It’s a basic portable unit without all the bells and whistles of the pricier models, but it does perform its primary function perfectly.

He justified the cost as a business expense since he is a regional salesman who does spend half of his work week on the road between central Florida and the panhandle, and his company reimburses him an additional $0.05 per mile when he turns in his mileage log if he has a GPS in the vehicle to confirm the numbers. We figured out that the unit would more or less pay for itself within 2 months based on the higher reimbursement rate.

I would have been sorely disappointed, though, if it were permanently installed in just one car. As a nice compact portable unit, I can even take it with me when I am traveling with friends, or when I go out of town and rent a car. I also don’t think I would like having to attach it to a laptop to work. It would be WAY harder to try to see a laptop screen or be able to hear a voice prompt while driving than with a portable unit mounted on the dash where you can glance at it.

I have to say that I have been having the itch to ‘update’ to a newer, shinier (maybe faster calculating) unit. But it is hard to justify doing so when my current one still functions just as well as it did right out of the box, and still gets me where I am going (efficiently) at least 99% of the time (nothing’s quite perfect).

I feel like it is worth every penny that was spent on it. I have paid for updated maps once since I purchased it, but no one makes you do so until you feel the time is right – no ongoing monthly fee! The length of time it has lasted and maintained functionality is impressive for any tech gadget – even more so when you consider this thing has been dropped, sat in the sun on a car dashboard, thrown in a bag, you name it! For this reason, if/when it ever does quit on me, I am certainly getting another Garmin of some sort!

FT