Well, I have used PocketPc products for years, testing new versions of many of the big competitors. I find the nicest and currently most user friendly is the Copilot 5 from ALK. It has pretty good maps (this you will find is one of the major differentiators of mapping companies) and the interface is nice, fast and simple. My #1 1K GF picked it up in about, oh five minutes. Similar to most, one "loads" map data for a region or area that they are driving in.
pros: fast acquire time, uses Bluetooth, so no hockey puck necessary, and BT receiver can be best placed for pickup. Re-acquire of signal is very fast, no WAAS, but I can live without that.
cons: volume on directions is a bit weak, but the text to speech is nice.
that said, we picked up a NAVMAN ICN510 last year for about 300$, which is nice for the second car and for travel and for when we BOTH are driving cars.
If ScottC likes the Magellan, that is a good plug, currently there is a refurb version available from ebuyer, for 389$ delivered. IT WAS 359$ yesterday.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=196988
I have bought from ebuyer, but not this product.
I tried a magellan about 1.5 years ago, and found the interface a bit slow, and the map paint a bit slow. I also found the signal acquisition was slow and the re-acquire was slow. This is a problem in cities, tunnels and really cloudy days. Problems you might encounter in and around the NYC area. I do like the DING, reminds me of driving Hertz cars back in the early 90's, when this type of technology was whizz bang.
After all that, I am just about to go dedicated in my primary vehicle with a Pioneer AVIC-N2, which has large map data, uses satellite data for current traffic conditions and has a large slide out screen. Costs a bit more though, I picked up one on ebay for 1200$ complete and new. Product seems fine, came from an LA seller.
I'd stay away from anything palm related, they just don't do GPS well. And I would not buy anything that is laptop only, that is never really going to work for a car system. A dedicated like the Magellan or the PocketPc solution is best for portability.
Of course, with a PocketPC ones needs the PPC, and THEN the program, which ramps up the cost 2-3x.