I picked up my Venturer Portable Navigation Device at one of the Black Friday sales held every year.  I have always thought a gps in my car would be useful, and I was right.  My wife and I have named her Penelope after the Tech Savvy character on the show Criminal Minds.  She has not led me wrong yet.  The Venturer HPS 9308 has a 3.5" Touch Screen LCD Display.  It is large enough to see easily when attached to my windshield with the included suction-cup bracket, but not so large as to obstruct my view of the road.  It also features turn-by-turn voice prompts, giving you warning before you get to your intersection, but not talking so much that you are unable to hold a conversation with your passengers.  The options available to have on your screen are very nice as well.  Depending on your prefrences you can have either a 3D or a 2D view of the road ahead, and also display features such as Current Time, Estimated Time of Arrival, Countdown Time till Arrival, Estimated Distance to Arrival, as well as Current Speed.  My wife finds the fact that the unit is preprogrammed with both male and female voices to be funny and another nice feature. The internal battery also allows the Venturer to be used for short periods of time without being plugged in.  This allows me to bring it into the house and program my destination(s) in before even getting into the car. The one problem I have with this unit is the inability to update the maps.  Overtime I have noticed a few minor changes, one being a road added not too far from my house.  It really confuses my GPS when I am driving down a road it doesn't even know exist.  I have tried looking for updates on Venturer's web site, but apparently the unit is no longer supported by them, and I have found no other alternative way to upgrade it on my own. Overall I am very pleased with my Venturer Portable Navigation Device.  It does everything I want it too and much more.  I find myself wondering what the more expensive brands offer that I might be missing.  Not that it matters, I plan on keeping Penelope around for as long as I can.

RavingLunatic

Fort Wayne, IN