It's that time of year, and we have some more deals hitting the stores than normal. Thought I would post a few with some references to online for your consideration or browsing. Don't forget to check out the BLACK FRIDAY deals and sales post that I an updating on a regular basis.
Garmin Nuvi 265WT - $199 at staples,$191 at Amazon - Widescreen plus traffic capabilities and Text to Speech - says street names.
Garmin Nuvi 1490T - $399 at Staples, huge 5-inch screen with lifetime traffic included and bluetooth handsfree.
BestBuy
Insignia NS-NAV01 - $79 - my reco is to skip it. Admittedly haven't used it but have heard and seen first hand some disappointing reviews and emails about BestBuy's house brand GPS.
TomTom XXL 540S - $269 at BestBuy, $256 at Amazon - large 5-inch screen with maps of North America including Mexico. Has lane assist and text to speech.
Magellan RoadMate 1440 - $169 at BestBuy, $163 at Amazon - widescreen with lane assist and multi-destination routing. Has Text to Speech.
Magellan RoadMate 1445T -$199 at BestBuy, includes widescreen, lane assist, text to speech and adds traffic capabilities.
OfficeMax - offers the Nextar Q4 for $79 - I would recommend spending money now on something else from a name brand that you (and I ) trust, or wait until Black Friday deals to get what you want.
Similarly CVS is offering a $79 GPS for dummies - yes you'd be a dummy to buy this. Spend your money on something you hardly need a manual to use like a Garmin or a TomTom - Black Friday offers a good chance to get high quality at the same price.
Starting the whole holiday shopping early? WalMart hopes so, and is offering the Garmin Nuvi 750 on sale for $169. The widescreen unit (4.3-inches) has text to speech - it says street names, North American Maps, the ability to advance plan routes ahead of time from point A to B.
The Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS enabled training watch is just $139 today at Amazon; get them while they last. Recently the prices have come down on these to the $150 range, but were hovering above $200 this spring.
The GPS Trainer helps keep track of your training runs with a ton of data that can then be downloaded and analyzed on Garmin software.
The TomTom 340 XL widescreen GPS is available today on Woot for $109+$5 shipping. Pretty amazing price for this high quality unit. Maps of North America, spoken turn by turn directions (not text to speech), widescreen, automatic route recalculations, easy programing of destination, advanced lane guidance and IQ Routes.
This powerful widescreen unit is a pretty good buy at $149. The model has been out for about two years, but ships with updated maps. The TomTom GO 720 includes text to speech, Bluetooth Handsfree, a high quality user interface, the Help me interface and of course the MapShare capability that allows you to note mapping changes and communicate them to TomTom as well as share them with others in the MapShare community.
The Garmin Nuvi 855 is widescreened full-features unit that offers text to speech, a 4.3-inch widescreen, maps of North America, and it takes text commands. The drop in price has pushed it to be one of the hotest selling GPS units at Amazon. The original list price of $699 put a pretty big premium on this unit, now shipping for much much less.
Still looking for that GPS Deal after you woke up and didn't find that Father's Day magic GPS on the kitchen table? The prices have drifted down about $5 - $10 in general over the last few weeks making for a good bargain now at the beginning of the summer.
As your budget allows, I recommend features that make a GPS much easier to use: Text to Speech, and a widescreen in that order. Other additions such as Traffic, Bluetooth Handsfree, etc. are definitely nice to have.
Standard Screen Units
Garmin Nuvi 270 - $144 (Up a few bucks in recent weeks actually) - Has US and Western Euro Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but if you are heading to Europe and need a unit, this is a great deal.
Garmin Nuvi 250 - $99 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but is great deal for Garmin quality.
Garmin Nuvi 260 - $129 (Down $5 in recent weeks) - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Adds Text to Speech.
Garmin Nuvi 255 - $159 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Has Text to Speech. Adds new interface that updates the look and feel; significant usability upgrade in my mind. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes.
