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 ‘Time Traffic’
GPS Reviews Comparison – How to Choose the Right Model
March 23rd, 2010Tips For Buying a Garmin GPS Unit
January 9th, 2010
A few tips on buying a Garmin GPS unit can be quite helpful. Because Garmin is the industry leader in the United States, and they have such a large number of products to choose from, it’s sometimes difficult to find the right model for your needs and budget.
Hopefully, I can make this all a little easier for you.
The first thing to know about Garmin is that they sell almost half of the GPS units sold in the United States. They do this by offering quality products at a wide variety of price points.
The nuvi is their newer line of GPS devices. You can get a Garmin nuvi for anywhere from $150 to almost $900. That depth of product is great, but it does make selection a little hard sometimes.
In this article, I’m going to concentrate of their newer nuvi line, instead of their older StreetPilot line. The StreetPilots are great devices, it’s just that they’re being pushed aside by the sleeker, more feature-packed nuvis.
Okay, let’s divide the marketplace into three areas, low, medium, and high.
The nuvi 200 is Garmin’s entry level device. And, if you’re just interested in getting from point A to point B, the nuvi 200 might easily be the right one for you.
It’s got maps of the continental United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. It will show you where you are on an electronic map and tell you where to turn to get to your destination. It can also double as a digital photo viewer.
At slightly less than $150, you can’t really go wrong with a nuvi 200.
If you want more features, you can spring for the nuvi 350. It does everything the nuvi 200 does and also adds maps of Canada. It can also actually tell you the street names of the streets you’re turning on. In addition to being a digital photo viewer, it can also be used as a mp3 player. At less than $200, I can’t think of a better GPS device at that price point.
If you really want to pack on the features, consider the nuvi 660. It can do everything the 350 can do. Also, it has real-time traffic capability, a bigger screen, Bluetooth, and you can hear it through your car’s stereo system. You can pick up a nuvi 660 for less than $350.
All that leaves as far as your main features is multiple point routing. That means you can enter more than one destination into the device, and it will show you the best route to get to all the destinations on one trip. For some, that’s a really good feature. If you’re interested in this feature, the nuvi 760 is the one for you.
Or, if you want what is truly the most advanced, feature-laden Garmin GPS unit on the market, then spring for the nuvi 880. For a cool $900, you can have it all!
By: Rick Cole
