My wife wants a nav for the Jeep. She has only lived in this area about a year (since we got married) and doesnt know her way around Louisville very well.

Her birthday is coming up so Im contemplating a nav unit for her as a gift but not sure what I want to get her. I occasionally use the one in the V, but not to often since I dont need it much.

What features are must have and what are nice to haves?

Looking around it seems like the Garmin Nuvis are well rated and not to ridiculous priced.

Anyone?

I think Garmins, for the most part, have the most legible fonts and colors as well as a very easy interface. Don't think you can go wrong with a Nuvi. Plus, they look sharp...

Garmin Nuvi and TomTom are definitely the best two on the market. Unfortunately Magellan is utter crap ever since they went to the smaller units. Back in the day they were at the top of the game with the larger hard drive based Navi units (that were 1000.00), but now recalculations take *AGES* on the smaller ones, and there are several aesthetic annoyances, including a ridiculous 12v adaptor that has an incredibly UNSAFE BRIGHT blue LED that shines up the entire car when youre driving at night. I'm not sure what the point of this is but they only way to deal with it is to cover the adaptor with something.

The portable Navis have just about caught up with EVERYTHING the in-car Navis can do which is pretty damn scary. The hottest features right now are Bluetooth connectivity and and the newest trick which is Voice Command that works *better* than most car systems.

This is the top of the line Nuvi with everything (880):

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2287141,00.asp

Unfortunately they are really cost prohibitive still, but the non voice command models with Bluetooth are just as user friendly and FAST.

Almost all models will say "Make a left in 100 feet", etc. Certain upgraded models have what's called "text to speech" which will say "Make a left at Johnson Avenue" outloud. This feature lets you keep your eyes on the road and off the gps screen to figure out what street you should be turning at in 100 feet. It's a big plus. Bluetooth conectivity allows you to make and receive calls through your gps unit's microphone/speaker. The size of the screen is also another factor to consider. I sell these at my store, and can say that amazon has very aggressive pricing on the garmin nuvi models.

Thanks. I have found a Garmin Nuvi 760 for $372.57 with free shipping.