Garmin GPS - StreetPilot 2730 impressions

Author

StreetPilot 2730 impressions

J&D Schnoor

2006-01-15, 11:48 pm

Thank you for posting that review. I am interested in both GPS and
satellite radio. I have tried both, but I currently have neither. I have
thought that this might be a good product for me, but after reading your
impressions I may have to reconsider. I know that Xact has announced this
http://www.xactcommunication.com/NA...le-GPS-114.html for
use on the Sirius system. From what I have read and heard, I think that I
would like XM better than Sirius. That being the case, it looks like the
Street Pilot 2730 would be the unit for me since the Street Pilot 7200 and
7500 are for bigger vehicles than I currently drive. That being the case I
probably will continue to wait a little while longer. I may still get
separate GPS and satellite radio units, but for my work vehicle I believe
that I would like the convenience of both in one unit. Maybe Garmin wil
make a successor to the Garmin nüvi 300 that will add XM capability.
Perhaps a Garmin nüvi 500 is in the making to be announced at Winter
Consumer Electronics Show 2007!

Seagull

2006-01-16, 5:49 pm

In alt.satellite.gps.garmin J&D Schnoor < jimdianes@frontierne
t.net> wrote:
> would like XM better than Sirius. That being the case, it looks like the
> Street Pilot 2730 would be the unit for me since the Street Pilot 7200 and
> 7500 are for bigger vehicles than I currently drive. That being the case I
> probably will continue to wait a little while longer.

In the limited driving around I've done since getting the unit, I've found
that I like the satellite radio option (I bought a 1 month subscription
just to try it out). Since the 2730 is a combination device, though,
some convenience is sacrificed. Namely, ease of use: if you just pick a
channel and stay there, you're fine, but if you want to change stations
you either have to be sitting on the satellite radio screen all the
time to make the buttons convenient, or you have to switch from the map
display to the audio player display to do it. While the latter step
is only one button click extra, that's still a half second more when
your eyes are off the road.

I don't want to sound all negative on the 2730, though, because I'm not.
It's a good unit, and it does what it advertises and does it well.
I'm /very/ happy with it so far. There are just some interface quirks
and comprimises that the user will have to adapt to. While they aren't
trivial matters, they aren't really shortcomings or limitations, either.

Certainly, it's a fabulous unit for travel, particularly in rental
cars in unfamiliar cities. You bring your GPS, your music /and/
your satellite radio with you, all in one pretty convenient package.

Cheers,
John

--
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seagull @ aracnet.com \
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