Car GPS advice

[juanm]

Hi, my much better half just got her driving license, and is already getting lost, so I was was thinking in getting her a GPS for the car.
I'm alright with the sun, a map, and, eventually, google maps, but she's turned to be orientation impaired, and before dumping her and going out with another girl, I prefer to give her the opportunity of using some assistance.

- I'm currenty living in spain, but I need it to be able to use australian maps later.
- I can get good prices on Tomtom, Navman, Michelin, Clarion, Pioneer, Sony...
- Mac friendly, if possible... I'll do nothing fancy with it, but I'll need to swap Australia and Europe maps...
- Big screen.
- Voice driving assistance

I know next to nothing about these things, so any advice is welcome...

Thanks

 

[blackscooby]

I used TomTom Navigator on my PDA which worked reasonably well around Segorbe (North East of Valencia). Had some issues around towns as the road development was much newer than my maps in places.

Certainly without TomTom I would really have struggled to find addresses in the hills !

Worked flawlessly as far as I was concerned.

(At no point was the TomTom ever connected to a Mac though)

 

[juanm]

Thanks for your answer...

For Christmas we'll be driving to Nancy (Northern France), and I'm quite confident that if I fall asleep while she's driving, I'll need Australian maps sooner than expected, so I plan to get the European Maps, just in case. You know what they say, better safe than lost in the middle of nowhere.

I used once TomTom on a PDA and it worked like a charm, so I'm leaning towards this brand, but I wanted some input about other brands...

 

[scotthayes]

I bought the tom tom 720 a few weeks back, very impressed with it. Maps are pretty cheap from Tom Tom. Bought mine as I'll be driving from New York to Newport RI next year and wanted one that I could use at home and when away and the 720 is perfect for that.
Oh, and they work with a Mac no problems. they include software for a Mac or PC.

 

[0098386]

We've got a TomTom910 and has never let us down, came with maps for pretty much everywhere we're likely to go (Europe, NA, Canada). It's an excellent system and really easy to use.

Shame the music playback is pants and there's no video playback. Would be useful at the end of a long days drive

 

[blackscooby]

I drove their camper down from the UK to the Valencia region. They then had a couple of months chilling out. I left my TomTom PDA with them (novice TomTom user) and apart from a few niggling issues with it they were impressed enough to go and buy a stand alone TomTom One Europe.

The past couple of years I've used TomTom to navigate the nightmare of the Perpherique around Paris on the way back from the Le Mans 24h !

(Ps other Navigational aids are available, I'm not a TomTom reseller )

 

[juanm]

I've been doing some research, and like the third generarion TomTom One, but I think there might be a problem.
If I go to This address I can choose the model I want (One 3rd Edition), and the map I want (Australia), but it won't allow me to download it in the third step. Can anyone with a PC try it, or does it mean there's no Australia map available for this model?

Also, a dumb question... It plugs into the lighter outlet, right?

 

[scotthayes]

I've been doing some research, and like the third generarion TomTom One, but I think there might be a problem.
If I go to This address I can choose the model I want (One 3rd Edition), and the map I want (Australia), but it won't allow me to download it in the third step. Can anyone with a PC try it, or does it mean there's no Australia map available for this model?

Also, a dumb question... It plugs into the lighter outlet, right?

Just tried it and go all the way to the checkout. couldn't do any more as I don't need a map of Australia (YET!!!)

And yup, they plug into the lighter outlet (or at least the 720 does)

 

[juanm]

Just tried it and go all the way to the checkout. couldn't do any more as I don't need a map of Australia (YET!!!)

And yup, they plug into the lighter outlet (or at least the 720 does)

Thanks for trying. Funny, Australian Map isn't available from the spanish website, but it is if I select another location. Well, I'll do that, thanks a lot!

Also, are the lighter adapter and the antenna included?