GPS Reviews : A Quick Guide to GPS Navigation Systems
I’ve written hundreds of GPS reviews. One of the big questions I get from people is that the market place is so complex, it’s hard for them to figure out what they want to buy. I always try to make my reviews non-jargony (if that’s a word). I guess non-technical would be better. So, in this review, I want to give you some sense of what GPS systems do, what they’re basic features are and what you have to pay more for.
All GPS systems show you where you are on a set of electronic map, and they tell you how to get to where you want to go via some sort of voice instructions. All of the newer systems have a pre-programmed database of popular destinations—called Points of Interest, or POI’s. The cheaper systems have a million or so POI’s. The more expensive ones have over six million.
You can get just this for much less than $200. The Garmin nuvi 200 can do all of this and more for about $150. The Tom Tom One XL, which not only does this but also have Bluetooth for hands-free calling, will only set you back about $180. Magellan also has a few offerings in the under $200 range. You can get a Magellan Maestro 3100 for just over $100!
All three of these companies make great products, and all of the models I just mentioned are excellent. But for the prices these things are selling for, you surely might be able to afford more! No article focusing on GPS reviews would be complete without telling you about the whole market.
So, let’s look at what you can buy in the middle price ranges. Say, under $350.
For less than $350, you can get a Garmin 660 with Bluetooth and the wide, 4.3-inch screen. Or you can get the Tom Tom GO 720. Or the Magellan Maestro 4220. All three of these are roughly compatible.
GPS reviews can only do so much. What you need now is to get on an informative online retailer’s site and check out these products for yourself. My link to Amazon, here, will take you to their GPS page. From there you can explore all you want.
GPS Reviews : Consumer Reports Best GPS Units
Out of all the GPS reviews that I read, Consumer Reports are usually some of the best. I don’t know if you caught it, but earlier this year, they had an article about their top GPS picks. I actually agreed with most of what they chose and what they said about their choices. (Which might be why I like Consumer Reports! ) I wanted to go over some of what they said here, though, and add my own two cents.
Consumer Reports gave their top honors to the Garmin nuvi 760. They also mentioned the following GPS units: the nuvi 660, the nuvi 350, the Tom Tom GO 920T, and the Magellan Maestro 4250. Let’s discuss these choices.
I agree that the Garmin nuvi 760 is a really great GPS unit. The nuvi 760 basically does everything except it doesn’t have maps of Europe. It’s got the larger sized screen, Bluetooth, real-time traffic and weather. It actually says the street names for you, and it can even do multi-point routing. (That’s where you can put more than one destination in at a time.)
I think sometimes GPS reviews, like Consumer Reports, fails to consider the fact that not everyone wants a high-end GPS unit. The nuvi 760 currently sells for just under $400. Not everyone wants to spend that much on a GPS. Which is why I’m glad they mentioned the nuvi 350.
I own a number of websites that sell GPS devices and that also are resources for people who want to buy GPS’s. (I also write a lot of GPS reviews.) In other words, I get a good look at what people really buy. Although, a number of nuvi 760s are certainly sold though my websites, the nuvi 350 is by far the most popular device. It basically outsells the nuvi 760 by about 4 to 1.
Now, I’m not saying the nuvi 760 is a bad device. It’s not! It’s great! It’s just that it’s on the high end of the price range. Whereas the nuvi 350 is on the lower end. Right now you can pick up a nuvi 350 for less than $200. It’s got great maps, a huge data base of pre-programmed destinations (called Points of Interest), a 3.5-inch screen, and a bunch of other bells and whistles. Sure, if money doesn’t matter, then go ahead, get the nuvi 760. But if you don’t want to spend quite that much, then you won’t go wrong with the nuvi 350.
As for Tom Tom, their GO 920T offers a lot of GPS for the money. Like the nuvi 760, the GO 920T can do almost everything. It costs a little more than the nuvi 760, but then it does come with some features Garmin doesn’t offer, like Tom Tom’s MapShare technology. With MapShare, you can easily make changes to your unit’s maps. You can also upload these to make them available to everyone else.
I was really happy when I saw that the Consumer Reports review listed the Magellan Maestro 4250 as one of their favorites. At right around $250, the Maestro 4250 has Bluetooth, the larger 4.3-inch screen. Probably my favorite thing about Magellan is their deal with AAA, where they offer the AAA Tour Book pre-programmed in their devices. I’m a AAA lover, so I think that’s really cool.
When you’re getting into the market to buy a GPS, things can get confusing fast. Reading good GPS reviews can help untangle the mess, but what you really need to do next is to actually read more about specific products. You can do that here, at Amazon. (Which is my favorite online retailer! )
GPS Reviews : Do You Need Bluetooth?
I know I’ve been constantly harping on what GPS reviews should cover and what they should leave out. I’ve been covering this technology for some time, and I have a great sense of what people want and need to know about GPS devices.
Most GPS reviews are too technical—at least, that’s what the emails I get tell me. Most of us (me included) really only want to know does the thing work and what does it do. We don’t want the details.
With that in mind, I want to talk some about Bluetooth. On the face of it, Bluetooth sounds like a great concept. But do you really need it? And, how much does it cost. Let’s talk about this all in some detail.
Bluetooth is a technology that allows various communications devices to be hooked up wirelessly. As far as GPS’s are concerned, it lets you use your cell phone through the device to make and receive phone calls.
