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What You Need to Know About Car GPS Units

Categories: GPS Articles | April 11th, 2009 | by Mike Tucker | no comments

If you've been comparing car GPS units, you may have already noticed just how complicated it can be to find one that's right for you, no matter how tech-savvy you might be. Hopefully, after reading this article, you'll be a bit more well informed about what you need to know to find the perfect unit for you and your budget.

If you haven't already been shopping around, you may not know that all car GPS units essentially do the same thing: they show you where you are and tell you how to get to where you're going. They also all come with a variety of pre-programmed destinations, called POIs (or, Points of Interest) to make getting where you need to be even easier. All you need is a finger, because all car GPS units utilize touch screen technology.

What makes finding the perfect one for you so complicated is all the extra features manufacturers are including in their products to meet market competition. Before you get too overwhelmed, let's talk about these manufacturers and compare the products they're making.

Although several companies produce car GPS units, I'd suggest sticking with the top three: Magellan, Garmin, and Tom Tom. Sure, there are other companies, like Lowrance, Mio, and Pharos. But all these other companies are competing for only 10% of the U.S. market. It may be a personal thing, but I've always liked to go with industry winners. Certainly other companies are making quality products, but I like to know that my purchase will be supported year to year.

Magellan was one of the original companies to start manufacturing GPS devices. With a great company name and a wide selection of products, Magellan is a good choice. I really like their Maestro series, which ranges in price from $150 to $350. You can get a Maestro 3100 for less than $150. That's not their best buy, though. If you just want an entry level GPS, then Garmin's nuvi 200 is probably a better bet. Magellan's best buy is their Maestro 4250, which can do everything Garmin's competing product can, but for $50 less.

Magellan also has a great deal for AAA members that makes the AAA Tour Book available right inside the device. Of course, you must be a member, but if you're a frequent traveler, it's an excellent deal.

With almost 50% of the total market, Garmin is the industry leader. A basic Garmin, the nuvi 200, costs only $150. However, if you're looking to spend a lot more, you can purchase the 880 model, which includes a lot of extra features, for around $1,000. There are no real competitors at the high end of the market place, that is for automotive GPS systems.

Catching up to Garmin is Tom Tom, a company that offers a great selection of products at very competitive prices. For example, what you'd pay for Garmin's basic nuvi 200 could also get you Tom Tom's One 3rd Edition, which has a lot of extra cool features. Tom Tom's GO series has more features and is a direct competitor with Garmin. Tom Tom is currently taking market share from Garmin by offering more features at a smaller price. Tom Tom is no slouch as a company, either. They totally dominate the European market!

Whether you want to spend a lot or a little, comparing car GPS units can be tricky. Continue checking out informative websites so you can find the system that's right for you and won't break your budget.

To read more great GPS Reviews, check out my website. Rick Cole is a true GPS enthusiast! Take a look at his website to find out more information!

Article Source: What You Need to Know About Car GPS Units - ArticleSpan.com

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GPS Comparisons - A Great Way To Shop For The Perfect Unit

Categories: GPS Articles | March 2nd, 2009 | by Mike Tucker | no comments

It's much easier to find information about specific GPS products than reliable GPS comparisons. When I first got interested in automotive GPS systems, I scoured the Internet, looking for unbiased comparisons, GPS ratings, or reviews that might be helpful. Suffice it to say that useful comparisons were few and far between.

All GPS devices work the same way, all work off of the same satellite system-a network of about thirty satellites that orbit the earth and are used to triangulate the position of GPS devices. When you buy a GPS system, from Amazon for instance, what you're buying is the receiver, which receives the signals transmitted by that network of satellites. What is even better is that you and I do not have to pay to use that multi-billion dollar satellite network. It's free! All we have to do is buy the device.

But then, there's the problem-which device to buy?

The market leaders are Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. You can go to their websites for information, but each company tries to stress their products strengths, while overlooking their weaknesses, and they do this in a way that makes it difficult to compare their product with that of another company. I have no problem with this. It just makes it a little hard to decide which GPS to buy.

