GPS / Navigation Device
 

I need to buy a GPS / Navigation device since I'm going on a car trip across country and want to make sure I don't get fucked around with bad directions. My mom recommended a Magellin brand GPS. You guys have any recommendations for me?

Beyond their downloads being expensive, I don't really know anything about Magellan. We tried a Magellan Crossover because we wanted to use it in the car and on trails, but it only shipped with road maps. To get the trails, we'd have had to download them for ~$100. Returned it.

In my experiences with Garmin and TomTom, Garmin always got us lost (once, at the end of a road with a huge field in front of us, and the Garmin insisted we keep going straight). TomTom was always quite accurate, though.

My parents have a TomTom as well. Works pretty well and is usually very accurate with their directions. I'd recommend that if anything.

I've used TomTom, and Garmin and I've been very happy with my TomTom One. Nothing is perfect, the problem with GPS is that sometimes it will take you a slightly "shorter" distance when on city streets, and it can be confusing. For a cross country trip, either brand will work just fine.

My mom and brother have TomToms and from what I have seen they are very accurate and seldom wrong.

I actually ended up buying a Magellan Maestro 4250. My mother recommended the brand, and Consumer Reports gave this model good scores in the areas that mattered the most to me (accuracy, speed, price, etc.).

It worked great for the trip and got us to our destinations without ever having to pull out a map. The only setbacks were that it seems to have GPS calculation delays when around tall buildings (like downtown Pittsburgh or Chicago), and the traffic re-routing/detour feature sometimes just gets screwy (you have to use your own judgement here). So, it's not without problems, but it worked fine for what I needed it for, and continues to do everything I need here in California.

The accessories are kinda cheaply made though. A couple already broke and I'm going to have them replaced under the warranty.