I have a Garmin 1390 with lifetime Traffic & Maps...I think the lifetime maps (in the US) is fairly worthwhile. I live in NYC & would be completely lost without it as I don't drive that often here. I always take it with me when I travel & have gotten the use out of it.

Although my phone has GPS (and MP3), I prefer having a true GPS vs. a phone GPS - same as I prefer to carry my iPod rather than load music on my blackberry. I prefer the multiple devices as I don't like to burn the battery on my phone while flying, etc...

I think the Lifetime map updates that comes with it is usually only for North America - unless it's a Lifetime map one that's bought in EU - in which case it's probably EU maps.

Keep in mind that there are garmin hacked map sites out there - for example, I'm heading to Costa Rica in March & was able to download a copy of Costa Rica maps for free online & put it on a mini-SD card that goes into the SD slot on the GPS - this may be a solution.