Anyone a GPS expert?
 

I bought a “Michelin X-930 GPS Navigation” GPS for our traveling and I had to send it back for a refund 2 weeks later due to lack of a signal in Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, which of course, is where I needed a GPS the most.

I am now looking for a new one and I see most are listed as “12 channel” and “20 channel” and should I assume a 20 is better then a 12?

I tried to look up the one I had to see the specs but it is now discontinued, and the few places I do find it still listed doesn’t say 12 or 20 so I have no clue what it was but I do know it was not strong enough to work in cities.

I bought the Garmin StreetPilot c340 and the optional traffic report service and really love it. It works great and updates are easy to do from a Mac or PC.

It's real easy to learn and use and works fantastic.

Neighbor bought the slightly more expensive Garmin and, in addition to a few other features, it has the newer better satellite chip that works much better indoors and in marginal areas. Mine works perfect here but it does loose signal indoors and in parking lots. He bought one of the ones on this page from Circuit City, can't remember which model but it is one of the ones with the wider screen and it is flat enough to put in your pocket for using when walking.

Shop around as you can find them for a lot less online.

Yeah, I've been looking at Garmin and TomTom and Magellan, yours is a 12 channel, I just can't seem to find anything that tells me if that really matters or not.

I don't mind losing GPS inside or in a parking lot, but when I drive out of an airport that I have never been to, and the map is in the trunk, I really kinda expect the GPS to actually work.

So far Buy.com has had some of the lower prices, but as always once I decide on a brand/model, I look for the cheapest place to get it.

This might help...

http://www.gpsreview.net/

Channels - how many satellites it can monitor simultaneously...more is generally considered better

The reason my neighbor's more expensive Garmin works indoors, so will work better at your airport, is because because his has more channels.