It seems like just about everyone has a GPS these days, everyone but you! If you are interested in buying your first GPS you may find that the market is a bit intimidating. There are a lot of really great products out there and you just may not be sure of what you need or even what you want! Long gone are the days of the paper maps, now you can have your very own machine tell you how to get from point A to point B with relative ease!
Shopping for Your GPS
One of the first things you will notice when you start shopping for your GPS is the wide range in prices. Today you can find models that start right around $100 and yet there are other models that cost $700 or more! Which one is the right one for you, and how will you know it when you see it?
Which GPS is right for you really depends on what you will be using it for. If you are looking for a GPS that will help guide you on short trips or will help get you around town occasionally you probably don’t need anything in the $700 range, in fact you will generally find that the units in the $200 to $300 range are suitable for you. The point is, if you are not going to be taking long trips or using the system every day, a more expensive system won’t pay for itself.
If you work in sales or if you work with the deliveries of products you may need to get a GPS unit that is a bit more costly. The reason is that the more costly units are able to help you with intricate directions and will provide a screen that will help you get from your starting point to your destination without any hiccups.
When you start comparing the features of each of the GPS units you will soon find that you are attracted to a certain quality unit. Be sure to ask yourself if the amount of use that you will get out of the unit justifies its cost, if not you can probably scale back again and still get a really great product. When shopping, be sure that you do shop around as prices can vary from retailer to retailer and your goal should always be to get the very best product for the most affordable price.
By: Heather Jacobson
Posts Tagged ‘Models’
Buying Your First GPS
March 19th, 2010Using a Child GPS Tracking Device for Safety
March 14th, 2010
Every parent worries about their children and most every child will disobey their parents at some point and time. In some instances this may not be a big deal, but in others it could put your child in danger. This is why a child GPS device for safety is a good idea. It could mean the difference in knowing that your child is in a dangerous place in time to aid, instead of when it’s to late. This could make a big difference in the safety of your child. You won’t have to wonder where you they are anymore; you will have a way of knowing for sure.
Has you child ever not came home right after school? This creates a since of panic in a parent that you have to experience to understand. With a child GPS device for safety you can find out where your child is immediately. You will know if they stopped at the neighbor’s house before coming in or if they are somewhere they shouldn’t be. Small children have a tendency of seeing something they like and taking off after it. This could be very dangerous. A tracking device can help out if this happens. It can even help you find a child that has wondered away from you in a crowded facility.
A child GPS device for safety can be a great access for teenagers as well although, they may disagree with this. You can put one of these devices in your child’s car to aid monitor where they are at all times. You will know if they are at the friends house you said they are visit or across town at a hangout point. Of course, these devices cannot keep your child secure while out on the road they can help you make sure they are staying in areas that you feel are the safest. Some of these devices can be set to go off automatically if your child exits the safety zone that you have programmed it to. Newer models can monitor the blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate of your child
Your teenager may not be the only person that feels like these child GPS devices for safety may be a little extravagant. There are a lot of parents that disagree with these devices. They feel like they can trust their child and that everyone should just give them a chance. This may be true for many children, but you have to take into consideration peer pressure and the fact that a teen can get pushed into things that they prefer not to do. If their friends know that you are keeping track of where they go, they want be pressuring them to go places they shouldn’t. Still this is a personal decision that every parent will need to make when they are considering their child’s safety.
By: James Kronefield
The 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
