Portable GPS

[Bogey70]

when i got my charger i just couldn't see spending $2000 for the nav system. now i wish i had. not that i get lost, but it would be nice. so, i was considering getting a portable unit and putting it in the car.

i was thinking of mounting it in the overhead sun glass holder or in the cubby below the climate controls. i don't think power is gonna be hard. by tapping in the power for the cabin lights over head, or the lighter below the cubby. mounting will take a little thinking, but i'm sure i can come up with something.

here's the question 1) anyone have any experience with them or one to
recommend
2) antenna position and signal strength

thanks in advance for your help guys

[TorRed]

I have a Garmin i5 and love it. It's all self-contained, about the size of a baseball, and mounts to the windshield with a suction cup. It also has voice commands to tell you where to turn. Don't get the lesser i-series, stay with the 5. They're about $350 on eBay. I highly recommend it.

We were in Detroit for the Woodward Dream Cruise and a particular restaurant was recommended to us. The person knew the name, but not the address. So I punched the name into my Garmin and it took us right there.

[HemiChemi]

when i got my charger i just couldn't see spending $2000 for the nav system. now i wish i had. not that i get lost, but it would be nice. so, i was considering getting a portable unit and putting it in the car.

i was thinking of mounting it in the overhead sun glass holder or in the cubby below the climate controls. i don't think power is gonna be hard. by tapping in the power for the cabin lights over head, or the lighter below the cubby. mounting will take a little thinking, but i'm sure i can come up with something.

here's the question 1) anyone have any experience with them or one to
recommend
2) antenna position and signal strength

thanks in advance for your help guys
As for power, there's threads around here for hard-wiring power for radar detectors up by the mirror mount. Search is your friend!

[Bogey70]

As for power, there's threads around here for hard-wiring power for radar detectors up by the mirror mount. Search is your friend!

i got that already. i'm looking for opinions, advice or reviews about models people use or have some experience with. my biggest question is antenna positioning and signal strength. if i mount it in the sunglass holder it will not have a direct line of sight, which i'm pretty sure will hinder performance. even tho some reviews i have read say other wise. if i use the cubby below the a/c controls and put it on some kind of sliding rail i don't think i'll have a problem with signal, just have to make sure i wire the power correctly.

i was looking at something like the garmin nuvi 360.

[Biggy-k]

I have the garmin C330. Excellent unit which always pulls in a strong signal, and I dont have an external antenna.Has a nice size screen as well .

[nCHARGE]

Heres mine, love it.
http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19637

[air3medic]

I too have the Garmin i5. I have found that it sometimes takes a little while to find the sat. signal if it is mounted anywhere other than the windshield. I tried the area around the shifter and the cup holders, but the signal is a lot weaker there. Best bet is to buy what you like, place it in your car and turn it off and on. Let it try to find the signal after it's been powered off. See how long it takes to locate the signal and what signal strength diferences you get and mount it based on there. I have mine next to the a-post, hardwired (with wire tucked into the headliner) into the over-head storage and light unit. I found when it was close to the rear-view mirror it took more viewing area than I liked. Top left by the a-post is out of the way, easy to see and doesn't block any view of the road. Just my opinion though ...

[Bogey70]

Heres mine, love it.
http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19637

very cool. does it fit into the cubby? i was considering making or modifying some kind of cradle so it would kinda come out of the cubby. i just need to find one that will fit, and also work mounted down there.

mind if i ask what you guys paid? seems like the one i'm looking at is around $500. the big things i'm looking for are turn-by-turn voice prompts, and a color touch screen.

[Slow4Dr]

I personally had the C360 from Garmin until it was stolen. It was a great unit, worked well, good signal strength etc. I'd recommend it highly to anyone looking for a portable GPS.

For Christmas I have the Nuvi 360 coming to me. I've looked at it a bit, and it checks out. The screen looks a little nicer then the C360 and its a smaller footprint. I'd say anything by Garmin would be a good bet. I personally checked Amazon.com and read the reviews on a lot of units before my purchase.

As far as placement goes, I put it right on the dash near where the hump ends on the dash. I thought about putting it lower but then I'd have to look down to see it. I didn't like the idea of taking my eyes of the road to look at it. I thought about putting it up high near the roof, but really didn't look into it to much.

[Bogey70]

i didn't want to have to take it down, put it away every time i get out of the car. then put it back when i get back in. i figured in the sunglass holder, i could just flip it down, and !viola! it's ready to use. that's if it will get a signal. with the voice commands my guess is that i wont have to look down too often.

[Slow4Dr]

Did you ever decide on a unit?