Dedicated GPS or other gadget

Just after some ideas here. I'm newish to the area & whilst I have a local girl as my partner I'd like to get around without needing to have her around for all my directions. Apart from that she's likely to go to sleep on any journey over 20 mins
Options I'm think of are stand alone GPS like a Garmin or maybe one of the clones would be ok.
Smart phone with GPS, I'm considering getting a dual sim phone at some point so maybe combining with this is a good idea. Sort of set on Nokia phones though because of problems I had with other brands a few years ago.
Or iPad? Don't know much about this beast so maybe it's not even suitable.
Recommendations from those in the know please.
Cheers

Don't muck around with sat nav on phones.

Get a Garmin, don't bother with the Chinese made crap.
Well supported in Thailand.

Thanks for the quick reply
Where's the best place to get one in Udon? And is the basic Garmin good enough or is the high end necessary?
Cheers

Sorry it's a trip to Bangkok for your Garmin.
I've never found a shop up here that sells Garmin, only Chinese crap.
I bought a Chinese crap nav for our pick up "Old Nellie", lasted two days.

This is where I get mine checked out and updated.

http://www.isystemonline.com

They have a shop in Bangkok's MBK Centre.

MBK Center 4AA-0061 4th Floor.

Garmin's user interface is easy to use.

I recently moved to Udon and use my Garmin GPS every day to find my way around town. I got mine through Eagle GPS in Chiang Mai. They ship next day EMS and the customer service is excellent. You can get a Garmin 1250 for 3900baht with 100baht EMS shipping. I couldn't do without mine.
http://www.eaglegps.co.th/

Have to agree: get Garmin.

I have an older, handheld 60CSx, which works fine with v8 maps, but chokes on newer maps. More current versions should be fine.

I like the 60CSx because I can move it between my car and motorcycle (it's waterproof), and it's very rugged. Even with the older maps, it has got me out of the deepest mooban consistently. I guess that makes sense, because things don't change much in the back country. I have to admit that some of the newer interchanges around Korat, and Khon Kaen have made it useless for a few minutes, while I had to use common sense...

One thing I have noticed, however, is that I have become dependent on it to a certain degree. Living in Nong Khai, we make weekly trips to Udon. and I always use the GPS to get me to more deeply entrenched locations. I often find myself paying little attention to the overall layout of the city, and just following the turn-by-turn. Without it, I would have to actually learn about Udon...