I am terrible at getting around anywhere that isn't my home town, and even then I can still get lost. I've been using the GPS on my cell phone for a while, but have just now wised up to the fact that the phone's shitty battery isn't something I want to rely on, and it would probably be less expensive in the long run to purchase a full GPS system. Any recommendations?
Edit: Since we're on a video game board, I thought I'd add another inquiry. What do you guys think of the GPS systems in open-world games like GTA IV or Saint's Row 2? Do you use it reverently, or do you study the map and try to find your way around on your own?

I had a Garmin Nuvi GPS once. Before it got stolen, it was extremely useful.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&fKeys=FILTER_SERIES_NUVI2X5&ra=true
There are GPS' of vary grades; some play music in addition to giving you directions, while others can store more maps. For my part, I believe I had a 265. It was fairly compact, and I mostly used it as a portable map of any town that I was in; not owning a car, I took it with me whenever I went walking. Its functions besides mapping included automatically devising the shortest route to a preprogrammed destination and locating destinations of interest nearby. Be warned, however; it calculates your route from the right-hand side of the road. If for any reason you are walking on the left-hand side of the road or driving in the wrong lane, that will throw it off.
Regarding GPS systems in games... they vary. I generally don't like it when I have to DEPEND on the GPS to get anything done. If I don't get an adequate map or decent directions and MUST follow the flashing arrow to get anywhere, that irritates me.
The "Quest Compass" in TES 4: Oblivion for example was terrible example of how a GPS should be. People kept telling me to find people or places but failed to describe verbally where they were. I then had to walk in the direction that the green arrow pointed, sometimes for hours at a time, because there was no other way to find what I was looking for. Great fun, that. [/sarcasm]
There was another kind of GPS in Guild Wars that I thought was much less invasive. It just put a dot on your map where your destination was. Figuring out how to get there was up to you. Then again, most of Guild Wars' "wilderness" areas were fairly linear, so maybe an invasive GPS would have been completely pointless.

That one looks good. I'm also looking at the Navigon 7200T.
http://www.amazon.com/Navigon-4-3-Inch-Portable-Navigation-Bluetooth/dp/B001EJN9OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247371296&sr=1-1
I like the idea of pressing a button and finding the closest hospital to you. Sounds extremely useful.
Then again, I probably don't need some fancy schmancy Bluetooth-enabled GPS, even though it is one of the easiest on the eyes.
UPDATE: Uggh, never mind. Looks like they dropped customer support for the Navigon from North America. I'll go with a Garmin, most likely, because TomToms don't seem that great, from what I'm reading from CNET...
The best types of GPS systems in games work just like the real-life ones should; they provide you with detailed turn-by-turn information about where you want/need to drive to. It makes finding missions, gun shops, and restaurants in GTA IV extremely easy.

I am a Geocacher so I tend to be a little up to date on the latest GPS technology.
I personally use a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, which is one of the best "mid range" models on the market that offers both rugged hand-held use, but also offers 'city' navigation.
It does not include the maps, very few hand held units do. You can either buy them, or if you have qualms about it you can find them in various less-legal systems.
Otherwise, pretty much any Garmin unit is good. The 'car' units are of course, less durable than the hand helds. So depending on precisely what you want out of it, you may or may not want a car unit.
The Colorado and Oregon units are a couple steps above the Vista, but the same style. Of course, they do cost a considerable amount more.
Magellan units are good, as well, however Magellan has horrible customer service.
The Tom-Tom isn't bad either, if you're just looking for a car unit.

Well I use them in games all the time but I end up recognising things after a while and plot my own courses.
For real life, my PDA has tomtom 6, I don't drive so I've not used it that much but its been handy when I'm going somewhere new

Yeah, Garmin seems to be the only group that offers a lifetime of free map updates, so I think I'll go with them. The only thing I'm unsure of is what version I should get. I want all the states, text-to-speech navigation where it's reading the turns to me, and not having to worry about paying a monthly-yearly subscription. Free maps for life, FTW (pardon the terrible internet acronym). Guess I'll go for the $250 one. Plus $120... $370. My 18th birthday's next week, so I'll probably negotiate a deal with my parents, where I pay half and they pay half, or something like that.
Thanks for the suggestions, and for the heads-up that Magellan is horrible with customer support! Even tomtom has lower map prices than Magellan, if you get their yearly plan.

I have a Garmin 60csx , a handheld, and have been very happy with it.
Not exactly sure how the numaps garmin update system works - but if your system doesn't come with detailed maps I think you have to buy the maps and then buy the update. I could be wrong .

Tomtom's pretty decent; I have been using it to cruise around Poland here and there and it hasn't got me lost yet. The voice of it isn't annoying like some other GPS systems might have; just a nice melloflous voice twlling you calmly where to go.