You know those ear-pieces people wear so they can use their cell phones hands-free? Well, if you didn’t already know, that’s Bluetooth. With GPS devices, you do the same thing, only you don’t have to wear the ear-piece. You can just talk in your car, just as if you had on one of those ear-pieces. To talk, you just talk.
On the face of it, this sounds like a great idea! Personally, I don’t use Bluetooth, even though my GPS has the capability. For one thing, I don’t make a lot of phone calls. For another, talking on the phone while driving distracts me. For some, however, I could easily see it being of great value—for sales people, for instance.
At least that’s my take on the whole Bluetooth thing.
As far as who sells GPS systems with Bluetooth and how much do they cost? Well, as with all my GPS reviews, I’ll give you a run down on the best units with this capability. We’ll start with Garmin.
I know I keep mentioning this, but Garmin’s prices have come down considerably. This is due, in part, from stiff competition from Magellan, and especially from Tom Tom. Garmin’s lowest priced unit with Bluetooth is the nuvi 360, which is a great device! It’s got a 3.5-inch screen, has real-time traffic capability, and actually tells you the street names, instead of just telling you where to turn. Right now, you can pick one up for less than $250.
As far as Tom Tom is concerned, their Tom Tom One XL has Bluetooth. (By the way, it also has a 4.36-inch screen!) The XL is a souped up version of the Tom Tom One. At less than $200, it’s hard to beat.
Magellan, of course, has their Bluetooth device. Their lowest priced model in the Maestro line is the 4040, which has a 4.3-inch screen, also. For a little more money, you really should look at the Maestro 4250, if you’re considering Magellan. Magellan has this great deal with AAA where you can get their Tour Book right on the device. For a AAA lover, like myself, that’s almost too hard to resist.
Of course, as I always say, GPS reviews have their limitations. They can only serve to point you in the right direction and give you some sense of what you’re looking at. What you really need to do is to take a look at some actual devices. You can do that here, at Amazon’s website.
GPS Reviews : Is Real Time Traffic Something You Need?
Good GPS reviews need to cover the whole product and price range. To that end, I try to write articles discussing the big features, such as Bluetooth or real-time traffic, and whether you need them or not. My take on Bluetooth is that it’s not for me, but I can surely see how someone else would want it. Real-time traffic, on the other hand, is something that I would definitely want on any system that I buy. Let me explain why.
I do a lot of city driving on the expressway. As with all expressway systems for major cities, ours is always under construction. In other words, traffic jams (major ones!) are a big headache. What I love about real-time traffic is that it can alert me to these big pile ups.
What real-time traffic does is it routes you around the pile up, instead of just telling you there’s traffic up ahead. I love that because I’m often in parts of town that I know nothing about—they’re just what I go through on the expressway.
Of course, with real-time traffic you get weather, which I like, too! It’s nice at certain times of the year when we get lots of small, but powerful thunderstorms moving through town to know where they are. Ditto for tornadoes. But frankly, since I can look out the window and see where storms are (but I can’t see the traffic jam up ahead until it’s too late), for my purposes the real-time traffic is the part of this package that I’m most interested in.
Now, you can’t write GPS reviews without telling readers which devices have real-time traffic. So, let’s take a look at a few of the more popular GPS receivers that offer this.
Anything Garmin makes above the nuvi 350 is going to have traffic on it. This means from Garmin you can get this capability for just under $200. Of course, you can spend more and get more features. But that’s your base-line.
Tom Tom has made all of their receivers traffic compatible. As far as Magellan, several of their models have traffic capability, specifically the Maestros 3250, 4050, 4250, and 5310.
What you need to do now is to get on a good online retailer’s website and get more information. GPS reviews can only do so much. Here’s the link for Amazon, my favorite online retailer!
GPS Reviews : Time to Upgrade?
A lot of GPS reviews are geared toward the first time buyer. I write a lot of reviews like this. You know, the ones that tell you the basics and what you can get for under $200. What’s so amazing about the GPS marketplace, though, is how fast it’s matured.
I’m not sure in terms of percentages, but I would be willing to bet that maybe even half of the GPS devices sold are bought by buyers who are upgrading. I know when I go to online retail sites and read their customer comments that many of them are from second or even third generation buyers. A lot of the comments I get on my own articles, GPS reviews, and other websites are from people who already have a GPS and want a new one.
It wasn’t too long ago that all a GPS receiver could do was…well, receive! The whole thing of having a device with electronic maps that could tell you how to get places was so new and radical that just that was enough to make hungry shoppers fall all over each other as they pulled their credit cards out.
No longer!
Now, you can get the basic capabilities for under $200. Heck, you can get it for almost $100! But the GPS marketplace is populated with buyers who are more than willing to spend $250, $350, even $450. At those price points, there’s so much more technology available—so many more bells and whistles.
Look at it like this. Now, for less than $200, you can get Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling. The Tom Tom One XL has Bluetooth and a wider, 4.3-inch screen! It is currently selling for well under $200!
GPS reviews are now reflective of the fact that this market has matured and wants more than just the basic capabilities that any GPS worth its salt can do. Most reviews now focus on which units offer Bluetooth, which have real-time traffic, which have multiple point routing, that sort of thing.
It’s great that the marketplace has matured and that buyers like the whole idea of GPS so much that they are trading in their old models for much snazzier new models. The only downside to this is for entry-level buyers, the GPS marketplace is more complex than ever. Of course, one of the reasons I built this site was to solve that problem!