Car GPS
Reviews
Read Unbiased Reviews of the Best Car
GPS & Top Auto GPS Receivers
Global positioning systems (GPS) devices have enjoyed
tremendous sales growth, particularly in the automotive market.
In the last two years, sales of in-car GPS units have grown at
least two times over. There is one fundamental reason for the
popularity of these devices: GPS navigation units help drivers
make informed travel decisions.
CarGPSreviews.net aims to provide
unbiased reviews of the best car GPS
devices to help you make an informed decision by presenting the
top 10 GPS units.
Progressive innovation has been the hallmark of increased
GPS use. They now feature brighter, higher-resolution screen
displays, highly accurate maps, more points of interest, and
convenient turn-by-turn directional guidance. They can provide
real-time traffic information and can be linked to a cell phone
to allow hands-free use.
More elaborate models can be tapped to control other
systems, such as air-conditioning, heating, and stereo systems.
Other GPS devices can playback movies on DVD while your vehicle
is parked, remotely unlock car doors and activate the horn and
lights, and provide you with news and e-mail.
Many companies produce GPS receivers, but three makers
corner the lion's share of this rapidly expanding market:
Garmin, TomTom and
Magellan. Other notable manufacturers include
Navigon, Lowrance,
and Mio. The majority of users favor
Garmin, but TomTom and Magellan have their own core of rabid
supporters.
Top 10 Car GPS
Here's a list of the Top 10 GPS units by
popularity, user reviews and sales for
:
- Garmin Nuvi 760 - Combining a very
affordable asking price with the latest features, including
text-to-speech technology and a superb user interface, the
nuvi 760 also added a feature we haven't seen on any other
model - the ability to transmit sound via a built-in FM
transmitter. This means the unit can send sound wirelessly
through your car stereo, avoiding the common occurrence of
missing directions due to low volume levels. It comes with
a large 4.3 inch touch screen. With a 480 x 272 pixel
resolution, the display is bright and east to read. The
nüvi 760 also has integrated traffic receivers and
Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling. Like the rest
of the wide nüvi 700-series, its premium navigation
capabilities, like route planning and a handy locator, give
you peace of mind on the go. Experts recommend the Garmin
nüvi 760 more than any other high-end GPS. It lands at the
top of performance tests, including routing tests against
Magellan and TomTom units. The nüvi 760 includes almost
every extra feature Garmin has to offer, but is still easy
enough for a novice to use.
Read the full Garmin
nuvi 760 review.
- Garmin Nuvi 680 - Travel throughout
North America without loading any more maps with the Garmin
nüvi 680 Personal Travel Assistant. Plus, you can receive
door-to-door directions while staying on top of local
weather, traffic, and more with nüvi 680. The device
features a colorful widescreen, hands-free calling, and an
FM transmitter, then takes it up a notch by adding dynamic
content from MSN Direct, as well as a convenient digital
travel kit that includes an MP3 player with sample MP3s,
audio books, a picture viewer, a world clock, currency and
measurement converters and a calculator. Despite being
loaded with features, the nüvi 680 still allows you to
navigate with ease. This unit comes ready to go right out
of the box with preloaded NavTeq City Navigator NT street
maps for North America, and includes a hefty points of
interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel
stops, ATMs and more. Read the full Garmin nuvi 680
review.
- Garmin Nuvi 255W - Garmin's nüvi 255W
improves upon its highly popular 200-series by adding
top-of-the-line features such as FM traffic updates or MSN
Direct content to an entry-level line. Garmin also
also added some significant improvements with this new
series, like a predictive technology that provides faster
satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more information,
terrain maps, and an exciting new photo navigation feature.
The 255W adds complete maps for North America and
Text-to-Speech, so you get turn by turn spoken directions
with the real names of streets (e.g. "turn left in 50 feet
at Nebraska Way", rather than merely "turn left in 50
feet"). The 255W also offers a wide 4.3-inch screen that
displays 70% more of the road around you.
Read the full Garmin 255W
review.
- Garmin Nuvi 360- The Garmin Nuvi 360
GPS is a handy multi-purpose system in your hands: aside
from providing detailed navigation systems, it can serve as
your guide on the road, personal translator, and
multi-media entertainment system. It carries an automatic
routing system, turn-by-turn voice directions, and a
picture viewer for JPEG files. For entertainment, there is
an audio book player and an MP3 player. It also has a
hands-free Bluetooth wireless facility, making it the most
dependable personal travel assistant you carry in your
pocket. Read the full Garmin Nuvi 360
review.
- Magellan Maestro 4250 - The Magellan
4250 add a host of features, including text-to-speech
directions that give real street names, bluetooth for
hands-free phone calls, integrated traffic, and voice
command. The intuitive user interface makes the Maestro
series incredibly easy to use. Use the big icons on the
4.3-inch widescreen touch screen to search for your
destination by address, intersection, or any of 6 million
points of interest (POIs), including restaurants, hotels,
airports, gas stations, and more. Read the full Magellan 4250
review.
