Please navigate me to a good car GPS for the USA!

much more frequently updated than Google Maps. The content of Google Maps is updated non-stop. New road changes are available immediately over the network rather than being rolled out as updates. (I submitted the reopening of a bridge that had been closed for four months and it showed up in less than 24 hours.) The app itself is updated throughout the year. Also, http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/its-official-google-buys-waze-giving-a-social-data-boost-to-its-location-and-mapping-business/ and now incorporates its reports and data into Google Maps. I realize that the smartphone plan means a monthly bill -- although a pay-as-you-go and the cheapest-for-the-quality Android phone could beat a Garmin or TomTom's annual costs over a year or even two years if you do it right -- but Google Maps really is the best solution especially with the new lane advice ("In 400 feet, use the right lane to exit onto Washington Avenue") and a new voice that is very clear and very human-like. It's also gotten very good at routing around traffic. I've had several occasions recently where Google Navigation wanted me to go an unusual way -- and in the cases where I took that route, it turned out I avoided accidents, traffic, and long delays. In the cases where I did not take that route, I regretted it. Also, entering addresses into Google Maps is a breeze compared to the torturous methods of many of the other devices. You can misspell, be approximate, and get a lot of stuff wrong and Google Maps almost always figures out what you mean. Some of the devices and other navigation apps only work if the address is exactly correct -- exactly like it would be if you were a post-office address-labeling machine. You can also just click on addresses in emails or texts or calendar entries and it loads right up lickety-split. Additionally, don't forget about the speech commands. Things like "Okay, Google, navigate to Topeka, Kansas" or "Okay, Google, navigate to the Safeway supermarket" will work nearly 100% of the time on an Android phone without you having to touch the phone (assuming you activate voice commands). If you do go with a non-Google-Maps solution, make sure you get a device that has voices that will announce street names. A GPS device that doesn't announce street names is an infuriating beast that will have you lost in no time.

Without a data plan, a smartphone doesn't make any sense at all. Get a 5" screen Garmin Nuvi (about $100 or so) and it will do everything you want. It's a clunky interface to enter addresses (stop before you do it) but they work very well. I back to back tested GPS versus Apple Maps/Google Maps WITH a data plan (albeit a roaming one) this week and the data drop out was annoying enough for the cross country stuff I did that I still use the Garmin, although I'd love to lose the Garmin entirely if my phone was better. It's just not yet... Also, a Garmin is MILES cheaper than a smartphone. It also comes with a perfectly good mounting method (stick it to the screen) and for states that don't allow that (California, for instance) you can buy one of those bean bag things which work well.

Please also take paper maps or a recent road atlas with you. I find them helpful for acclimating myself at the beginning of a long drive. If you are (or someone you know is) a AAA member, you can get them for free.

In North America right now, I think the best answer is a smartphone. The version I have most experience with, Google Maps, compensates for traffic and road construction and even does lane selection on highways now. It doesn't fall out of date the way Garmin or Tom-Tom units can. Google is less useful away from major centres and off of major roads, particularly in rural areas. Off-road and in the back-country, it is useless. Google Maps needs a decent data plan and good connectivity to work properly. If some of those conditions don't apply for you, then do consider a Garmin Nuvi, which I'd recommend as a second-best choice. On seeing your update: the best smartphone holder for the car I've used is the http://www.rammount.com/Products/XGriptradeMounts/tabid/4687/Default.aspx. It's cheaper than many other options and works with most kinds of phones. The suction cup is rock solid. Mounting on the lower part of the windshield keeps it safely in your peripheral vision (in fact, some places---Quebec---require you to do this). Pair that with a charging cable and an http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=112&cp_id=11212&cs_id=1082603 and you're good to go.

Nearly any modern standalone GPS has voice navigation, along with automatic rerouting. Most GPS devices also have options available to avoid tolls, ferries, and highways, but as a system setting (not a choice you make for each trip) I've never heard of one that doesn't also come with a windshield mounting solution. I'd personally advise against a smartphone as a GPS solution; as much as I love my smartphone, the requirement for a data plan for service for most navigation apps for functionality is a monthly cost that you probably don't want to sign up for, considering you currently are happy with your non-smart phone. Garmin makes great standalone GPS devices, and I'd go with one of those for a dedicated car navigation solution. Don't underestimate a monthly cost, it'll add up! In case you do go with a smartphone, mounting solutions for smartphones are definitely around. Here's the one I use: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008ALV0V4/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/. As you're a new driver, I'd also recommend that you mount your selected navigation solution as low as possible on the windshield (So it's far back away from you), because then it blocks less of your view. In fact, mounted low enough, it could potentially not block anything, and would still be very close to your field of vision near the speedometer.

