mavrick1903

I have had a Garmin GPSMAP60CSx since 2006. Great unit. Looking at a new unit for car travel for work and family trips. Needs to do:
-lane assist
-path tracking (I use this for tracking for milage expense) download to pc -Load waypoints/poi from device or pc
-would like to do Bluetooth. Have a stero Jack to go to the car audio, so speakers are not an issue, mostly want it to display and dial.
-multi point routing..
-SiRF

I like the Mapsource from Garmin, but I'm not stuck on the brand as long as the perspective unit can meet the above.


so only asking for the world, right?

HumVee

mavrick1903, you aren't asking for the world. Garmin has several models that fit your criteria. Some of the newest Bluetooth capable models do not have an audio out jack (bad move, in my opinion), but many of the older models do. I'm not familiar with what road navigation models from Magellan or TomTom might fit your needs, but here are some Garmin models:

• Automotive GPS units with lane assist, multipoint routing, Bluetooth....
  • nüvi 765T - includes free lifetime Traffic subscription (ad based).
  • nüvi 775T - same as 765T, but includes North America and Europe road maps.
  • nüvi 1490T - 5" diagonal touchscreen, free lifetime Traffic subscription - but loses 3.5 mm audio jack!
  • nüvi 1690 - includes Garmin nüLink! services, loses 3.5 mm audio jack!
• Motorcycle GPS units with lane assist, multipoint routing, Bluetooth....
  • zūmo 660 - IPX-7 water/dust proof (for motocycle use), includes multiple mount options, plus City Navigator NT DVD.
  • zūmo 665 - same as the 665, but includes GXM 40 Satellite radio & traffic receiver (660 not capable of XM, even as an option). Traffic & radio subscription extra (not free, ad based).

See the comparison tables & product discriptions for other differences between the units. I'm not certain about which satellite receiver is utilized in the various models. They are all "high sensitivity," but I don't know if they belong to the SiRF family of receivers. There's also recently discontinued but still available units that may match your criteria, but I didn't look at those....

mavrick1903

Where might I find information about recently discountinued models? the Garmin site seems to be the most complete for current model compairison but discontinued? or is there a reason to steer newer (chipset, firmware updates, etc?)

mavrick1903

Is there a place to look for discontinued units? or are they something to steer away from due to limited support/updates?

HumVee

Garmin's "Discontinued" models are still listed on their website. There's no particular reason to avoid them, except that much older models don't use the current map versions - so they can't be updated. But there's lots of newer discontinued models listed that Garmin has simply stopped making, but which might still be found for sale. As long as they accept City Navigator NT maps (as opposed to the older City Navigator maps), then you're fine. The discontinued automotive and motorcycle GPS units can be found here. If you look in the upper left corner of the Garmin web pages, you can see the navigation links to their different new and discontinued product lines.