- Garmin nuvi 260W- The nüvi 260W
combines the thin profile and attractive price point of
other nüvi 200-series GPS with directions in real street
names and a wide screen that lets you see more of what's
around you as you drive. Garmin's line on the device is
that, "the nüvi 260W gives consumers the most sought-after
navigation features, while eliminating many of the premium
add-ons. The 4.3-inch backlit widescreen touchscreen on the
nüvi 260W gives you 70% more actual screen area than a
3.5-inch screen. Read the full Garmin 260W
review.
- Garmin Nuvi 350 - The most popular
Garmin ever, though discontinued, is still a reliable
workhorse. The Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS, is small and light
enough to fit in your purse or pocket. Its high resolution
(320 x 240 pixels) coming from a 64,000-colour display
gives you bright clear reading of maps and other data. You
can use its MCX connector to link up with an external GPS
antenna, and listen to audio playback through its
power-laden speaker built into the back of the unit. Read
the full Garmin
350 review.
- TomTom GO 730 - The 730 sports a 4.3"
extra-wide touch screen that features anti-glare technology
for easy viewing even in direct sunlight. Maps of the U.S.
and Canada, along with text-to-speech. The latter feature
means that you'll hear "turn left on Oak Street" rather
than just "turn left in 1/4 mile." It also includes a
built-in FM transmitter and TomTom's Map Share technology,
which allows users to make some map corrections and share
them with others. Realistic and clear visual instructions
are provided with high-quality 3D graphics, while spoken
instructions tell you where you need to go in your own
language. Read the full TomTom 730 review.
- TomTom 330S - GPS helps you find your
way and, having a TomTom XL330S in your car, is an
excellent way to help you find the right direction toward
your destination. The TomTom XL-330S is preloaded with
millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling
experience, including locations of rest areas, service
stations, restaurants, hotels, and more. TomTom's software
means easy navigation from A to B. Switch on and go right
out of the box. Just enter the address on the Touchscreen
and start driving anywhere in the US or Canada. TomTom
guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken
instructions including street and place names. An
extra-wide 4.3-inch Touchscreen helps you view maps and
read driving instructions, worry-free. Read the full
TomTom 330S
review.
- TomTom ONE XL-S - For a high end
version to its basic GPS line (named ONE), TomTom offers
the ONE XL-S which adds to the basic GPS features a wider
set of traffic options, with the immensely convenient
RDS-TMC system providing real-time information about
traffic situations. Both the ONE XL and ONE XL-S are
complete with all necessary features, albeit without the
luxury frills, of a reliable car navigation system. The
difference is the text-to-speech feature in the ONE XL-S,
which means you get voice directions. The unit carries
complete TeleAtlas map data for the whole of Canada and all
states in the U.S. View all data stored in its 1GB memory
on its viewer-friendly 4.3-inch widescreen display. Read
the full TomTom
ONE XL-S review.
Overview Of The 3 Most Popular GPS Brands
Garmin
- Since 1989, Garmin has provided GPS
receivers for a wide range of users, from soldiers in the U.S.
military to the automotive market to aircraft systems. The
automotive market accounts for one-third of the company's
consumer products sales. The company provides
original-equipment GPS systems to Chrysler vehicles, BMW,
Harley Davidson and Honda Motorcycles; detachable units are
also available, for use in cars or when going hiking or
biking.
Garmin also produces GPS navigation systems for the
recreational market. In addition to surface navigation
capabilities, its marine products provide information on wind
speeds, weather forecasts, tides, and charts of the coastlines
in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. Garmin GPS systems
for aviation include panel-mounted units (for the retrofit
market and older aircraft) and portable units used in general
aviation aircraft.
TomTom
- The Netherlands-based company, TomTom NV,
started in 1999 as a supplier of mobile phone software
applications. In 2001, it began partnering with PALM, Microsoft
and HP to produce the TomTom Navigator system for PDAs and
smartphones. The TomTom GO family of GPS navigation systems was
launched in 2004 for cars, later followed by its variant TomTom
ONE. The TomTom RIDER line was developed for motorcycles and
scooters and TomTom PLUS was designed to provide traditional
navigation capabilities in combination with a host of web-based
subscription services.
Magellan -
Magellan (formerly Thales Navigation) is an
industry leader in navigation and positioning systems for
consumers, surveying, GIS, and the OEM markets. Its product
line includes the award-winning RoadMate portable car GPS
series, the eXplorist handheld GPS for hikers and outdoors
types, the Hertz NeverLost car GPS, and the best-selling
ProMark surveying GPS. Its consumer products also include
marine GPS devices for boaters and address navigation add-ons
to car GPS. Professional products serve surveying needs in land
and marine applications, mobile mapping, and original-equipment
units for various industries, including aviation.
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