Garmin Nuvi vs. laptop

I have been using a Dell laptop with Garmin GPS 18 to navigate on the job and for geocaching purposes. It has everything the Nuvi has but also I have the benefit of a wide screen. Set at one mile, I can see 2.5 miles in front of me and 6 miles to either side. This wide screen gives me a distinct advantage while geocaching. The disadvantages if the laptop is bulky with wire running all over the floor and dash. My Dodge Dakota has an area to place the laptop, my wife Nissan has no such room. Unless one is used to using the nRoute feature, it's difficult to train someone while on the road.

Last Christmas, I gave my wife a Garmin Nuvi and it is very simple to use and I am able to send GPX files to the Nuvi; giving me a map and autoroute capability for geocaching. On our vacation that took us through Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, we used the Nuvi and never set up the laptop for navigation. It's compact size and only one wire was great. It was also very accurate. Driving through Atlanta, Georgia, the Nuvi knew which lane were were in and gave us advance warning to change lanes. However, I did find the Nuvi is not up to the challenge of geocaching. It's map feature is not nearly as detailed at nRoute and the small screen gave me the impression of tunnel vision.

Overall, I do plan to purchase a Nuvi for my own truck and use it for on-the-job purposes and would use it for geocaching in some cases. But for a good cache run, I will go with the laptop.