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"Big, bright, fast and easy to use" on by a789877
Pros: The giant, bright touchscreen makes navigation extra easy.
Cons: Slow to boot-up.
Summary: I preordered one of these, and have been especially happy with it. 90% of the time the route it suggests is excellent, while 10% of the time I wonder why it doesn't give me a more direct (backroad) path.
The system is really fast to respond. My other car has the built-in Acura system, which is slow to respond to every button press. By contrast, the 7200 instantly responds to input and quickly creates a route. I like that it announces street names too.
The only problem is that it takes about 20 seconds to turn on. Since it has no battery, and my Honda does not supply power when the keys are not in, it will restart when the car is started. -
"An Incredible Mapping Tool." on by rk488454
Pros: Large & Easy to Read. Very Fast GPS Aquisition. Very Simple to Use.
Cons: Price, but hey, look what you get. It does provide less detail than expected when zoomed all the way in.
Summary: We recently used this on a 2200 mile trip. The more we used it, the more we wondered how we ever survived on "paper" maps. Need a restaurant ? Type it in. Need a hotel ? Type it in. Even need $$ ? Type it in. (For an ATM that is). The touch screen is incomparable & even better than that, is the remote control that's provided. It's far safer to use that while driving. With WAAS enabled, I was amazed at it's pinpoint accuracy, almost down to which LANE we were in. I'm glad we opted for the 7200 vs the 7500. For the trouble it takes to install the dead reckoning cable, along with the extra expense, it was far not worth it just to have a false signal, should the unit lose reception. Even that was extremely rare. If you need that much precision, join the Military. The NavTraffic is spotty at best & not that accurate - no fault to Garmin though. The WX was much more reliable. XM reception is excellent with the GXM30. It provides near real time stock updates also. The 7200 is also an excellent MP3 player through the car stereo. I believe that even without an extra memory card, it holds 850MB of music & books on tape - an excellent travel idea. Bottom line- Wonderful. You get so many features in one unit, it would cost thousands for much more, most likely provided only by several different electronic gadgets to do the same. OH, and please comparison shop ! It is ridiculous to almost pay DOUBLE at one place than what you can really get it for. GO FOR IT !
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"Piece of junk" on by krthomson
Pros: Screen is nice
Cons: POI database is crap
Summary: This unit has a nice, easy to read screen, but the POI database is pathetic.
I am a contractor. This morning, I was sitting in a HD parking lot and it told me I was 5.3 mi from the closest HD. I was less than 1/2 mi from a Carolina Lumber, and it was sending me more than 6 mi away, to a point that I KNOW there was no Carolina Lumber. I have been sitting in front of a restaurant that it tells me doesn't exist.
I used a Cobra for several years (my wife bought me this POS at Christmas). The Cobra was very accurate, and was cheaper than the Garmin. If I didn't have a conscience, I would try to trade the guy I sold my Cobra to and get mine back. It was not 100% accurate, but it is 10 times better than this POS.
BTW, Garmin seems to want you to buy POI databases from 3rd party reps (which I have done, but they are no better ...) Do yourself a favor, buy the Cobra. Their screen may be smaller, but the database is MUCH more accurate.
(I HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH EITHER COBRA OR GARMIN. THIS IS A POST BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE USING BOTH THE COBRA AND GARMIN GPS UNITS OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.)Updated
This unit comes with a very poor POI database. On three different occasions it has sent me to Home Depot stores in the middle of residential neighbor hoods. I stored the address of one of my frequent suppliers, while sitting in the parking lot. The next time I used this unit it sent me 5 blocks away. It finds VERY FEW home improvement stores other than HD or Lowes. My wife bought the database update for her Garmin (for $70.00), as it looked much better than the original, I tried to load it to mine. It won't let me. I have to spend another $70.00 to get a semi-accurate database. This unit is only 6 mo old. All in all, I'll never own another Garmin product. -
"Best of Class" on by christopheraust
Pros: Display, functionality, precision
Cons: None at all
Summary: Jean must have been mis-using the device. I've had a number of GPS units, and this one is the absolute best available. It is incredibly accurate - both in tracking progress and proposing routes. Display is always readable and software is easy with a little practice. Unit moves easily from car to car with purchase of additional mount. Not the cheapest unit by far, but worth every penny for the serious user.
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"Can't beat the huge, bright screen." on by drdroad
Pros: Huge screen, easy to use like all Garmins.
Cons: Maybe too big for some cars.
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