I've got to have street names announced, so I bought the Garmin 260 at Circuit City on sale for only $149 On Black Friday. I had a less expensive Nextar model that didn't announce street names, just when to turn but I returned it, mainly because the sound was poor too. I think if you are satisfied with audio turn directions only, you should be able to get a decent model for $125 or less. More than that and you should start comparing features. Best navigation maps are from Navteq, in most better machines.