GPS for ?150!!

[Honeymonster]

Anyone after a cheap GPS system? 

GPS warehouse are doing a clearance offer of Streetpilot III's, comes with all the gubbins necessary to mount on a bike...

Link here------->CHEAP GPS OFFER

Deal includes...
StreetPilot III GPS Receiver
MapSource? City Navigator CD-ROM
Whole of Europe unlocked
128mb Data Card
USB Data Card Programmer
Dashboard Mount
Portable Beanbag Mount
Quick Reference Card
PC interface cable
External speaker with 12-volt adapter cable
User's Manual
Quick Reference Guide

[Jimbo]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I bought my SP3 last October for ?300. I can recommend it.

[Craig67]

Would you recomend it HM ?

[Honeymonster]

Would you recomend it HM ?

As a first foray into GPS, it's a reasonably priced, reliable piece of kit and has everything you need to mount it on the bike (can be used in the car as well).

However, it is a 5 year old design and units such as the Gamin Quest (now superseded by the Quest 2) and Streetpilot 2610 (superseded by the Streetpilot 2720 and 2820) are in a different league.

A lot depends on what usage you would get from it and what sort of budget you have? 

Speeding Stag and Jimbo have one and could give you a better idea of what it is like to use.

If it was me, I would hang on and wait for the prices of the Garmin Quest units to drop. (Halfords did a deal a little while ago (?149) but they sold out extremely quickly).

Just my two pennies, sure other GPS users have their opinions and the "What's wrong with a good map?" brigade will be along with their usual comments 

[Redeye]

Used one before I got the 2610 - good rugged GPS, and for ?150 a bargain.

[Jimbo]

At ?150 it is a good bargain. I have tried a friend's Quest and found it too fiddly with gloves, the TomTom Rider is a waste of time especially becasue you can't program it remotly on a computer. The only downside withe the SP3 is the memory, it comes with 128MB and there are 256MB cards available; however, unlike the Quest etc, you can't get the whole of Europe on one card. That is the only downside especially when you consider it uses the same mapping software as the rest of the Garmin products.

[Redeye]

I did a trip from the NE through France and Spain using the standard 128mb garmin card on the SPIII. You just have to load the maps you'll need. OK, not as easy as my 2Gb card in the 2610, but how often will you have to do it and if you're going to France do you need Austria and Italy etc?
At ?150 it's got to be worth the extra effort.

[PugFace]

?150 including RAM mount and bike cable sounds like a cracking deal. I've got the 2610, but a couple of friends have the SPIII and it's a pretty competent unit. Only area it falls behind is the speed of routing and re-routing if you miss your turn - some recommend pulling over & waiting for it to recalculate, otherwise it's a bit like your missus reading the map and saying "you should have turned left there" (actually it's nothing like that, but you get the idea - if there's another available turning 500 yds up the road, the SPIII is unlikely to calculate in time)

Only thing I'd worry about is the "white box, refurbished" bit. Having worked in radio & TV repairs some years ago, I know that a lot of "refurbished" units are sent into the workshops with a reported fault, the technician says "can't replicate it" (effort levels are usually around 30% here), unit gets re-sold as "refurbished", 2 weeks later, comes back in with same reported fault, repeat, repeat, repeat.  :wallbash:

[Jimbo]

I use my SP3 as a moving map display so that I always know whereabouts I am on the tankbag map. I only use the routeing option when I get near my destination, this is most useful in towns when trying to find a hotel. Friends who put the whole day's route in either end up missing some really nice roads or get taken up dirt tracks through farm yards.

[Honeymonster]

Only thing I'd worry about is the "white box, refurbished" bit. Having worked in radio & TV repairs some years ago, I know that a lot of "refurbished" units are sent into the workshops with a reported fault, the technician says "can't replicate it" (effort levels are usually around 30% here), unit gets re-sold as "refurbished", 2 weeks later, comes back in with same reported fault, repeat, repeat, repeat.  :wallbash:

Don't see that being an issue with SPIII, the refurbished units have the normal 1 year warranty and Garmin customer service with any faulty units is very good.

[Honeymonster]

Just for info.....GPS warehouse have sold out all the units, another batch due in 1-2 weeks....