street

As more people, including myself, increasingly rely on my smartphone for street navigation, there's one glaring advantage that dedicated street GPS units still have- they don't report your position constantly. (All smartphones with Google Maps installed report your position to Google, unless you've turned off location services in your phone.) The purpose of this position reporting is to collect data points which Google uses to generate the traffic data on their maps- see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Traffic. Supposedly, Google strips all identifying information from the data points, and also deletes the starting and ending points of a trip, for privacy.

Dedicated street GPS units haven't had Internet connectivity and so couldn't report anything (except possibly during map updates.) But this is starting to erode. Most of the newer Garmin street GPS units to your SmartPhone via Bluetooth. The higher-end receivers also include Wi-Fi to make map updates easier, but that does mean your GPS receiver is connected to the Internet, with all that implies. Of course, you can disable these features, just like you can disable location services on your phone. But will you?

See this gpstracklog.com article for eight reasons that a dedicated street GPS receiver is better than using your smartphone for navigation.

This new 2015 Garmin nüvi series of street navigators feature 480 x 272 pixel, 5-inch screens and an amazing array of features for the price. As with all stand-alone navigators, these units have the maps and points-of-interest (POI) data stored in internal memory and are not dependent on a data connection, unlike a cell phone. This means you'll have navigation guidance anywhere the unit can see the sky, even in remote areas far from cell towers.

Some of the features: Garmin "Real Directions" gives spoken directions in relation to nearby landmarks, such as "turn left after the gas station." Foursquare adds millions of new POIs, and "Direct Access" guides you into parking lots and makes it easier to find a specific shop within a large shopping mall. Junction view shows you a picture of upcoming exits, with an arrow in the correct lane- really useful for multi-lane exits. School zone warnings give you advance notice of special speed limit zones and school crosswalks.

All of these nüvi's are compatible with the Garmin BC 30 Wireless Backup Camera. Up to four of these cameras can wirelessly send images to the receiver.

The 57 series includes maps and POI's of the lower 49 states, while the 58 series adds Alaska and Canada. The base 57 and 68 models have maps that can be updated by purchasing updates as desired, while LM models have free lifetime map updates, and the LMT models also have free lifetime traffic.

This new 2015 line of nüvi street GPS receivers have the same features as the 58 line but with a 800 x 480 pixel, 6-inch screen. The 67 series includes maps and POI's of the lower 49 states, while the 68 series adds Alaska and Canada. The LM models have free lifetime map updates, and the LMT models also have free lifetime traffic.

If you want it all, this is the street receiver for you. The nuvi 3597LMT is the 2013 update of the 3590LMT and features a 5-inch multi-touch screen with pinch and zoom, lifetime maps of North America, customizable "dashboards", free lifetime HD digital traffic with faster updates, more secondary road traffic coverage, and no ads. Traffic information appears on the side of the display so you can still see the driving map. The 3597LMT also includes lane assist, Bluetooth, Android smartphone link, an SD card slot, voice navigation, spoken street names, landmark navigation, junction view, real time traffic, a powered magnetic mount, pedestrian navigation, and an audio book player.

Garmin nüvi 3597LMTHD 5-Inch Portable Bluetooth Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and HD Traffic

New for 2014, the Garmin nuvi 55 series features a 5-inch screen at a very low price. The nuvi 55 gives your all the most important features- dual-orientation display, detailed maps of the 48 states plus Hawaii, lane assist, faster search, map display of nearby points of interest, speed limit, current speed, estimated arrival time, and school zone warnings.

The nuvi 56 adds maps of Alaska and Canada. The LM models feature free lifetime maps, and the LMT version have free lifetime maps plus free lifetime traffic.

The nuvi 65 and 66 models have the same features in a larger, 6-inch screen.

Garmin nüvi 55LM GPS Navigators System with Spoken Turn-By-Burn Directions, Preloaded Maps and Speed Limit Displays

Garmin nüvi 56LMT GPS Navigators System with Spoken Turn-By-Burn Directions, Preloaded Maps and Speed Limit Displays

The Garmin nuvi 44 series includes the essentials. This street navigator includes a 4.3-inch 272x480 pixel color touch screen, high-sensitivity receiver, maps of the U.S. and Canada, microSD card slot, spoken street names and turn-by-turn directions, lane-assist, and emergency location. If you don't want lifetime traffic or maps and are happy with a 4.3-inch screen, this unit saves you money.

This unit, updated for 2013, includes a dual-orientation 5-inch color touch screen, customizable "dashboards", lifetime North American street maps, lifetime traffic free traffic with no ads, high-sensitivity receiver, spoken street names, landmark navigation, voice-operated navigation, exit services, Bluetooth(R) wireless, microSD card socket, lane-assist, auto-sorting of multiple destinations, emergency location, pedestrian navigation, and an audiobook player. So far, I've found the touchscreen and the voice command to be much more responsive than the nuvi 2360LMT, which this unit replaced as my primary street GPS receiver.

Garmin nüvi 2597LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and Traffic

If you want it all, this is the street receiver for you. The nuvi 3590LMT features a 5-inch multi-touch screen, lifetime maps of North America, customizable "dashboards", lifetime traffic without ads, lane assist, Bluetooth, Android smartphone link, an SD card slot, voice navigation, spoken street names, junction view, real time traffic, a powered mount, pedestrian navigation, and an audio book player.

This unit, new for 2012, includes a 5-inch color screen, customizable "dashboards", lifetime North American street maps, lifetime traffic, high-sensitivity receiver, spoken street names, voice-operated navigation, exit services, Bluetooth(R) wireless, microSD card socket, lane-assist, auto-sorting of multiple destinations, emergency location, pedestrian navigation, and an audiobook player.