You can buy automotive systems that are installed in your car's dash (like your radio), or portable ones that you mount to a suction cup device on the windshield or sometimes on the top of the dashboard. The information in this article is focused on portable systems. They are much cheaper, and you can take your unit with you walking or while driving another car.

Portable systems run from less than $200 to almost $1000US. All of these GPS devices find your location and show you routes on maps. All of them preloaded with maps of the United States and Canada. (A few of the cheaper ones only come with regional maps.) What makes the difference in price is quality of the maps and what are called "points of interest", along with a whole slew of extra (but useful) features.

The size of the points of interest database is important. Points of interest are preloaded addresses and information about businesses, civic buildings, hospitals, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, schools, and generally any destination that you might want to go to.

The cheaper systems only have about 750,000 points of interest preloaded in them. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider how big the United States and Canada are, 750,000 restaurants, hospitals, gas stations, ATM's, and Starbucks is not really that much. The better systems have a few million points of interest. Definitely something worth considering, especially if you'll be using your system while traveling. Of course, if you're only using your GPS close to home then the number of points of interest might not matter-then again, you might not need the GPS system. J

There are a few features that are important to consider.

The user interface (how easy the unit is to use) is important. Some systems like the Garmin Nuvi's are like mini computers, they do so much. I'm not saying avoid the Nuvi-I happen to like that line of products a lot. Just be aware that you might have to read the instructions the first time you use it. Much to Garmin's credit, the StreetPilot C series was designed to be extremely easy to use. If I were going to buy my 86-year old mother-in-law an automotive GPS system, it might well be the StreetPilot c340.

As you climb higher in price range, you get more features. Some are not that important, like having a travel clock. My car has a clock, so I don't think I need two. Bluetooth technology is a feature you might want if you use your cell phone a lot in the car. Bluetooth lets you use your GPS as a cell phone. So, you're limiting the number of devices you have to keep up with in the car-always a good idea when negotiating a busy expressway interchange.

The mid to upper range GPS systems have mp3 players so you can listen to music and audiobooks. That's neat if everyone else in the car wants to listen to the same thing. If not, well I guess everyone will have to use their own iPod.

The display size is a biggie! The last thing you want to be doing in traffic is straining to see the GPS screen. Many of these product lines have widescreen versions. That translates to 4.3-inch screens. That's almost an inch bigger than the 3.5-inch screen. For some people, it does make a difference.

There are a few other features I haven't covered in this article. But these are the big ones that most folks are interested in.

To read more great GPS Reviews, check out my website. Lee Cole is a true GPS enthusiast! Take a look at his website to find out more information!

Article Source: GPS Comparisons - A Great Way To Shop For The Perfect Unit - ArticleSpan.com

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The Benefits of Having a GPS

Categories: GPS Articles | February 23rd, 2009 | by Mike Tucker | no comments

Lots of classy control systems of the modern automobiles need measurements of vehicle's attitude. The commercial GPS systems are method of option for measuring approach in lots of aircraft & farm automobile applications, however are not usually used on the automobiles. Prohibitive aspects of the commercial GPS systems on car include their high cost & significant loss of reliability & signal availability in the urban road settings.

The modern automobiles are prepared with various control systems, which improve passenger safety & comfort. These systems take in anti-lock brakes, disparity steering & cruise control. Recently, the automotive GPS systems also got added to lots of cars for exercise in positioning purposes, permitting driver to view their position on map, and get directions in the real time. Advent of the GPS receivers in the cars has efforts to improve existing systems, and to make new ones like car following & lane keeping control. Some of these systems need measurements of vehicle's attitude.

Few other type of interesting integrations & functions of the automotive GPS control system are that color LCD monitors on a few automotive navigation systems that can as well be used to show television broadcasts and DVD movies. Some systems integrate with phones for the hands-free talking & SMS messaging. Automotive navigation control systems will include personal info management for meetings that is combined with traffic & public transport system.

