Also, doesn't it seem a little annoying that after a guy pays $1500-1600 for a GPS you then have to buy the Auto kit EXTRA? I really dislike Garmin as a company because of the way they do things like that (a proprietary memory card, nearly $200 for a Flybuddy GPS update, etc..give me a break)...BUT: they sure make some great GPS units!!
Quite true. Also a word of caution...if you buy a used auto kit, the unlock code is not transferrable. That probably eliminates the savings, unless you already have either City Select or City Navigator for another GPS. Then you can typically unlock it for a second GPS for no charge.
As for the proprietary data card, the 2610 uses a standard compact flash card, but they don't hold as much Garmin map data as they are rated for. The factory cards for the 296 will hold the1r full rated capacity. That still doesn't seem to justify the high price.
