<p>My D has a job interview (yea!) near where she goes to school. She doesn’t have a car at school but when she gets a job she will have a car. Anyways, she found a car to go to the interview with but she is very unfamiliar with the area she is going to.</p>
<p>The car doesn’t have a gps system and she doesn’t know who she could borrow one from. Her roommates is broken.</p>
<p>Any opinions about this gps. Do you think a refurbish gps would be ok?</p>
<p>Any other options for her to get to this interview. She does not have internet on her phone but we could activate it. Does anyone know how the navigator programs work on phones. She is very directionally challenged and does not know the area she is going to at all.</p>
<p>deb, that’s the model I have and it’s done well by me. If your daughter has trouble with directions, I would absolutely invest in a GPS for her. I have a poor sense of direction and my GPS has saved me more than once. I didn’t buy mine refurbished, but I would think that would be fine, especially coming from Amazon. FYI, my daughter has a GPS on her phone, but I don’t like that option because she looks at the phone while driving, which is not safe. My GPS is mounted on the dash. I take it off and put it in my purse once I’ve reached my destination.</p>
<p>Does the refurbish GPS have the latest map data loaded? Something to check into. We are on our 2nd GPS simply because after a few years, the data needs to be updated and the cost of upgrade is almost as much as buying a new one. So we bought new instead.</p>
<p>^^ Agree that new is better than map upgrade, but I didn’t get that memo until after I’d bought the lifetime upgrades. Oh well.</p>
<p>My informal research (ie, older threads here on cc) indicate that Garmin is the best; and a base model (which is what I have) is truly wonderful to own - the one you mention is more advanced than what I have. So go for it.</p>
<p>BTW, Garmin tech support folks are very helpful, altho you probably won’t need that. I needed a little help to put Mexico maps on my model. Figured they’d snicker at how cheap my unit was and tell me to forget trying to install the Mexico maps - not so; walked me through everything needed to clear space on my unit to get them on.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I just bought that GPS and had it sent to her. She has a prime amazon account so she will get it on Monday. </p>
<p>I looked over the description and it looks like it has the latest maps loaded on it. I think that the refurbished will be ok and for that price, it seemed like a good deal.</p>
<p>This is nicer than the garmin we own. I don’t know how we lived without it. We love it. It may not always get you there the fastest way, but you will always get there.</p>
<p>I was just going to post a thread on this very topic. My husband has commissioned me to research GPSs and find the best one. He has a Mio and has been very dissatisfied with it.</p>
<p>Somehow people have managed to find places for decades of driving without having a GPS. I’m one of those. She always has the option of finding the place the old fashioned way - by looking at a map. She has an additional alternative of getting printed directions from Google Maps or a similar app. Couldn’t she manage to get there just fine with one of these options?</p>
<p>But, my D bought that 255 garmin and it seems to work for her. If you want to buy one for your D it should be fine and I’m sure she’d like it.</p>
<p>LOL, ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, I always like to look at the map first before entering the destination in my Garmin. I keep the map handy just in case the Garming has a “brain freeze”. It just a safety layer, especially when traveling in remote areas. For instance, NPS does not recommend using GPS in some National Parks:</p>
<p>Personally I like the Magellan. It has the best pronunciation of Hawaiian names of the bunch and decent maps. It also comes with lifetime road conditions. I like to buy mine at Costco so when it dies (as two of mine have so far), you can take it back for a full refund & turn around & buy the newest model for less. I’ve stopped worrying about whether it comes with lifetime maps or an extra year of maps as generally the GPSs we’ve had die before longeivity becomes an issue.</p>
<p>I like the GPS because I have been frequently driving to places I don’t know very well. I also can’t read road signs that have been knocked down or in the dark. I also get lost very easily. </p>
<p>One of the best things about the Magellan is it tells you which lane to be/get/stay in so you don’t get nasty surprises. It is especially handy in busy city freeways like LA & SF. It has helped keep our marriage intact since neither H nor I are happy navigating through strange cities in the dark, poring over the map while zooming along on the freeway.</p>
<p>Yes, I do try to keep a paper map handy or at least the phone number of someone who lives in the area or at my destination so I can ask for help/directions if we get utterly lost.</p>
<p>I am one of the most sense-of-direction-challenged people on earth. I would get lost in a paper bag. Not kidding. Anyway, I had to pick up my daughter at her school almost 200 miles away in a small-ish city. I had been to the city a bunch of times with my husband, but never on my own-- she’s a senior. I had to first find the place I was going to stay, check in, find her at the library, after dinner drop her off at her apartment and find my way back to the motel-- in the dark–and so on. I had the GPS with me, but was still nervous about it. It was perfect! I loved it and never got lost once. I can’t read a map to save my life, especially when I’m both the driver and the navigator. So it is probably my favorite invention of the tech age.</p>
<p>We take a lot of vacations and always bring our GPS with us. It’s invaluable and not because we can’t read maps (my H has the best sense of direction of anyone I know). It’s comforting to meander and explore all the nooks and crannies of a new place and at the end of the day, the GPS will take you back to your original destination. Yes, maps will do the same, but this is so much faster and easier! During our many college visits, this also facilitates us to check out the vicinity so our D can get a feel of the place.</p>