Safety Features

Vehicles made by Subaru * Lexus, and Lexus' company, Toyota, exclude many of features when vehicle is in the motion. Manufacturers state this is safety feature to evade driver being distracted. Lots of users have also complained that the passengers are not capable to enter location while in the motion, even if it is very safe to do. Additionally, the drivers have also complained that it is unsafe to pull off highway & stop than it is to enter destination in a system.

The automotive system is satellite navigation system that is designed for the exercise in automobiles. It normally makes use of GPS navigation system to obtain position data to place the user on road in unit's map database. By using road database, unit will give directions to the other locations all along roads in its database. The dead reckoning utilizing distance data from the sensors attached to drive train, gyroscope and accelerometer is used for the greater dependability, since GPS signal loss and multipath will occur because of urban canyons and tunnels.

Advantages of this kind of GPS unit take in low cost and capability to move them simply to other automobiles. Their portability states they are simply stolen if left in the vehicle however can’t be stolen if driver carries it with him while he gets out. In addition not having compass, accelerometer and inputs from vehicle's speed sensors, states that they can’t navigate as precisely by dead weighing up as a few built- in the devices when there is not any GPS signal. More current portable devices like TomTom 920 have inbuilt accelerometer to attempt and address this.

Get articles like this and more of Tom's work all on his Auto Blog.

Article Source: The Benefits of Having a GPS - ArticleSpan.com

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Automotive GPS Systems - Tips For Selecting the Best One

Categories: GPS Articles | February 21st, 2009 | by Mike Tucker | no comments

More than likely there has been a time when you slid in your car and suddenly wondered if you knew how to get where you were going. Well, today with the great automotive GPS systems, you don't have to worry about this any more. With automotive GPS systems, you can easily get to any destination you may need to go for. There are a variety of excellent automotive GPS systems available today - so how do you pick the best one? Well, here are some top tips that will help you pick out the system that is best for you.

Tip #1 - Figure Out How Often You Need to Use It - First of all, when looking for the best automotive GPS systems, figure out how often you are going to need to use it. If you aren't going to need it very often, consider one of the inexpensive automotive GPS systems available. Many are very small and plug in to the cigarette lighter in the car. However, on the other hand, if you need to use it often, you'll want one of the better automotive GPS systems that is user friendly.

Tip #2 - Consider Your Car's Layout - When trying to choose automotive GPS systems, consider your car's layout. Many GPS systems have monitors that displays directions and maps on them. Usually the monitors are placed in the dashboard or on an attachable pedestal from the dash. You'll find in some vehicles, that certain automotive GPS systems can block important vents for air or make it difficult for a person in the passenger seat. So, you want a system that works with the layout of your car.

Tip #3 - Look for Multiple Ways to Get Where You're Going - Choose automotive GPS systems that allow you to use multiple ways to get where you are going. Many automotive GPS systems allow you to get directions by an address back, an address you type in, a location you select on a map, or even by the nearest intersection.

Tip #4 - Ensure You Get Vocal and Graphic Directions - Having both vocal and graphic directions in automotive GPS systems is definitely a wonderful idea. When choose a system, this is important. It allows you to see where you will be going, but the benefit of the vocal directions is that you don't have to take your concentration off the road to get the directions you need.

Tip #5 - Find Automotive GPS Systems with Great Features - If you're shopping for automotive GPS systems, make sure that you find a system with great features. Consider looking for features like Bluetooth, 3D maps, real time updates, or even data on points of interest.

Tip #6 - Keep the Installation Time in Mind - Last of all, if you're choosing automotive GPS systems, you should keep the installation time in mind. This is especially important if you are on a very tight budget. The longer automotive GPS systems take to install, the more it will cost. So, keep this in mind.

Dennis Frank writes informational articles on a variety of interesting subjects including information about Automotive Gps Systems To learn more about Automotive Gps Systems, please visit GpsUsers WebSite You may use this article on your site or publication if you leave these credits exactly as they appear here.

Article Source: Automotive GPS Systems - Tips For Selecting the Best One - ArticleSpan.com

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