Civilian Uses of GPS

GPS is primarily used for safety purposes. It is most useful to women travelers who are out by themselves. It also comes in handy when traveling with children and when traveling in remote places. GPS systems provide a sense of security and less worry for parents. It helps to track children, while they are out on their driving expeditions. It also helps to avoid traffic delays and choose an alternative route to the destination.

Handheld GPS is a perfect accessory to carry along when traveling abroad. Popular GPS brands are Garmin GPS and Magellan GPS. It is wise to check out online GPS reviews that can provide deep insights on new features that are introduced. The reviews help people to make an easy choice among the newly available models.

Best Buys on GPS Systems

All buyers would like to have only the best. Here is the list of recommendations which includes best GPS devices from Garmin, TomTom, Mio, and Navigon.

The Garmin Forerunner 205 is a GPS device that you wear like a wristwatch. It tells you how far you ran and how long it took. Serious runners rave about this GPS device. The older Garmin Forerunner 201 which reviewers don't like as much as the 205 can be purchased for around $120 or you can buy the higher end Garmin Forerunner 305 that adds a heart rate monitor for around $220.

The Garmin eTrex family that includes very small, portable, and waterproof handheld GPS devices make great companions for outdoor activities. They come with WAAS accuracy enhancement technology and run for many hours on AA batteries. The Garmin eTrex Legend CX sells for under $200 and offers 36 hour battery life and a color display.

The TomTom One LE was a doorbuster at Best Buy for $119. It has a 3.5 inch display, Bluetooth, an SD card expansion slot, and comes with a windshield mount which are illegal in California and Minnesota.

The Navigon 2100 has an MSRP of $249 but they were gobbled up on Black Friday at Staples for $99. Staples had the Navigon 2100T the T is for traffic and was included in the price. The Navigon 2100 is part of a Navigon GPS family that just started selling in the U.S that includes The Navigon 2100, Navigon 5100, and Navigon 7100. The 2100 and 5100 have a 3.5 inch screen while the 7100 is a widescreen device. Traffic is included free in the 5100 and 7100. The 2100 gets good marks for industrial design and flash-like graphics but there are concerns about icon and font readability and data entry.

The Mio c230, featuring text to voice was on sale at Radio Shack for $149. You can get this basic 3.5 inch screen GPS that offers Text-to-Speech functionality and gets high marks for performance and ease of use for well under $200.