Marine GPS for car 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...

[Darrel Goheen]

"Nobody N. Particular" <nobod...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:99dbc4d.03111...@posting.google.com...

> 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?

For complete marine chart (BlueChart) compatibility and auto routing I'd
recommend the GPSMAP 196. If you are talking about casual marine use that
doesn't require BlueChart compatibility then the SP3 or the 2610 would be my
suggestion.
--

Darrel Goheen
G...@tvnav.com
http://www.tvnav.com