third time and everything is fine. It does need 2-3 min to find the GPS signal (feels like 10 min). So I gave it a 3-star because you get what you pay for. While it works, it is good enough for me.

5 comments about Harman Kardon GPS-500 Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator, MP3 Player, and Video Player.

1. The setup is easy. You don't have to do anything.
   In lock position it follows you everywhere.
   Nice and bright touch screeen. you can even scroll the map by sliding your finger over it.
   I highly recomend it.



2. I bought the H/K 300 for its price and its big screen. It's easy to read w/o putting on my reading glasses while driving. Sound quality is fine for my old ears. But....and this is a big one for me: it won't hold a charge for more than a day! And that's w/o turning it on at all. Moreover, I can't update maps, and there is a lot of building going on in my area. Would I buy one of these again. NO!



3. This device is great for travel I pack it in my travel bag for road trips and business trips. It is a great Media player dfor movies , TV shows and MP3's for long flights or layovers. The UI is great and easy to navigate. The out of box experience was a great one it comes with an AC adapter that converts into a USB charger (most of the other guys sell this as an additional purchase) and the car adapter. The mount is small and collapseble for easy storage in a glove box or handbag. The screenis a good size and the unit is thin and compact (easily fits in a shirt pocket. The design is what HK does best it is clean with a great finish, that just so happens to match the dash of my MIni Cooper! I have used this throughout the U.S and it has been a great experience it does not have TTS or all the bellls and whistles say a Nuvi 350 has but all-in-all a great unit for the price. When a took a road trip top Canda it got a little confused as it would tell me to turn left when I should ahve turned right and when I was exiting off of Hwy 1 it would not tell me if I should take the East or West HWy 1 so I ended up going in circles for a about an hur. The benefit of this was that I bypassed most of the bumper to bumper trafffic and hit my exit without having to sit in it. Final Thoughts: Great for travel but stay in the U.S.



4. This thing got me lost so many times, I was much better off without it. It often chose ridiculously out-of-the-way routes, and also tended to send me on wild goose chases for restaurants that didn't exist. The maps are frequently incomplete and/or incorrect, and since it can't be updated it won't be long before it's totally useless.
   
   There's something to be said for name brands. Stick with the Garmin or Magellan, they've been in this business for a long time and they know what they're doing.



5. I've been trying to use this GPS for 8 months but will be replacing it with something that actually works. The Harman Kardon GPS-500 should never have been released for sale. The software locks-up frequently, even pressing the hard-reset sometimes does not help. Loading movies onto the device is nigh on impossible. The maps are hopelessly out of date and can't be updated. The program logic for entering an address almost never finds the address you are trying to enter. Be ready to take the least efficient route to your destination (that's if it actually works at all). You will need to press the touch screen buttons several times before the device reacts as the software is so slow. It defaults to California, not the state you are in. Support is non-existent. Harman Kardon should recall this product and give the money back. Its rubbish. The Amazon site insists that I give this device a rating and will not allow a zero-star entry so I have been forced to enter a 1 star rating which is one star too many.

5 comments about Plenio VXA-3000 7-inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech.

1. Should be such a great product, but----the user manual is just short of being useless. Fortunately the device itself is quite intuitive. Spend a little time with it, and it is easy to figure out, at least for the most part. I have no interest in any feature except the navigation, so haven't tried any other one. Having tried smaller screens, the 7 inch screen is SO much better than the small ones. The small ones may have great voice commands, but you really can't see much of anything when they're up on the dash. This one is an exception. you can see lots, and there is a lot of other info displayed as well, such as speed, etc. It is also extremely useful at night, for seeing ahead how sharp curves in the road are, so you can navigate safely through unfamiliar territory, especially when road conditions are questionable.
   
   Plenio, please get your act together on the user manual. This is otherwise a great product. Also make sure you have software updates quickly and easily available, as maps get outdated quickly in this time of rapid road construction and development. Your product has showed me out in a field when I'm on a fairly new section of road.
   
   HN



2. I have been using GPS navigation since 1993 (when it required a computer in the car) and own many iterations from many brands. I am traveling to remote locations for the first time often. My comments are in the context of comparing it to subtile design and functional issues of many GPS units.
   
   The Plenio VXA-3000 has a 7" screen. Having used a laptop navigation system for year, I really prefer a large screen as it is more like a map, and you can judge where the system is thinking of sending you before you get in trouble-- unfortunately, this doesn't have enough detail to really do that job. I don't care about all the non navigation features of most, but I did like the idea of the video in for a backup camera.
   1/3/08
   first impressions; manual starts with trouble shooting guide= not a good sign. Translation of the user manual was not done by an English speaker. Entering my zip code does not yield the correct city name (or even one that is near by). Generally it is intuitive, but some things like when you tell it to locate an address, there is not easily available "go there" option.
   
   Funny stuff- it has the option to navigate using "pedestrian routes" like battery powered GPS units, but since there is NO battery, you would need to carry a 12V battery with you=not likely. That also means you can't set up your routes without being plugged in the car.
   
   A Windows PC (no Mac) is required to use there software.
   No live traffic update options
   Very slow to acquire satellite compared to other systems, also slow to calculate routes
   when viewing 3D maps, some street names are upside down
   has more icon data than others such as mail box locations.
   
   Bottom line, if you really want a screen for video and might occasionally use it for navigation, it might be good, otherwise forget it.



3. I purchased this GPS after looking at the specs and a few reviews, i was fooled by the suggested retail price and actual prices available through various sellers. My second mistake was to purchase from TigerDirect, they wont accept a return unless the device is malfunctioning. The most major flaw with this thing is the lousy TFT display which resembles the first TFT's on the market twenty years ago. Its grainy and you can actually see the pixels and spaces between. It was totally useless for viewing photos and video playback was a complete joke. The GPS functions fair but the maps are out of date. Dont bother with this one. Live and Learn!!!



4. We have now had this for a little over a month. We took it on a recent trip. Had no less than 8 satelites at any given time. It readjusts very quickly when deviation for original directions. The software was completely updated so we did not have to purchase any updates. We will be using it on our next trip. It is very easy to use. We have not used the MP3 options yet but most likely will. Great product! Easy viewing screen!



5. I bought this dog of an electronic appliance, with similar hopes and aspirations, like yourself, the one who may be reading this review right now. Don't be fooled, this piece of junk won't come near your expectations. A part of my list of cons is as follows: freezes controls on video playback, no rechargeable battery - car cord power only, touch control slow/unresponsive, graphic menus cumbersome/unintuitive, big/heavy, windshield mount attachment/removal complicated/time consuming, tech support slow/unhelpful, only supports 2 GB SD cards, leaving only 164 MB free space for videos/pictures/MP3s, remote does not control GPS function, GPS has taken up to 10 minutes to acquire satellite link. Dan, at tech support, answered the video problem by saying that "the unit is primarily designed for auto navigation." Check retailer's return/exchange policy. Preserve your sanity and avoid this product at all costs. If you have a question then email me at minovate at yahoo dot_com. Late, M.