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Garmin Trail Guide GPS Navigation System [$1000]

14K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  f18wrangler 
#1 ·
Product Information
Price $1000
Rating 3
Average Price $488.75
Manufacturer Garmin
Recommended Yes: 8 / No: 0

The Trail Guide is a highly versatile Garmin-built GPS navigation system designed for the Jeep Wrangler. It was first unveiled in 2005 at Camp Jeep, an international gathering of Jeep enthusiasts.

The Trail Guide is mounted on the Wrangler's dashboard in a sleek custom cradle that provides power and audible voice prompts through powerful dedicated speakers that are easy to hear even at highway speeds with the top down. For on-foot adventures, simply snap the unit out of the cradle for handheld GPS navigation.

Loaded with detailed, street-level maps of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, the Trail Guide contains nearly six million points of interest-including gas stations, lodging, restaurants, attractions, and Jeep service facilities and dealers. The Trail Guide boasts other premium automotive navigation capabilities-like a high-resolution color TFT display, automatic route calculation, and turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions-at a price that is significantly less than most built-in navigation systems.

The unit is completely waterproof and has an internal lithium-ion battery, providing up to 20 hours of use outside the cradle for hiking, biking, camping, or fishing. The unique antenna folds flush with the unit when not in use for maximum compactness. The unit also accepts Garmin's MapSource® U.S. Topo data for off-road adventures.
 

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#2 ·
Price $650
Rating 3
Pros great fit, sound quality, portable
Cons slow processor
Recommended yes

Comments: First let me say this unit was easy to install, you don't need the dealer to do it. The fit and integration to the Wrangler dash is excellent. It looks like it came installed from the factory. The voice guidance is great and the sound truely gets loud enough to hear with the top off. My only complaint is the update/refresh rate and the slow processor speed. I've dealt with many GPS' from cheapos to several thousand dollar units and have never had one update so slow. Once it finds your route for you, it does fine, unless you try to change destinations. That's when it really slows to a crawl. There has been times when I thought the unit locked up. Garmin makes good products and I'm surprised with this one. I mainly bought it for offroad nav and the ability to load topo maps, so I'll keep it for now.

I also found out this is the same unit as the Quest II just relabelled. So check the reviews on that one as well.
 
#6 ·
Price $250
Rating 3
Recommended yes

Comments: decent GPS system, but a bit slow in calculating and locating sat signals. Also has a bad habit of recalculating about 1/8 a mile before it begins to tell you where to exit ;) The benefit of having a GPS system, built in concealed mount and speakers though is worth the little annoyances. Also being able to use the same GPS to go hiking is great
 
#7 ·
Price $660
Pros Loud. Looks nice on the dash. Simple enough to use. Can be used in many different situations.
Cons Bit pricey. Maps can be a pain to update. Doesn't always select the best route. Small screen. No 3D mapping.
Recommended yes

Comments: This is one of the "Luxury" items for a Jeep IMO. You can get GPS systems cheaper and with better features for less. However, most don't come with thier own purpose built docking and storage area. Installation takes a bit of work, but nothing most Jeepers can't handle. Sounds just fine with the top off at highway speeds, which is a bounus since the small screen can be hard to see sometimes. Maps are 2D with the usual location markings for gas, Dealerships, ect. Maps are for the most part accurate from what I have observed, but the routing software could use some more tweaking. Not a must buy item, but it is nice to have on the open road.
 
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