Advice on which Garmin model to get

[blastme33]

Hi Everyone,

First off I am new to the forums and have just recently taken an interest in Garmin GPS and this forum is a very cool way to share information on GPS here in the Philippines.

I am planning to buy a Garmin GPS unit from the United States as my cousin lives there and he can just bring the unit here to me when he comes back.
However I don't know which model to buy and I have no experience uploading Philippine maps into it.

Can anyone recommend a good garmin gps model for me to use here that wouldn't make it difficult to update maps or load maps?

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

[Britster]

Having bought a Garmin Nuvi 255 for $55 from Amazon.com in the USA it was still cheaper than buying a CDR King 3.5", even with Shipping Customs and VAT.

If you have someone to hand carry, if not in the box, then unlikely to pay Duty. and will have saved about $22 in cost of shipping to Philippines.

I bought the Nuvi 255 as it was the cheapest unit I could find' as I already have a Wintek WBT-201 Bluetooth GPS Logger.


What it wont do is the 1 second tracks due to it having Hardware ID 1074

I was just after something that could display latest RoadGuide.ph Map on the screen and my position (as well as a track of how I got there).
It does that just fine.

If I had another $60, then I might have bought a Garmin Nuvi 1490 for $115, with its 5" Screen that just fits the waterproof handlebar mount for my motorcycle.

Apart from bigger Screen and Bluetooth, it supports Multi-point Routing. It also has Lifetime traffic (but hardly a lot of good, here in the Philippines)

If you don't need Bluetooth then go for Garmin Nuvi 1450.

Having used my Nuvi 255 on my motorcycle I find myself zooming out to getter better idea where i am and how far to where I intend to go, then zooming in to see exactly where the junction is.

Sure you can use Navigation and have audible prompts but difficult to hear when unit in a zipped case mounted on handlebars of my motorcycle.

It's also a pain in the ass configuring Routing with many 'Via' points and using Tracks you have contributed but not yet on the version of RoadGuide one has installed. My Garmin Nuvi 255 cant import Routes created in MapSourse, only WayPoints, so I number them in the order to follow