Pointers When Choosing A GPS
In the past, a Global Positioning System was used solely by the government to track and navigate aircraft, to rescue downed pilots, to create reconnaissance maps, to help soldiers navigate enemy terrain in the dark and to guide missiles. Civilians were later permitted to use a it for a number of reasons. Hikers would use GPS systems to find their way around canyons, forests and mountains, and boaters would find their way to land. Mountain bikers could plot a course, previewing the terrain and rest stops on their devices. And fishermen could track fish patterns below the boat to ensure a big catch. Today, a GPS has become exceedingly popular to put in automobiles, making trips easier and less stressful.
“Garmin is founded on the principles of innovation, convenience, performance, value, and service,” proclaims the company website. In fact, Garmin, which has been around since 1989, is the most well-known North American brand name in Global Positioning Systems today. Based out of Kansas, no part of the manufacturing process gets outsourced, as the company designs, manufactures, markets and sells all of their products themselves. They offer GPS navigation systems for all different lifestyles, such as fitness-based systems, automotive GPS systems, systems for hikers or campers, aviation technology, marine technology and site navigation for geocachers.
The Garmin 200 series (starting as low as $119 at Circuit City) offers a no-frills GPS for automobiles that includes 6 million points of interest, voice-prompted directions, as well as a picture viewer, a calculator, a currency converter and a world clock. The Garmin nuvi 250W also adds Alaska and Canada to the map set. Of course you’ll miss out on functions like an MP3 player, adding live traffic info and the ability to call out upcoming street names. (The nuvi 260 or the nuvi 350 will have the street name call-out function.) By contrast, a really high-end Garmin, like the Garmin nuvi 760, adds multi-destination routing with automatic sorting to ensure the most efficient route, speed limit display for highways, automatic marking of your last position to help you find your car in parking lots, the “Where am I” safety feature for emergencies and MSN Direct browsing. These GPS devices start at $325 at www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com.
Commuters might like the Dash Express GPS, which displays crowd-sourced traffic data and allows live internet searches to find the best way around traffic jams. Boaters might like the Lowrance iWay 600C’s marine navigation mode with point-to-point navigation and satellite imagery. Hikers, campers and hunters can try the Magellan CrossoverGPS, while the Mio Digiwalker H610 works best for pedestrians and bicyclists. Garmin seems to be top dog for automobile GPS systems, although the TomTom ONE XL 330-S and Magellan Maestro have also made the top 10 list.
