If you’re like me, choosing the right GPS receiver is a little daunting. What helps is a good GPS reviews comparison, where you can learn what various models do and how much they cost. In other words, you need a guide!
Choosing the right GPS device is critical. Prices have dropped over the past two years, and you can probably get a model with more bells and whistles than you think you can. To help you form your game plan, let’s first talk about who the main manufacturers are, then what various models do and how much they cost.
There are a number of companies that make GPS receivers, but the big three are Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. Garmin is the industry leader with by far the most market share, and also a much broader range of products than anyone else.
Magellan actually was one of the first companies to make these nifty little devices. They were essentially the pioneer. And Tom Tom is the new arrival. Although new, Tom Tom has made great inroads on the market shares of the more established companies by offering great products at great prices.
Any good GPS reviews comparison should tell you what you can expect to buy. So, let’s run over the basic features that you’ll get with any GPS receiver.
All GPS receivers have a touch screen interface, maps of the lower 48 states, and a database of Points of Interest (POIs). All receivers also calculate the best route from where you are to where you want to go, and they give you directions via spoken voice prompts.
The base models of either Garmin, Tom Tom, or Magellan will do all of this and more.
For around $150 you can get the Garmin nuvi 200, the Tom Tom One, or the Magellan Maestro 3100. These three models all cover the basic features I mentioned.
What if you want more? How much is that going to cost?
Well, let’s run over what more you can get.
Upgrades are: more maps (Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Europe, Mexico), bigger screen, Bluetooth, real-time traffic and weather, many more POIs (how about 6 million!), and multiple routing.
You can get most of this stuff for $350! For instance, the Garmin 660 can do all of the above except the multi-route calculations. It sells for slightly under $350.
Magellan’s Maestro 4250 is a direct competitor and can do essentially what the Garmin 660 can. The 4250 is currently selling for slightly more than $250.
Tom Tom’s comparable receiver would be the Tom Tom Go 720, which is currently selling for less than $350.
Of course, you might be willing to spend more!
As you go higher in price, each of these companies offers great proprietary features. Magellan has a deal with AAA, for instance, to include their Tour Book right in the device. (For AAA members only.)
A good GPS reviews comparison can only do so much, however.
Now you need to actually get on an informative website and start browsing.
By: Lee Cole
Posts Tagged ‘Garmin Nuvi 200’
GPS Reviews Comparison – How to Choose the Right Model
March 23rd, 2010The Truth About Reviews of Car GPS Units
March 4th, 2010
It’s very tempting to just look at the latest reviews of car GPS units and go out and buy whatever they recommend!
Consumer Reports had a story recently, where they recommended five or so of the top car GPS’s. Although I agreed with their choices, I really think those ae not the only possible “best” GPS’s on the market.
The problem with reviews of car GPS units is the reviewer can only recommend a few models. What if there are a number of good buys at various price points? (This is the case for the GPS marketplace.) You can’t just recommend everything…can you?
What the Consumer Reports article left out were great GPS units in the lower and higher price ranges. So, if you’re an entry level buyer you might have read the article and decided that today just was not your day to buy that GPS you’ve been dreaming about.
If you’re a high-end buyer, then you might have gone out and bought a GPS you would have been disappointed with. After all, as a high-end buyer you expect to get the cutting edge of technology!
So, what I’m going to do in this article is talk about the whole car GPS marketplace and give you a more fair and balanced view of what you should be buying.
To begin with let’s look at a few of the GPS units Consumer Reports recommended.
Their overall best units was the Garmin nuvi 760. Although it’s hard to say that’s the absolute best unit for everyone, the nuvi 760 really is a great GPS receiver! It sells for just under $400, and has a ton of great features. It comes with maps of the U.S. and Canada, has Bluetooth, and can do multiple point routing, along with a number of other cool things.
You won’t go wrong with the nuvi 760–if that’s how much you want to spend!
But what if you’re looking for a lower priced unit?
You can spend as little as $150 and get a great entry-level device from any of the three main manufacturers. There’s the Garmin nuvi 200, the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, or the Magellan Maestro 3100. All three of these are excellent entry level units.
In the middle of the price range, you might want to think about the Garmin nuvi 350 or the Magellan Maestro 4250. You can get both of these for under $300! The Maestro 4250 even has the larger 4.3-inch screen.
Tom Tom has an excellent mid-priced unit–the Tom Tom GO 920T. Currently selling for around $400, it does everything except multiple point routing.
So, although reviews of car GPS units are helpful, you shouldn’t take them as the end all and be all of the GPS marketplace. What’s so exciting is there are GPS units available at prices virtually everyone can afford.
What you need to do now is to get on a good, informative website where you can browse particular models and check out their prices.
By: Rick Cole
How to Pick a GPS Unit to Fit Your Budget
December 27th, 2009
Knowing how to pick a GPS unit to fit your budget sounds easy, but there’s actually quite a bit to understand about these neat little devices. When you’re buying a GPS unit for the first time, of even if you’re upgrading, you can sometimes feel like you need a master’s degree in electrical engineering just to comprehend what you’re buying.
It doesn’t have to be that confusing! Hopefully, this article will make the choice of the right GPS a little easier for you.
First off, let’s look at what basic features any GPS will have.
All GPS units do the following:
They…
Show you where you are and tell you how to get to your destination Come pre-programmed with a database of Points of Interest (POI’s) Come pre-loaded with maps of at least the lower 48 United States Have a touch screen interface Most can be used as a digital picture viewer, audio book reader, and mp3 player
There are three main manufacturers of GPS units, which in the United States account for almost 90% of the market. They are Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. GPS units that do these basic functions are currently running less than $150. Some examples are the Garmin nuvi 200, the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, and the Magellan Maestro 3100.
As far as how to pick a GPS unit from among these three: Garmin is known in the United States for quality; the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition offers a few more features than the other two; and the Maestro 3100 is priced slightly less than the Garmin or the Tom Tom.
You just have to decide what’s important to you, quality, features, or price.
All three of these companies make a great product, by the way. You won’t go wrong with any of the three.
Of course, if you want to spend more money, you can get more features.
Upgraded features include:
Bluetooth for hands-free calling Telling you not only where to turn, but actually saying the name of the street (very helpful!) Choice of larger screen, 4.3-inches More maps Much larger POI database Multiple route calculation capability
All three of these companies, Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan are very competitive in the middle price range ($300 more or less). Tom Tom and Garmin are essentially neck and neck, here. What differentiates between the two are again Garmin’s reputation for quality and Tom Tom’s extra features. Tom Tom has this great thing where you can download map changes that have been generated by real Tom Tom users. Magellan is certainly very competitive, also. Especially with their deal with AAA, where they offer AAA’s Tour Book right in the device’s database. (Great for AAA lovers like me!)
As far as the upper end of the price spectrum, Garmin is absolutely the top dog! The Garmin nuvi 700’s and 800’s dominate the high end market. The Garmin nuvi 880, for instance, sells for right under $1,000. It can do everything except maybe cook your waffles for you. (They’re adding that next year!)
With this information, how to pick a GPS unit should not be all that difficult! You first need to decide on your price range, then check out the specific products offered. To do this you need an informative website where you can browse models and take a look at their current prices.
By: Rick Cole