TomTom ONE 130 - $99 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the TomTom ONE 130-S for Text to speech at $119 - very cheap upgrade for text to speech. Possibly the best value out there for cheap Text to Speech.
Widescreen Units - 4.3-inch or larger
Garmin Nuvi 255W - $174 - Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. More Info - See my Full Review on the Nuvi 255W. I also saw this at BJ's club this week for about the same price after a $30 Mail In Rebate - your choice.
TomTom ONE XL-S - $129 - a "HOT DEAL" at Amazon, this widescreen has Text to Speech, and maps of North America. This older chassis has the latest maps from TomTom, and offers solid navigation for a relatively low price point.
Garmin Nuvi 265WT - $212 - Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. Adds free lifetime TMC traffic to the base 255W model features. Very good buy here.
Garmin Nuvi 760 - $199 - Thin design with Text to Speech and Maps of North America. Route Optimization - plug in multiple stops and let the unit optimize the route for fastest planning, adds Bluetooth handsfree and built-in TMC traffic. Slightly older interface (still has updated maps though). See My Full Review of the Nuvi 760.
TomTom ONE XL 330S - $160 - the new Basic Widescreen for the TomTom line, Maps of North America, new Easy Port fold flat mount, and text to speech. See my Full Review for more information.
Garmin Nuvi 855 - $249 at Costco. This is a widescreen unit with Text to speech but also utilizes Voice Command capabilities that allow you to enter commands without having to tap the screen. Very good price for this highly capable unit.
TomTom GO 740 LIVE - an amazing $299 - an internet connected GPS that has robust traffic reporting and is Google connected for interest search. Has Gas prices updates and comes with 3 months free connected service; about $10/ mo after that.
Rebate ALERT
The Garmin Forerunner 405 - $296 after $50 Mail in Rebate - And as I mentioned the other day - Buy the Garmin Forerunner 405, get the $50 rebate AND a Free Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch too.
The Garmin Forerunner 405CX that adds a calorie burning calculation. It will ship June 8th, and has the same $50 rebate deal and same Free Forerunner 50 deal. $319 after Mail in Rebate.
A refurbished TomTom ONE 130 is available for $49 after a $20 Mail in Rebate over at Amazon. The unit comes ready to roll out of the box, with a standard 3.5-inch screen, maps of US and Canada, and the easy to use TomTom interface. The $20 rebate is good for purchases now through 6/15, and must be postmarked by 7/15. See the webpage and rebate form for more details.
The Spring starts up the driving season, and it's also Dads and Grads time too. Here are a few of the hotter GPS units on the market that offer a lot of value.
As your budget allows, I recommend features that make a GPS much easier to use: Text to Speech, and a widescreen in that order. Other additions such as Traffic, Bluetooth Handsfree, etc. are definitely nice to have.
Standard Screen Units
Garmin Nuvi 270 - $139 - Has US and Western Euro Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but if you are heading to Europe and need a unit, this is a great deal.
Garmin Nuvi 250 - $104 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but is great deal for Garmin quality.
Garmin Nuvi 260 - $134 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Adds Text to Speech.
Garmin Nuvi 255 - $149 - Down a bit in the last few weeks - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Has Text to Speech. Adds new interface that updates the look and feel; significant usability upgrade in my mind. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes.
TomTom ONE 130 - $112 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the TomTom ONE 130-S for Text to speech at $119 - very cheap upgrade for text to speech. Possibly the best value out there for cheap Text to Speech.
Garmin Nuvi 265WT - $222 - Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. Adds free lifetime TMC traffic to the base 255W model features. Very good buy here.
Garmin Nuvi 760 - $199 - Down $10 in the last week or so - Thin design with Text to Speech and Maps of North America. Route Optimization - plug in multiple stops and let the unit optimize the route for fastest planning, adds Bluetooth handsfree and built-in TMC traffic. Slightly older interface (still has updated maps though). See My Full Review of the Nuvi 760.
