Get a wide-screen GPS for $66.99 shipped

Find your way with this incredibly inexpensive wide-screen GPS.

(Credit: Dell)

Just last month, I was so stoked to find a Sony wide-screen GPS for $99.99, I actually bought one.

Too bad I didn't wait, as Dell has the Pharos Drive 200 wide-screen GPS for just $66.99. It's a new unit, not a refurb, and Dell picks up the shipping.

Needless to say, that blows away any previous deal I've posted on a wide-screen navigation system. (FYI, wide screen means a 4-inch, wide-format LCD, as opposed to the square-ish 3.5-inch screen on most cheapo GPS units. That half inch may not sound like much, but trust me: it makes for much easier viewing.)

As you might expect, the Pharos Drive 200 has a pretty basic feature set, including preloaded maps of the continental United States, a "walking" mode, and a windshield mount.

However, there's one higher-end ace in the feature hole: text-to-speech, meaning that the Drive 200 will announce street names instead of just saying, "Take next right." That's a mighty nice amenity, and I'm glad to see it in such a low-priced GPS.

OK, but is the GPS any good? I haven't found many reviews, but there's plenty of user feedback on Dell's site, if you care to read it. Most of the complaints seem pretty minor, so if you're itching for a cheap GPS and don't need a lot of bells and whistles, act fast. This will sell out quickly.

[DetJMunch]

Widescreen is nice but I prefer a name brand like Magellan. Buy.com has a touch screen Magellan GPS for $59.99

http://www.buy.com/prod/magellan-maestro-3200-portable-gps-system-w-preloaded-maps-thales/q/loc/111/205483893.html?adid=17654&dcaid=17654

[rickbroida]

Shoot...that didn't last long at ALL. Funny thing is, I almost posted that $59.99 Magellan, but when I saw the Pharos I had to go with that. The Magellan is definitely a nice deal--the last time it was selling at that price, it was a refurb.

[skywarp69]

man, $84.99 now...that deal was off fast!
Rick, how's that Magellan one that DetJMunch posted in the previous comment? any opinions? looking for one to buy now~

[skywarp69]

hrrr...buy.com deal dead too :( guess it's not my day

[tekimartei]

Yep its gone. wow.

[rickbroida]

With prices like these, I'm not surprised. But I am disappointed. Sorry, peeps!

[Mishii86]

dont be sad guys, the buy.com deal is back on... =)

[jbailey3]

I just picked up the Magellan from Buy.com for 59.99 and free shipping. The deal kept going away and coming back, but I finally got it ordered.

By the way, has anyone picked up anything from the Woot-Off?

Jake

[AdelheidBernstein]

This is the widescreen version of the Pharos 150 I have. It's a great GPS unit, for the price. While it lacks any kind of real-time traffic and construction info, and the list of waypoints is about 16 months old, it's still has many great features including the text-to-voice turn-by-turn feature, automatic route recalculation, automatic day/night setting, easy-to-use address look-up and address book, and gets a good signal in some pretty abysmal weather.

It took a little time to get used to the Destinator v7 GUI, but after a few quick trips, it's very easy to operate even while driving. The touch-screen is easy to operate with fingers or the included stylus, and the adjustable backlighting is good for any time of the day or night. The screen colors are pretty good, and the resolution is sufficient for easy reading out of the corner of your eye. It comes with an adjustable window-suction mount, that's easy to set up.

It's a spartan low-price GPS unit for driving or walking (though it lacks coordinate input, so it's not suitable for trails or geocaching), for us pragmatic penny-pinchers.

[yoyojam55]

If you're looking for a similar deal, todays woot is a 4.3 inch gps with text to speech for 65 shipped. Seems to be a Staples brand, but the few reviews I've found on it have been pretty good.
http://www.woot.com/