I honestly don’t know how I didn’t get lost more before I had my GPS in my car. I am terrible with directions and I don’t know East from West, so when GPS units finally came down to a reasonable price I was thrilled. We splurged when we bought my husband’s Acura and got one of the built-in navigation systems, and honestly I prefer the portable ones much better. I love being able to bring mine along to a friend’s car or a rented car if I am on vacation.
When I got my first GPS, I looked at all the popular brands (Tom Tom, Magellan, Garmin) and then I came across one from a company called Nextar. The reviews were good and the price was even better so I purchased it, this was about three years ago. I am so glad I did, that Nextar GPS is awesome and I have never had any problems with it!
Now yes my Nextar is old and a little outdated with roads since they constantly change here in Illinois (you can purchase am upgraded map for it) so when I got the chance to review the Nextar 43LT Satellite Navigation Unit, I was excited. The first thing I noticed is how sleek and shiny it looked, much more fancier than my old one! The screen is also a nice size at 4.3 inches with a touch-screen display. The unit is also thin and not too heavy.
Features:
- Turn-by-Turn voice prompts
- Free real-time traffic information (no activation required)
- Includes realistic depictions of signs (freeway, routes)
- Voice prompts & menu in English, Spanish, and French
- Entire USA m ap included with 3D buildings in major cities
- 1.6 million points of interest including hotels, shopping, gas stations, restaurants, etc.
- Easy to use interface
- Text to Speech – clearly pronounces instructions including street names
- Plays MP3s and displays photos
Yes the Nextar 43LT has a lot of features and it really is easy to use! It also comes with everything you need: unit, stylus pen, dashboard mount, lighter adapter to charge it, sim card, and traffic receiver. Now I admit the traffic receiver was weird for me because you have an extra cord that you have to suction to your front window so it can pick up the real-time traffic, but for my husband who lives in rush hour traffic, he thought this was a great feature – especially being free!
Now if you read my post the other day, this is actually the GPS that got stolen out of my car, so I didn’t get to test it and play around with it as much as I would have liked, but it definitely is a great product. My favorite feature is that you can see your destination by Total Distance, Time Left, or Arrival Time. I liked switching back and forth through those to make the drive faster! It was also super easy to enter in your destination and I didn’t have problems with any addresses I used.
When I wanted to find a post office nearby or gas station, no problem I just checked for what I was around. I also noticed that Special Offers would pop up featuring coupons or deals nearby (save on nearby hotel, or reminder that Lobster Fest is back at Red Lobster!) I am assuming you can turn these off but since I don’t have the unit anymore I can’t test it. It was a nice feature and honestly popped up and went away without bothering me or screwing up my directions.
Overall, I am very pleased with Nextar’s products and think they do a great job getting you where you need to go! The Model 43LT I reviewed is just one of the many Nextar GPS models available, all of them do the same thing in the end but have a little different features and styles.
This particular model, the Nextar 43-LT, also known as iGO amigo, uses Nav N Go software. It is the most user-friendly software because it targets first-time navigation users and offers only the minimum set of features needed to enjoy navigation. So there’s no chance to get lost in the menu either!
BUY IT: Check out the Nextar Website, Amazon
Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure: I was sent this GPS by Nextar to review on a loan-basis. This review is 100% my opinion and I was not compensated in any other way.
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