I took a trip down to South Carolina last weekend. We used my buddies plug-in GPS to locate the places we wanted to go. It was pretty impressive. I'm looking for a GPS of my own now. Anybody using one in their HHR? How do you like it? How much $$? Recommendations? I'm thinking I can set it in the dash tray area although some include a suction cup thingy to stick it on the windshield or ? I also am looking at some DD stereos that have GPS built in. Thanks, Mapless in Seattle

 

I've got an older Garmin Street Pilot that I've used for a year or so and I really like it. I don't take enough long trips to go through permanently mounting it in the dash compartment but it does fit in there very nicely.

 

I have a Garmin Nuvi 260. I have it mounted in the upper glove box. I like mine alot. Even if I know where I'm going I have it running. In the Atlanta area, you never know when you need to hit the "Detour" button.

I also like the fact you can enter only an intesection if you don't know the actual address. I also like that you can look up things like a phone book. This past weekend we were also in SC, Charleston to be exact. One night the wife and I wanted to go out and see a movie, but no phone book. Fired up the Garmin and looked up theaters in the area, address and phone number right there. Neither which the inlaws Megellin (they were there with us) offered. I have the lifetime updates (4 per year) and that is nice. The 260 is out now, I think the replacement is the 255. But in the garmins, it's the cheapest that still calls our street names, a requirement I had.

 

I have a Garmin Nuvi 200. The lowest end of the Garmins for cars. I love it. I'm a couple of years behind on the maps, but it still does what I want it to. I don't mount mine. I use it between two vehicles, and I never leave it stored in the car. I also wipe the telltale circle from the windshield when its not in use. They are hot theft items. Mine was $170, but the new version, the Nuvi 205 is about $125. I would not buy anything other than a Garmin or a Tom Tom. Here's a great GPS forum with loads of free POI files to use on your GPS: http://www.poi-factory.com/.

 

I just use the GPS on my palm pre from sprint and it does pretty much everything I need it to do.

 

I just got a Garmin 885T, Awesome!!

 

I like the idea of the GPS built into your stereo. Along those lines, I would not personally recommend a stand-alone GPS because they are such a high temptation for thieves. The trend is toward having everything in one unit-- my GPS is on my Blackberry, which also serves as a phone, Ipod, check register, golf GPS, laptop, camera, video camera, voice recorder and who knows what else. It goes where I go-- not left in the car.

 

I have a garmin nuvi 200 purchased 1.5 years for 140 bucks. Works great. If it ever kicks the bucket the next one I'll get is one with Bluetooth to pair with my cell.

Like HHR_ROX_CALI says the disadvantage with the standalone version is theft. But you adapt to that by taking it and the mount out of the car or stash it out of site whenever you leave the car. If you see that as a hassle then get the GPS built into the stereo. Never tried the GPS/cell versions.- but I would rather have a bigger screen to glance it while piloting the road.

 

I have a Garmin Nuvi 350 or something like that not real sure on model number. Any ways I love it, its helped me out so much I purchased it as a refurbished item of ebay for like 100 or a little under its been a few years so i dont really remeber. I have mine mounted with the windshield suction cup with the base plate in between the middle vents just above the hazad switch, its a great location easy to reach.

 

I'm seeing a lot of 'refurbished' units. How come so many? Stolen items? Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm close to getting one...