To find the best GPS for car use, you have to understand a little about the market. Specifically, you need to know who makes the best GPS systems, what their features are and how much that’s going to cost. Then you can choose the best GPS for your needs and budget.
In the United States, there are three manufacturers of GPS systems you need to focus on–Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. Garmin is without doubt the industry leader, selling around half of the GPS devices sold. Tom Tom and Magellan each sell about 20%. So, these three companies represent about 90% of the total U. S. market.
Although there are several other companies that make GPS’s, I would look no further than these three.
Buying a GPS is a little difficult, sometimes.
Even if you focus on just these three manufacturers there’s still a ton of models to choose from. Also, GPS devices all have features that normally you might not have considered important, like what they call FM transmission–the ability of your GPS to send it’s sound through your car’s stereo system.
I’ve been reviewing GPS systems for quite a while, and I’ve written several hundred reviews. One thing that seems to help people is to divide the marketplace into three areas, entry-level, mid-range, and high-end. Within each of these divisions, it’s easier to say which unit is actually the best GPS for car use.
So, let’s talk about each of these market segments in order, starting with the entry-level market.
Best GPS for Car, Entry-Level
In a short, 500 word, article it’s impossible to give the GPS marketplace a complete treatment. So at each price point, I’m going to mention one of two GPS’s that I really like and give you an indication of why. You can then continue your own research online on a good website.
There are four entry-level devices I like. The Garmin nuvi’s 200 and 350. The Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition, and the Magellan Maestro 3100.
The nuvi 200, One, 3rd Edition, and the Maestro 3100 all sell for about $150. Of these three, the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition offers the most features for the money. The nuvi 350 is slighly higher at $200, but it has a lot of features only found in more expensive devices, like traffic alerts and actually saying street names when it tells you where to turn.
Personally, of these four, I would go with either the Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition or the nuvi 350 according to how much money you want to spend.
Best GPS for Car, Mid-Range
Again, Magellan, Tom Tom, and Garmin all have good products. At the lower end of the mid-range, I would probably go with the Magellan Maestro 4250. It only sells for about $250 and has a ton of features including AAA’s famous Tour Guide right on the device.
Tom Tom’s GO line offers some good products, like the GO 920T, but frankly I think they’re a little overpriced.
If you’re willing to spend $300 or so, then you’ll want to check out Garmin’s nuvi 760. The nuvi 760 has Bluetooth and multiple point routing, among a host of other features. It’s currently selling for just under $350. That’s a lot of GPS for the money.
Best GPS for Car, High-End
The high end of the market belongs to Garmin. And their best product is the state-of-the-art Garmin nuvi 880. What can’t the 880 do? It will cost you a cool $900, but if you’re looking for cutting edge technology, you’ve found it!
What you need to do now is to find an informative website where you can browse individual units and find out their current selling price.
By: Rick Cole
Posts Tagged ‘S Market’
What’s the Best GPS For Car Use?
January 20th, 2010Tips on Buying the Best Auto GPS Units, Part II
October 30th, 2009
In Part I of this series, we discussed how much you can spend on auto GPS units, and how much you want to spend. In this part, we’re going to discuss the manufacturers and what features you need to be on the look out for.
Buy the end of this article, you should know enough about auto GPS units to enter the marketplace with knowledge and confidence.
What manufacturer’s product should I buy?
Since I just mentioned the top manufacturers in the United States, let me just say a few words about each of them.
Garmin has the broadest and deepest product line. I like their nuvi line quite a lot! They’re sleek and really have a lot of features for such a small package.
Tom Tom has been fast catching up in the United States due to very aggressive pricing. If you want a more fully featured model than the One, 3rd Edition, then how about the GO 920T, which was listed by Consumer Reports recently as one of the best GPS’s to buy. Right now, it will cost you a little over $400.
Magellan is sort of the granddaddy of the field. They were one of the first companies to enter the auto GPS market. I like their Maestro line the best for about the same reasons I like Garmin’s nuvi line.
Also, Magellan has a great deal with AAA, where they have the Tour Book pre-programmed right in their device. I’m a AAA lover. So, for me that’s a great selling feature.
Sure, there are other manufacturers of these devices other than Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan, but since these three control almost 90% of the U. S. market, I can’t see any reason to buy anything else.
Now that we’ve talked about who makes auto GPS units, let’s talk about what features you should be considering.
What do I want my new GPS to do–besides tell me how to get places?
In addition to showing you where you are and telling how to get to places, all GPS units also have touch screens, a database of pre-programmed destinations (called Points of Interest, or POI’s), and pre-loaded maps, usually of at least the lower 48 United States.
Other features you might want are:
More maps Actually saying street names (instead of just “Turn Here!”) Real-time weather and traffic alerts right on your device Bluetooth, so you can make hands-free phone calls while driving Multiple point routing, so you can enter more than one destination in for the same trip Bigger screen (4.3-inches instead of 3.5-inches–measured along the diagonal)
You can get the extra maps, saying the street names, and the real-time weather and traffic alerts (with subscription) for only about $200! The Garmin nuvi 350 can do this just fine.
If you want Bluetooth, then you can get this and the wider screen for around $400. The multiple point routing will cost you another $50 to $100.
There are certainly more features, but these are the main ones. There’s a lot of competition under $400 in the auto GPS marketplace. Above $400, it’s mainly all Garmin. So, if you’re willing to spend more, you really need to look at their nuvi 700’s and their 800’s.
Hopefully, this will help you wrap your mind around the market for auto GPS units a little better!
At first buying a GPS seems a little confusing and overwhelming. It’s not really. There are just a few things you haven’t thought about.
Use this article as a guide to help you better understand the marketplace.
What you need now is an informative website where you can browse and check current prices.
By: Rick Cole
3 Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Your Next Auto GPS Unit
October 8th, 2009
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
