Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Garmin Drive 50 USA LM I bought this GPS unit as a backup for google maps on my Nexus 5 for a cross country trip from IL to CA. Surprisingly by the end of the trip, I found myself using the Garmin about 99% of the time. I am comparing this unit against google maps that I use 99% of the time otherwise. The reasons I like this better than google maps: 1. The split screen was really informative - especially with large lane guidance in unfamiliar areas and upcoming stops displayed next to the map without having to navigate away from the live map. This may not be a problem with long stretches of roads but in a city for example, the ability to show important stops like gas, food and rest stops without having to risk going away from the map and losing a turn. 2. The "Up next" info was probably the most useful feature for me as the three most important things during a long trip Viz. Food, Fuel and rest areas are very conveniently shown next to the map. This allowed me to get fuel at the upcoming gas station if the next one after that (whose distance was also shown as part of what's up next information) was going to be 100 miles away. This saved my from running out of fuel a couple of times in the middle of the AZ/NM/NV area. 3. The current speed limit was very helpful and I found it was about 100 yards off from the signs posted (i.e. the GPS took about 100 yards to catch up with the posted speed limit signs). This is better than google maps which does not have any such information at all. 4. Offline navigation! This in itself was the main reason I brought a dedicated GPS unit and I was not disappointed! I shudder to think of not having navigation in the middle of Arizona/Utah because of lack of phone coverage. After using a dedicated GPS (while coming from a position of skepticism of it's usefulness over google maps), I will say that I probably will be using this GPS for all my long distance driving over using my phone (and leave my phone always connected to the charger). But for inner city navigation, I still prefer google maps/waze for almost instantaneous traffic based navigation.