If you’re in the market for an auto GPS unit, then there are three things you absolutely have to know and understand. In order to choose the right unit for your needs and budget, you need to know who the main manufacturers are, what features they offer, and how much various features are going to cost you.
Lets’ take a look at each of these three in order.
First off, there are three main manufacturers of GPS units.
Garmin is without doubt the industry leader in the United States. (Tom Tom leads the field in Europe.)
In the U. S., Garmin has 50% of the market share. And it’s no wonder. They have the broadest product line and price range. Garmin essentially dominates the high end of the marketplace.
The StreetPilots are Garmin’s older models, whereas the nuvis are the newer models. Garmin nuvis are compact, sleek, and pack a tremendous amount of features in a small package. Garmin’s entry level product, the nuvi 200 sells for under $150, whereas the nuvi 880 sells for almost $900!
What’s the difference between the two? The nuvi 200 is an excellent, basic GPS unit. It can do what all modern GPS’s can do–tell you where you are and how to get where you’re going with voice instructions.
If you’re looking for a top of the line auto GPS unit, then look no further than the 880. It does everything the nuvi 200 can do, and it has Bluetooth capability, FM transmission capability, and it can make multiple route calculations. These are just a few of the great features you can get with an 880.
Tom Tom is second in the U. S. market with almost 20% of the market share. Tom Tom is a more recent arrival on the GPS scene, but they’ve taken the U. S. market by storm by offering excellent products at prices that are lower than Garmin’s. The Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, is a direct competitor of the nuvi 200. If you’re looking for a more expensive, fully-featured model, check out Tom Tom’s GO series. There you’ll find Bluetooth, a larger database of Points of Interest, and all of the features you’ll be looking for in a more expensive device.
Magellan is right behind Tom Tom in market share. But don’t underestimate them. Their Maestro line is one of my favorites. The Maestro 4250 was rated by Consumer Reports as one of the top GPS units on the market. Yet it only sells for around $350!
No 500 word article can tell you everything you might want to know when buying your first (or even next) GPS. What you need now is an informative website where you can browse particular models and also check out their current prices.
By: Rick Cole
Posts Tagged ‘Market Share’
3 Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Your Next Auto GPS Unit
October 8th, 2009What Are the Top Rated GPS Units?
October 8th, 2009
Although it’s tempting, you can’t just read someone’s opinion of what the top rated GPS units are then go out and buy that specific unit and be happy with your purchase. Well, I guess you can buy whatever unit Consumer Reports or CNET or whoever recommends, but your happiness with your purchase is more of a personal issue. And it’s just that personal side of things that I want to talk about.
Okay, just for the record, a little earlier this year Consumer Reports gave the Garmin nuvi 760 their best overall system rating. They also mentioned the Garmin nuvi 660, Tom Tom GO 920T, the Garmin nuvi 350, and the Magellan Maestro 4250 as receiving very high scores.
I agree entirely! All of these systems are great! And it’s interesting that the units Consumer Reports picked all come from the three big manufacturers of GPS units.
Just so you know, Garmin has about 50% of the market share, Tom Tom about 20% and Magellan slightly less than 20%. That’s 90%! The rest of the 10% is fought over by the little guys. Personally, I like the big three. I see no reason to buy anything else. But again, that’s just a personal opinion.
As far as Garmin’s three GPS units in Consumer Report’s report, the nuvi 350 sells for about $200, the 660 for about $330, and the 760 for about $370. The difference between the three?
Well the 350 is an ever so slightly older model. It has that flip up antenna thing that bothers some people, but frankly doesn’t bother me at all. The 350 has maps of the U.S. plus Canada. It can tell you where to turn by actually saying the street name (a big feature in my mind). The only drawback is its 3.5-inch screen.
If you want the larger screen, you’ll have to opt for the 660. Which also adds hands-free calling with Bluetooth and the ability to route its transmissions through your car’s stereo system. The only thing the 760 adds is multi-point routing. In other words, you can select several destinations and the device can tell you how to get to all of them on one trip.
As far as the Tom Tom GO 920T, there you’re looking at a little over $400. It can do everything the nuvi 660 can, but it also has Tom Tom’s proprietary map share technology, which is sort of user-generated thing where you can actually send Tom Tom information about road closings, construction, etc. and they’ll reflect that on their maps.
Don’t forget the Magellan 4250! As a close competitor to Gamin’s 660 and the GO 920T, the 4250 sells for only about $280! Don’t think this is a cheaply made unit, either. Magellan was one of the forerunners in this field, and they make a quality product.
So, you see even if you’re just focusing on the top rated GPS units, there’s a lot to choose from and quite a lot to know about your choices.
What will make things easier is an informative website where you can browse models and check out current prices. There you can look at all the top rated GPS units and find the best one for you and your budget.
By: Rick Cole
