We have notice various products including one made by Magellan. I would appreciate honest comments about the better model, etc., but more what is the on-going costs????
ibdastevie
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The gps system of sattelites is operated by the U.S. government originaly for militarry purposes only. Consumer electronics companies tap into the system to provide the data for their devices. Since air safety now depends on these devices, the gov. has released previous restrictions. The problem is that the newer generations of devices depend on digital road maps that depict streets and roads that are being changed constantly. So, the manufacturers charge money for updated versions of the "topography".
To answer your question, NO, there is no fee to use the device. You can use it forever with whatever map topograghy came with it. BUT, if you are trying to find your friend that just moved into that new subdivision, and your gps is a few years old, you will not find your friend unless he/ she can give you the latitude and longitude in degrees and minutes of the house, because the street the house is on was not there at the time your gps was made. Price out the map modules,(usually a chip) that is made for the units you are considering. Last I checked, the garmin map chips were way cheaper than the Magellin ones, Also look into Tom Tom and some other newer brands, They are more user friendly than Magellen, and Garmin for plane old driving. If you are hiking, or boating, the garmin is the better choice.
virgilwatson
I have the nuvi and it has no recurring costs so far except if I eventually upgrade the maps. It does have a monthly fee for the radio broadcast traffic system but I don't use that.
I don't know if it will happen soon but I will wait to get my next one until they come with WiFi and they update directory/mapping information from wireless networks. There are too many map problems that I don't think will get fixed with the yearly map downloads. Also I would like to get business phone numbers updated more often. I've driven to restaurants that had since moved and by the time I found the place, my pizza was cold. Since I use Google for all of my mapping and business searching needs when I'm home, I'll wait until Google teams up with a company to do a gps product.
Anonymous
No subscription fees. If you want to load a new version of the maps or more detailed ones then you will have to pay for them. I dont know much about magellan but i like garmin.
Steve
There is mostly no subsciption on some of them. but you half to watch the kinds that you buy because some of them do.
Robert S
Just batteries.