I don’t know what part of the world you live in, @tranquilsea, but perhaps there’s a Best Buy near you. I know for certain they carry a fair selection (Garmin included) and always have a few models activated for demonstration. (Their electronics people are fairly knowledgeable too!)
For the most part, even the most entry level gps will get you from point A to point B without you worrying about it dying on you, regardless of what brand it is. And like you said, what one considers a better buy is largely a matter of personal preference. Heck, my first gps was made by Cobra (the radar people). The graphics sucked but they were the only company (at the time) whose gps included red light/speed camera detection software. That model has been thoroughly panned online, yet it never failed to get me where I needed to go.
I guess my final advice would be to temporarily ignore any particular name brand. Make yourself a list of questions that’ll help you decide what’s best for your particular purposes.
How much are you willing to spend?
What features do you require?
What features can do without?
Is customization important?
Is customer service important?
Add as many (or as few) questions as you can think of. Then select the brand/model that most closely matches your list of requirements.