Do you have a smartphone ? http://copilotlive.com/us/ is a very good turn by turn GPS. The thing I like most is that maps are pre-downloaded so a data connection is not needed after installation (Google maps requires data). It's also stupid inexpensive.

Since everyone is piling on to windshield mount suction cups: I've had no problem with several different styles and brands if I wet the suction cup before I apply it.

I have long come to hate standalone GPSes because the maps fall out of date very rapidly and you either have to pay a fair whack up front for one of Garmin's "LT" models that get you free updates or you have to pay out the nose every year or two or three when you finally get frustrated that everything is out of date. There are a plethora of offline mapping apps for Android, Windows, and iOS devices. Garmin and TomTom both have them, but suffer from the same slow update cycles and expensive map updates that the standalone units foist upon you. Nokia-branded Windows Phones and Nokia's Asha feature phones are bundled with Nokia Maps, which also works offline. Point being, data coverage is irrelevant to the choice between a standalone unit and a cell phone. That hatred of Google Maps and being too cheap to pay for yearly updates has pushed me to primarily rely on Google Maps. Yes, data coverage is spotty in a lot of places. That's why I also have OsmAnd on my phone. OsmAnd uses data from OpenStreetMap and can be used offline once the data is downloaded to your device (it has navigation, but it isn't great for long distances). I also strategically pre-download areas I know will have bad coverage in Google Maps. Doesn't help for navigation, but you'll at least have a map and a marker on it with your current location, which is all you really need. The difficulty in reading a map and figuring out how to get somewhere if you get turned around isn't so much a problem of actually reading the map, but of knowing where you are. Garmin has a new Android app that costs $0.99, which has offline maps as an in app purchase for $9.99, which you could use with a Moto G, which at $179 is cheaper than a lot of standalone GPS units. Sadly, they charge another $9.99 for text-to-speech, which lets it speak street names. And another $9.99 if you want traffic (that requires data, though, so maybe you wouldn't want that anyway). The Garmin pricing is 50% off for the next few days, after that the in app purchases will be $19.99 each. Point being, smartphone does not have to mean "more expensive," "data plan required," or even "cell service required". Speaking of which, you might consider a tablet like the Nexus 7 and the Android offline navigation app of your choice. A 7" screen is nice for navigation, but finding a mounting location can be a pain in a lot of cars. All that said, if choosing your own routing is important to you, the only really good option is Nokia/HERE at the moment. You can create routes on the website, save them and then pull them up on your phone with all the customizations/waypoints/etc intact. Can't do that with Google, can't do that with Bing, can't do that with Garmin, can't do that with TomTom. By the way, more important than any satnav is making sure you always have a reasonable reserve of fuel, a blanket, a few bottles of water, and a couple of power bars or similar to eat in an emergency. I would also strongly recommend a AAA membership unless you're renting the car and the car rental company is one that will come get you and the car if it breaks down. A "Plus" membership gets you towed several times a year up to 100 miles a tow, far better than the typical cellphone or credit card roadside assistance. Even with a satnav (and even an excellent sense of direction), you will at some point make a wrong turn and drive 60 or 80 or 100 miles out of your way. That is just a thing that happens on long road trips. Signage sometimes sucks, maps are sometimes outdated (Garmin's latest map doesn't even have all the Interstates numbered as currently signed; unlike Google and Nokia, they don't do rolling updates), there are detours, traffic jams, sometimes a truck catches fire a few miles ahead of you and the road gets closed for three or four hours and it's the middle of the desert so your options are to die of heat stroke or waste gas idling much of the time, sometimes the GPS tries to route you down a cow path and you have to backtrack. The list of things that can happen is pretty much endless, but if you have sufficient fuel, those kinds of problems can be easily corrected or waited out or whatever. And if you have emergency food and water, even running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere becomes more of an inconvenience than anything else.

T-mobile has a $30 /month plan that is unlimited data, text, and 100 minutes of voice. http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans I have a Nuvi and a smartphone in my car, and I never use the Nuvi unless something strange happens to the mobile data (which occurs maybe once a year). The Nuvi maps just get out of date too quickly, and it takes much longer to lock onto my location. I got a in-car smartphone charger in for $1, and a iOttie mount for $12.