TomTom ONE XL 330S - $160 - the new Basic Widescreen for the TomTom line, Maps of North America, new Easy Port fold flat mount, and text to speech. See my Full Review for more information.
Garmin Nuvi 855 - $299 after $200 off at Costco. This is a widescreen unit with Text to speech but also utilizes Voice Command capabilities that allow you to enter commands without having to tap the screen. Very good price for this highly capable unit.
TomTom GO 740 LIVE - $317 - an internet connected GPS that has robust traffic reporting and is Google connected for interest search. Has Gas prices updates and comes with 3 months free connected service; about $10/ mo after that.
Rebate ALERT
The Garmin Forerunner 405 - $296 after $50 Mail in Rebate - And as I mentioned the other day - Buy the Garmin Forerunner 405, get the $50 rebate AND a Free Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch too.
The Garmin Forerunner 405CX that adds a calorie burning calculation. It will ship June 8th, and has the same $50 rebate deal and same Free Forerunner 50 deal. $319 after Mail in Rebate.
Buy a Garmin Forerunner 405/405CX get $50 Rebate + a Free Forerunner 50
Pretty amazing deal going on over at Amazon that I stumbled across - thought I would pass it along.
Garmin is running a $50 Mail in Rebate on the Forerunner 405 and the new blue Forerunner 405 CX - that has yet to ship from Amazon - your can pre-order for shipping June 10. Buy before the end of June and you qualify - see the rebate form (PDF Link) for details.
On top of that, if you buy the Forerunner 405 or Forerunner 405CX, and add the Forerunner 50 sports watch to the cart, you will get the Forerunner 50 for free - the price gets adjusted at checkout. Buy them and give one away as a present!
The Spring starts up the driving season, and it's also Dads and Grads time too. Here are a few of the hotter GPS units on the market that offer a lot of value.
I recommend some upgrades as your budget allows, Text to Speech, and a widescreen in that order. Other additions such as Traffic, Bluetooth Handsfree, etc. are definitely nice to have.
Standard Screen Units
Garmin Nuvi 270 - $139 - Has US and Western Euro Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but if you are heading to Europe and need a unit, this is a great deal.
Garmin Nuvi 250 - $109 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but is great deal for Garmin quality.
Garmin Nuvi 260 - $126 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Adds Text to Speech.
Garmin Nuvi 255 - $156 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Has Text to Speech. Adds new interface that updates the look and feel; significant usability upgrade in my mind. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes.
TomTom ONE 130 - $115 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the TomTom ONE 130-S for Text to speech at $120 - very cheap upgrade for text to speech.
Garmin Nuvi 265WT - $215 - Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. Adds free lifetime TMC traffic to the base 255W model features. Very good buy here.
Nuvi 760 - $209 - Thin design with Text to Speech and Maps of North America. Route Optimization - plug in multiple stops and let the unit optimize the route for fastest planning, adds Bluetooth handsfree and built-in TMC traffic. Slightly older interface (still has updated maps though). See My Full Review of the Nuvi 760.
TomTom ONE XL 330S - $160 - the new Basic Widescreen for the TomTom line, Maps of North America, new Easy Port fold flat mount, and text to speech. See my Full Review for more information.
Garmin Nuvi 855 - $299 after $200 off at Costco. This is a widescreen unit with Text to speech but also utilizes Voice Command capabilities that allow you to enter commands without having to tap the screen. Very good price for this highly capable unit.
Don't know if you saw it, but Garmin has been running a $50 Mail in Rebate on the new Forerunner 405 Black and Green models. Track your workouts via GPS enabled fitness watch, offering you a lot of performance feedback in a little package. The unit has a heart rate monitor, and wireless capabilities to not only log the heart rate performance but also sync with your PC or Mac computer.
