I bought a Garmin Nuvi 530. It is incredible. We've used it on two vacations, and I use it when I go to pick up some parts and other stuff like that. I haven't touched a map since we got it. It has a lot of features I don't use (MP3 player, Translator, Travel Guide, etc), but they're there if I ever want them. It also tells you your speed (current, maximum, etc), your direction, time spent travelling, time stopped, how far to your destination, and your estimated time of arrival. One of the coolest things, is when you make a mistake, and miss a road or take the wrong one (due to gabbing, rubbernecking, or just plain not paying attention). It immediately recalculates, and gets you back on course in the shortest amount of time.
One of the main reasons I got the Nuvi is because it is small, thin, and has internal batteries, so you can use it outside of the car. When we went to Disney in Florida, I marked my cars location in the parking lot. With 2500 acres of parking, you can easily get lost, but just whip out the Nuvi, and it will take you directly to the car. It's also great for fishing and hunting. Just mark where you park your car, and you can't get lost in the woods, no matter how hard you try. It's great for marking fishing holes, game trails, prespective treestand locations, etc.
Whichever one you get, make sure it has a touch screen, and that it annouces the names of the streets and roads. Some of them just say "Turn left in 30 feet", etc, but it's really nice when it says the actual street name or route number. I've been in situations where there are multiple roads very close together, and without knowing the name, you can easily make a mistake.
Also, get one with as many POI (Points of Interest) as possible. Mine has like 6 million. This is really cool, because if you want to find a motel, place to eat, gas station, hospital, ATM, bank, etc, it tells you where they all are, gives you the address, phone number, etc. So if you are looking for a motel room, for example, you can see all of the motels in the area, and call them to see if they have a room. If they do, just reserve it, push a button, and it takes you straight there. Some of them have a bluetooth link, so if you have a bluetooth cell phone with you, you just press the call button on the GPS and it will act as a speaker phone and you can talk to the motel hands free while you are driving. Mine doesn't have that, but it is a cool feature if you are on the road a lot.
A feature that mine does not have, is the ability to actually tell it the route you want to take. You can select fastest time or shortest distance, and you can tell it to avoid certain things like toll roads, etc, but that's it. We ran into a situation where we wanted to plan out our route in a roundabout way, and there just was no easy way to do it other than to set up a bunch of waypoints, and then travel from point to point. For 99% of the situations however, it is awesome, and I will never be without one again.
