Marine GPS for auto use?

[Nobody N. Particular]

I've been looking at GPS systems and trying to get myself up to speed,
although I'm realizing that the market is a lot more complicated than
I thought it would be! I realize that no one unit is going to be
everything that I want but I'm hoping everyone here might be able to
help narrow the field down a bit.

I really like the big screens of the marine-oriented units like the
Lowrance 3200, Lowrance 300MT or Garmin 182 (color doesn't really
matter all that much to me), but the main reason I want a GPS unit is
the automatic routing/re-routing capability -- I want to be able to
hop in the car, punch in an address and be told exactly how to get
there/what to do once I get lost. Can any of those units support
on-the-go routing by loading different maps or extra software, or is
something like a StreetPilot III my best option?

The Garmin GPS V seems nice but I'm concerned that it might not have
enough memory for street-level detail of big cities and I'd rather not
be loading in a new set of maps every day depending on where I think
I'm going to be.

Somewhat relatedly, I like to drive around backcountry roads and I'm
wondering whose maps (built-in or optional) are the best for
adventuring -- ie, whose maps include anything wide enough to fit a
car and whose maps are vast areas of 'here be dragons' as soon as you
leave the interstate.

I have a Bluetooth-equipped iPAQ, so I was also looking at something
like the NavMan 4400 or the TomTom Navigator. That would certainly
save a few dollars upfront but I'm worried that it would lock me into
what might be a dead-end technology.

Any thoughts? Thanks...

[Burnie M]

The Garmin GPSmap 196 is designed for aviation use but will do
auto-routing with an auto-routing mapping product. It is not cheap.

A GPSmap 176 is similar in size/shape and initially designed for
marine use. It will also load street maps but will not do
auto-routing.

On 10 Nov 2003 16:03:43 -0800, nobod...@yahoo.com (Nobody N.