Global Positioning Systems

GPS has really taken off in recent years and you'll find a crazy amount of units and features out there. It's pretty hard and will take a lot of time to find the price point and feature of the model you want. This website will show you the best GPS units for the money and hopefully you'll learn some useful tips. The first thing you'll need to do is figure out what are the best GPS units out there and what are your needs.

How are you going to be using your GPS unit? You'll find a GPS unit designed specifically for boat, bicycles, trucks and cars. There are even smart phones with GPS support. You should consider getting a smart phone with GPS capabilities if it doesn't already. There are even GPS units for off road activities like hiking, camping and the golf course.

The best portable units are designed specifically for campers, bikers and hikers. An in-dash system, also known as a portable system, is found in boats, trucks and cars. Normally a permanently mounted system in a vehicle is called an in-dash system. If you need a unit which can be easily moved from one spot to another, then a portable system is a good choice. You'll find much more screen space and in an in-dash system, but you'll be paying a lot more for the features. With the portable GPS units, the feature set is still pretty good and less expensive than permanently mounted GPS devices. What's nice about the portable GPS units are the greater flexibility and are also normally less expensive.

Which selection of the best maps that you need for your GPS is something to consider. You will most likely be getting a map of the continental US with each new unit, and some even have maps of Canada and Mexico. You'll find all sorts of maps for other parts of the globe. Most GPS maps will include assorted points of interest like local attraction, ATMs, gas stations, hotels and restaurants - along with the detailed road map.

If you just need to know where you are on a map, then all GPS units have this feature. The best GPS units now include all sorts of extra features which you'll need to decide on what you want with your new GPS unit. Ever have traffic the cause of being late for an important meeting? To help you pick the fastest route and avoid traffic jams, many units will show you local traffic conditions. You'll save a ton of time while driving each year with this very helpful feature. Multi point routing helps you get to different geographical points on a map in the shortest amount of time possible. The GPS unit figures out what is the optimal route to take in the shortest amount of time. Local gas prices, movie times and news can be found the best GPS units. A cool thing used in GPS units is the computer generated text-to-speech function used to speak the direction to you while you are driving and keep you on your intended route. Some of the portable units like the Garmin 60csx just have a simple beep sound to remind you of an upcoming turn. This can be just as effective and not nearly as expensive. Blue tooth can be found on many of the best models which allows you to take cell phone calls and have their location shown on your GPS device. If money is no object, then you'll find the best GPS units have things like mp3 playback and picture display.

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Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Garmin's nüvi 255W has improved its 200-series predecessors by adding great features such as FM traffic updates or MSN Direct content to it's basic lineup. But Garmin is also including some of the best improvements with this new series, like a predictive technology that provides better satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more data, terrain maps, and an great new photo navigation feature. The 255W adds all maps for North America and Text-to-Speech, so you get turn by turn spoken directions with the actual names of streets (e.g. "turn left in 50 feet at Harrison Way", rather than just "turn left in 50 feet"). The 255W also has a wide 4.3-inch (diagonal) screen that displays 70% more of the road around you.

Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service

The nüvi 780 includeds enhanced MSN direct content to themulti-destination routing and "Where the heck am I?" features and a big widescreen display of other nüvi 700s to create the best navigation device for business as well as regular drivers. As with all nüvis, you get Garmin reliability, the best satellite lock of an integrated high-sensitivity receiver, a small, pocket-sized design with a good looking display, an easy, intuitive interface, and specific NAVTEQ maps for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest. All of the 700-series navigators also include a rich array of things including spoken directions in real street names, integrated traffic receivers, MP3 player and photo viewer, and an FM transmitter that will say voice prompts, MP3s, audio books, and more, right through your vehicle's stereo system.

TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

The TomTom GO 720 Color GPS Navigation System with Mapshare is one of the greatest, and most advanced GPS systems to date, from one of the better names in vehicle navigation. The GO 720 has a high-quality finish with an very elegant and tiny design that allows it to not only enhance any car's interior, but also fit snugly and easily in your hand or shirt pocket so it can go anywhere you do. Despite its stylish and portable size, the TomTom GO 720 is packed full of all the stuff you need to easily get where you are going, as well as many of the best features to make your trip as safe and fast as possible.

Magellan Maestro 4210 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

The Maestro interface is very easy to use, even for those who are not totally comfortable with electronics. At the same time, Magellan was ahead of the others with useful innovations like multi-destination routing and pre-loaded reviews for points of interest like restaurants and hotels (from AAA). With it's 3200 and 4200 series, Magellan has enhanced the Maestro line giving them a SirfStar III chipset that provides super-fast. satellite lock and creating them thinner. In fact, at .7 inches, these are -- at the time of this writing (November 2007), the smallest portable GPS navigators available. Distingushing between models is also fairly easy.

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Garmin GPS 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator

The super-duper Garmin 60CS just got a whole lot better. The 7.5-ounce GPSMap 60CSx now has an insanely accurate, high-sensitivity GPS receiver by SiRF that figures out your position even in tree cover and canyons. Plus, you get a nice, sunlight-readable color TFT display and an included a 64 MB microSD card for storage of other map detail. Add all that to the 60CSx's internal barometric altimeter and electronic compass, and you have got a device that is ready to take you anywhere on sea or land.

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS

Neither crazy foliage nor sheer canyons will mess up the rugged Garmin eTrex Vista HCx navigator. Equipped with a sensitive, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, the unit finds your position quickly and acurately and maintains its GPS location even in dense cover. The advantage is obvious: whether you're going through thick woods or wandering near tall buildings and trees, you can rely on the Vista HCx to help you locate your way when you need it the most. The Vista HCx also has a built-in electronic compass that displays bearing information even when you're not moving, along with a barometric altimeter that tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your exact altitude. You can even use the altimeter to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you monitor changing weather conditions.

Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor

Just when you thought Garmin had the best ones in the market for powerful, cheap, and effective wrist-mounted GPS devices, here comes the Forerunner 305. The release of this unit is a huge achievement from a technolosy and design perspective. This isn't just marketing-speak; the Forerunner 305 is extremely accurate, the best wrist-mounted performance and GPS tracking unit they've ever made. Yes, it's that good. While no unit this small can do everything (yet), the 305 hammers the boundaries of what is possible from something stuck on your wrist. The 305 model has wireless heartrate monitoring and it can also be hooked up to Garmin's wireless bike speed and cadence device. If you don't need this stuff, consider the cheaper Forerunner 205.