Bill.Satellite wrote:
If I am taking a tablet in my car to use as a GPS I sure don't want to have to carry it into the theater or the grocery store so that means I have to leave it in the car just inviting someone to take it.
A tablet is also over kill as far as screen size in a car. It's just too big compared to a stand alone GPS.
That, of course, is my personal opinion and I don't mean to intend to imply that anyone else is doing anything wrong.
While I agree that a tablet becomes a problem if you are not willing to take a chance and leave it in your vehicle, the larger size
does have the advantage that it is more like a paper map - it provides more visual information on the sides of your route than most stand along GPSs, which produce an image that is closer to the old paper AAA Triptiks. I also agree with wa8yxm in that a laptop running mapping software provides even more information (although I prefer Street Atlas over Streets & Trips).
In any case, if you are looking for a stand alone GPS, I recommend the Garmin 1400 series. While discontinued, they are still available. I have the 1490 which is overkill - the "Speak to it" feature is not all that useful, however it appears that at least at Amazon, it is less expensive than the lower models. The Lifetime Map feature is well worth the cost, however you will need to purchase a memory card for the Garmin since the newer maps (if you want full North American coverage) take up more room than the basic memory holds.
On edit - One further note - My latest Garmin is the nüvi® 3580LMT. While it has a different collection of menus to find locations that I don't like as much as those in the 1490, it is faster. You will no longer hear "Recalculating"; it does it so fast that the new route when you miss a turn is almost instantaneous. You will still need a memory card to update to the latest maps...
