A Hunt for The Perfect GPS.

As a result you’ ve finally considered you’ re going to find a GPS unit. Now just one question is what to have. In an ideal world, the GPS unit you bought would be portable, contain great battery life, get to hold all maps through memory, give perfect traveling directions, have a shiny color screen, plan a different route in heavy traffic, be rugged and water-proof, and be able to help communicate easily with other electronic devices. And, you would get dollars . at an affordable selling price. I have good news and bad news. Some good news – all of those features are offered on GPS systems. That bad news – no GPS system offers just about all on one unit. Once you’ re out purchasing for a new GPS product, there are four main styles of GPS devices you’ lmost all encounter: the car nav system, the handheld GPS DEVICE, the boat GPS, additionally, the PDA/GPS hybrid. The Car Navigation SystemMost luxurious models now offer made in navigation systems - it’ erinarians even standard on numerous. It’ s also becoming common to pinpoint a navigation system as an alternative for mainstream vehicles. Then again, if a built within system isn’ t a way for your new automobile, or if you anticipate putting GPS in cannot vehicle, there’ s consistently the dash mountable decision. Companies such as TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan offer the various more popular dash mountable GPS DEVICE devices. Features you’ re going to get with an within car system include: an important color screen; voice well guided directions; information about filling stations, hotels, and other landmarks along your route; the cabability to calculate a new route in case you get off course; and the cabability to get traffic information allowing you to avoid heavy congestion (frequently offered being a per month subscription service). Car navigation GPS can be the most expensive with inbuilt systems costing upwards of $2000 in many vehicles. Good dash mountable items typically cost around $1000 although more cost-effective options are available. The Handheld GPS DeviceThe GPS devices specifically for outdoor enthusiasts are one of the most affordable type of GPS UNIT unit. Low end models cost only $100. High-end models selling price about $500. These units are great to enjoy if you spend too much effort hiking or camping. They have also been the type of GPS units anyone who wants to start geocaching (http: //www. gpsmaestro. com/geocaching) evaluations use. Some of the features you’ ll find for the these units: base atlases of parks, lakes and mountains where you wish on hiking; a made in compass, the ability to input coordinates; chart plotting to aid you to tell where you’ ve been allowing it to retrace your path if necessary; color or monochrome displays according to model; an altimeter; an important rugged durable housing; and even water resistance or extensive waterproofing. One high conclude outdoor unit, the Rino show by Garmin, even offers an internal two- way radio, a powerful NOAA weather receiver, and position reporting capability which helps you to see the position with the people in your group that have one of many devices. You’ re even allowed to poll this GPS unit as for the position if a person in your party should become incapacitated. If you want the capacity to still have in-car navigation sometimes, these units can be belonging to a laptop running navigation software to aid guide you to a person's destination. The Marine GPSIf you’ ll be spending most of energy on the water with all your GPS, then a marine GPS unit is normally the best choice. Some with the features you’ ll repeatedly find on marine GPS devices are: color index chart plotters; screens that can be visible - even inside bright sunlight; sonar skill; and onshore/offshore maps. Various new units even make available weather service integration together with specific information for boaters, and automobile navigation to make sure you don’ t need to find two separate units. Marine GPS units fall somewhere between the portable outdoor units and then the car navigation systems with price, with many excellent marine GPS unit costing around $1000. The PDA/GPS HybridIf you’ re searching for a jack of all deals GPS device, then you want to consider the PDA/GPS hybrid units. Many of these methods are full featured PDAs with inbuilt GPS capabilities. You can also invest in a separate unit if you curently have a PDA and prefer to add on GPS. These separate units will connection to your PDA via Bluetooth, serial cables, or USB cables according to capabilities of your PDA. The PDA/GPS units are great combinations on a person who is always going out. They allow you to last organized and will also make suggestions to wherever it is you must go. The one drawback to the combination is that there always looks like something that is sacrificed. As a result of purchasing an all-in-one system, many times you get yourself a pretty good GPS however only an okay PDA. If you purchase a top of the range PDA and then give a GPS receiver to them, you have the inconvenience of carrying along more devices, along with needing more plugs to stay things charged. These setups are definitely economical than in-car sat nav devices though, running around $500 with regard to all-in-one units to $900 if you will want purchase a high end PDA and a high end Bluetooth device to synch from it. Although there is currently not an ideal GPS unit which does everything perfectly, there are many excellent options available. The trick to selecting the right GPS for you is almost always to decide how the GPS will be used most often. If you spend most of energy on the road, then the in-car system is normally your best bet. If you spend most of energy hiking or geocaching, then the portable unit will likely serve you better. If you plan on doing a modicum of everything, you may want to consider a PDA/GPS mixed model.


Gary Ruplinger is definitely the webmaster and writer for GPS Maestro, a web site offering tips, tools, and even reviews for GPS Items. To learn more, satisfy visit www. gpsmaestro. com