Springtime usually brings out the GPS buying public as they prepare for the summer driving season. This year though there's a bigger need for bargains and as the models evolve, a lot more capability at a lower price point. I saw a few bargains this week, and several folks sent some in this week specifically on Costco and REI that you'll see below. With Mother's Day coming up, you might just want to get one for dear old Mom from the list below.
I recommend some upgrades as your budget allows, Text to Speech, and a widescreen in that order. Other additions such as Traffic, Bluetooth Handsfree, etc. are definitely nice to have.
Standard Screen Units
Garmin Nuvi 270 - $139 - Has US and Western Euro Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but if you are heading to Europe and need a unit, this is a great deal.
Garmin Nuvi 250 - $109 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but is great deal for Garmin quality.
Garmin Nuvi 260 - $137 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Adds Text to Speech.
Garmin Nuvi 255 - $156 - Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Has Text to Speech. Adds new interface that updates the look and feel; significant usability upgrade in my mind. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes.
TomTom ONE 130 - $108 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the TomTom ONE 130-S for Text to speech at $128.
TomTom 140 - $146 only at Target as a burgundy colored - no text to speech, with Maps of US/Canada and Mexico.
Garmin Nuvi 265WT - $219 - Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. Adds free lifetime TMC traffic to the base 255W model features. Very good buy here.
Nuvi 760 - $199 - Thin design with Text to Speech and Maps of North America. Route Optimization - plug in multiple stops and let the unit optimize the route for fastest planning, adds Bluetooth handsfree and built-in TMC traffic. Slightly older interface (still has updated maps though). See My Full Review of the Nuvi 760.
TomTom ONE XL 330S - $169- the new Basic Widescreen for the TomTom line, Maps of North America, new Easy Port fold flat mount, and text to speech. See my Full Review for more information.
Garmin Nuvi 855 - $299 after $200 off at Costco. This is a widescreen unit with Text to speech but also utilizes Voice Command capabilities that allow you to enter commands without having to tap the screen. Very good price for this highly capable unit.
Handhelds
There are some price drops on Garmin Handhelds out there that you should be checking out and looking into. REI; famous outfitters, and famous for maintaining a list price on GPS units, has dropped their price on Garmin Oregon 400t touchscreen units to $399; great deal if you can apply some of your member dividend against it. The list price on this is over $500. If you hurry, you can still get a $50 rebate too - see the current promotions page at Garmin - Rebate period ends 5/10!
Thanks for all the folks who sent this one in, the deal is a good one, for a solid Garmin Navigator with a few extras. The price at Costco is $249; $100 off. The Nuvi 780 was released in 2008 and offered a lot of capabilities back then, still a strong player now, especially considering the MSN Direct service which offers gas prices in your area, weather, and a long list of other features. The traffic capability can come in handy, and will allow you to see traffic for your area. The coverage for the service is pretty good and gets most major metro areas through an FM band feed. Check the MSN Direct website for more information. After the free trial period, the cost is $49 per year. The GPS will work fine without the services too if you don't want to continue.
The Nuvi 780 has text to speech, bluetooth handsfree, maps of North America, and is a widescreen (4.3-inches) unit. For more information see my Full Review of the Nuvi 780.
GPS Steals and Deals - 11/8
- Widescreen plus traffic capabilities and Text to Speech - says street names.
- $99 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the 
for Text to speech at $119 - very cheap upgrade for text to speech. Possibly the best value out there for cheap Text to Speech. 
- an amazing $299 - an internet connected GPS that has robust traffic reporting and is Google connected for interest search. Has Gas prices updates and comes with 3 months free connected service; about $10/ mo after that.
- $296 after $50 Mail in Rebate - And as I mentioned the other day - Buy the Garmin Forerunner 405, get the $50 rebate AND a Free Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch too. 
that adds a calorie burning calculation. It will ship June 8th, and has the same $50 rebate deal and same Free Forerunner 50 deal. $319 after Mail in Rebate.
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