GPS unit for Europe

Hello, We used the TomTom. You can walk or drive with it. It was a lifesaver. Long story short I ended up driving in downtown Paris.... and I have to say the ONLY problem we had was that it couldn't tell us where the EMPTY parking spaces were (only the taken ones=) . It does have Rick Steves favorite hotels in the program
Hope that helps,

Which model TomTom?

I'm interested in buying one also. I was thinking of buying a TomTom but after surfing the web for opinions I'm putting my money on a Garmin Nuvi 250 It's compact, within in my price range ($250cdn), use in car or walking and I can connect it to my Mac laptop. I've heard many great user reviews about the product, easy to use, very accurate, easy to maintain. The Nuvi 200 series are considered "Entry-Level", good for those who aren't tech savy or first timers. It comes preloaded with U.S./Canada and I believe European maps. The downside of this model is that some people might find is that there is no Text to Speech. This is where it will actually say the name of the street the driver should turn on. Instead of saying Turn left, it would say Turn left on Maple Street.

The Nuvi 250 does not have maps of Europe. the 270 does.

MARLENE, just to confirm, the Nuvi 250 is NOT equipped with European maps. These can probably be added, but with the cost it's probably better just to buy the appropriate model.

FRANK, I've used the Nuvi 370 (mid-range model) in Europe, and so far it's worked well. I can't recall if the voice can be turned off, but believe it has a "walking" mode? It's provided with a power cord and windscreen (suction cup) bracket. The only minor complaint is that the audio is sometimes not loud enough to overcome road noise.

I've found that the GPS works well for the most part and it definitely "saved me" a couple of times when I took a wrong turn. However I've found that one has to constantly "double check" the route selection. Pay attention to road signs and local landmarks, and carry a good Map for backup.

When in England in September, the Nuvi GPS was also warning me of "speed zones", although I'm not sure which method it was using to recognize these?

Happy travels!

Ken and others...I am also looking and have narrowed the field to the Nuvi 270/370. Two questions for you about the 370. When you approach a round about does it say; turn on Windsor Road, take the second exit, or some other indicator? Also, does it recognize the direction of one way streets? The UK has very good post (zip) codes. Does it recognize those?

If you were to revisit Europe in two or three years, is it your understanding that you could purchase updates for the maps or, since the 270 is selling in the $250 range would it be cheaper to just get a new one?
I know this is a lot of questions - thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

George,

As I recall, at Roundabouts the Nuvi will specify "take the second exit at xxx road" (sometimes it mispronounces the name, if it's unusual).

I'm not sure how it handles one-way streets? I don't recall if I travelled on any?

I believe it does recognize post codes, as I used these to locate addresses on occasion.

Hope this helps.

Hey,

My girlfriend got me a 270 for Christmas for our summer trip, and it looks like its going to work really well. The built in antenna makes it more worthwhile to me than the audio output on the 370, plus it's cheaper.

The Garmin Nüvi 250 (European version) has got great zip code recognition. I suppose the 270 with European maps is at least as good at it as its "younger" brother...

We bought a TomTom 920 for our trip to Germany and Portugal this past XMass. We did some research on units and we're also going to pick the Garmin until I read this review, and many others;

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000BKJZ9Q/ref=cm_rdphist_1/104-5729181-3669560?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar

The TT 920 was larger than a Garmin 370, but it still fit in my pocket.

Whatever you do, pick a unit that has the maps of Europe already built in, and one that has Text To Speach. TTS talks to you and tells the name of your next exit; the name of the next street, etc. It is invaluable.

We loved the TT because it provided us with so much more info: It had a arrow that would always show which way your next exit was. It would also display the exit name/number, and the name of the next street/road, and speak that info several times.

You could not get lost on the roundabouts; it would display/talk you thru them and tell you exactly which exit to take. It was great!

I've used the nuvi 370 all over Europe, Canada and the US.

The directions are quite explicit, Jill will announce "in 200 kilometers enter the roundabout and take the second exit to Arles."

As previous posters mentioned, however, Jill's french pronunciation is actually worse than mine (wow - who would have thought!). Sometimes her french is so bad that we would be reduced to explosive laughter at the mangled name attempt and have to take another lap around the roundabout while gathering composure.

It's also great fun to take a wrong turn intentionally - she becomes a bit stern and condescending as she notes "recalculating." She does seem to revel when you get it right.

The added features of the 370 (audio books, MP3, et al) were worthwhile to me, but perhaps not to all buyers. If seeking Europe maps, however, as previous posters have noted, it is much cheaper to buy the model with preinstalled maps.

The Tom Tom 930 T has maps of Europe and is great in the car - need special antenna for the trafic function but I have heard that in walking around the town the battery does not last long - ?

Ken, this post is from over a year and a half ago. I think Frank has settled on a unit by now.

My TomTom 920 has car, bike or walk modes. I expect the 930 and 940 would also have the feature. I'm a little worried about battery life when it's out of the car, I'm not sure it would do more than four hours of continuous use (and maybe half that) without being connected to the power outlet.