Choosing A GPS

« « Features Of The Garmin Gpsmap | Quality Refurbished GPS Products Are Great Deals » »

Monday, April 6th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

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.

There are a number of Garmin GPS systems to choose from for your automobile. The low-end Garmins are the 200 Series, which still offer color displays, 6 million points of interest and voice-prompted directions. The Garmin nuvi 350 (starting at $169 at Circuit City) is an incredibly popular device, which is called “a Personal Travel Assistant that combines a GPS navigator, language translator and travel guide capability, an MP3 player, an audio book player, a currency and measurement converter, a world clock and a digital photo organizer.” Instead of prompts like “turn left in 100 feet,” you’ll get “turn left on Main Street.” The Garmin 600 series add a number of exciting features: the 650 adds music streaming capacity, improved graphics, entertainment functions and a larger 4.3″ display; the 660 adds live traffic; the 670 adds European maps; and the 680 adds MSN Direct services with weather, fuel prices and movie times. The nuvi 760 adds multi-destination routing and track logs.

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.

No Tags

Get Social, Bookmark Us!!:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.