Tags: best gps value
08/12/08
Garmin nüvi 200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Garmin 010-10723-02 Carrying Case For Nuvi
The siren call of technology called and I, its faithful servant, answered. This time, I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 200. I found it to be an excellent device.
My decision process:
All GPS devices allow you to enter addresses and guide you there. Some of the significant differences between them:
1. Bluetooth. On a GPS, Bluetooth allows you to answer phone calls from your cell phone, update traffic via that same phone, and play music.
Bluetooth calling is nice, but that feature will cost you at least another $50.00 in the Garmin line, the Nuvi 360. I already have the $50.00 Motorola T305 which works well. I could give the T305 away to a needy California driver, but if I share the Nuvi with my wife, I'd be out two functions. Plus, I can put the T305 on my visor and I'd have to have the Nuvi 360 on my windshield the whole time (Unless space or money is an issue, it's better to have separate devices for different tasks.).
Motorola T305 Bluetooth Portable Hands-Free Speaker - Black
Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth and Text-to-Speech
2. Traffic updates. I don't care about receiving traffic information.
3. Music. Between Sirius and my car stereo that plays mp3s and controls my iPod, I can summon any song in the known universe, making anything on a GPS having to do with music a waste.
4. Points of interest. This one I care about. The Navigon 2100, my previous GPS, disappointed me when I couldn't find some of the points I find most interesting (Gaming/Comic book store, Frogurt, etc.). The Navigon 2100 has 1.3 million points of interests- not enough, apparently.
Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
5. Widescreen. This seems like a gimmick to me- something meant to appeal to people used to their wide screen laptops. Well, the only reason to have a wide screen is to watch movies, right? On a GPS, you need to see what's ahead more than what's on the sides, si? So, why sacrifice height for width?
6. Text to speech. If it works better than telephone speech recognition (big "if"), and if you drive by yourself, this can be a great feature. You can ask for a nearby gas station or Taco Bell without pulling over. It's an expensive extra, however. You'd have to move up the the $800.00 Nuvi 850 to get it in a Garmin product.
Garmin nüvi 850 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
So, I go into Staples. The cheapest two GPSs were the Nuvi 200 and the Tom Tom One XL. Both were on sale, but the Nuvi was $50.00 cheaper and had the same features except for the unimportant wide screen.
TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator
TomTom ONE XL 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Map of US and Canada)
I opened it in the parking lot, plugged it in, and instantly got it working. I didn't need to read the manual. Initially, I had it set to just show where I was headed as I drove (I like that I now have a compass.). This is where it gets dangerous: The screen mesmerized me, and I kept taking my eyes off the road.
Unlike the Navigon, I could find the points of interest I was looking for and even gave me the phone number to most stores. The Nuvi has over three million interesting points.
The Nuvi 200 is super easy to program. It anticipates states and cities as I type and guides me there through voice directions. Here's where it gets controversial: In order to pay back campaign debt, Hillary Clinton lends her honey-sweet voice to the Nuvi. I don't mind, but during long stretches, the Nuvi starts talking about health care (just kidding).
You can save destinations including one as "home" so you can find your way back from wherever you are (Advice for married men: Don't make the strip club, "home.") You can stop if you want to take a break from driving or pull into a gas station. You can also program that gas station ahead of time- it allows one per route.
The screen presents useful information like estimated time of arrival (ETA), time spent on road, and a turn list. The POI is very intuitive. The map is in 3-D or overhead. It shows digital pictures- big whoop. You can update it from the internet too.
It passed the non-nerdy wife test; my wife figured it out with just a little help.
Some features I missed from the Navigon are "Lane Assist" and "Reality View" which make freeway choices clearer.
"OK," you're asking, "It works in a large metropolis like Los Angeles, but what about some primitive backwater? Would it be able to find addresses and such?"
To give it a real test, I drove to Phoenix, a wretched hive of scum and villainy next to California.
It passed. I fed it some addresses, found them, and I was on my way.
Conclusion: This is a better basic GPS, and if you don't need to the expensive frills, an excellent choice.
Tags: best gps value, best low cost gps, buy gps, compare gps devices, compare inexpensive gps, gps bang for buck, which gps should i buy
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