1. Easiest to Use GPS for the Car
Since Garmin’s c330 set a new standard for user-friendliness in the GPS world, Garmin has continued to hold top spot in ease of use. When the c330 arrived, Forbes Magazine said, “describing the new interface on the c330 as ’simple’ doesn’t quite do it justice.” Since then, Garmin’s popular nüvi line has inherited this wonderful user interface, and any choice in the nüvi line will provide an easy-to-use navigation experience. For a rich feature set and an easy-to-read wide screen, we suggest the popular nüvi 660. Any of Garmin’s nüvi series is perfect for someone who’s easily intimidated by complicated devices, driving, or both! It’s small, portable, completely touch-screen controlled, and takes simplicity to a new level. No confusing buttons — just a touch screen with two options: “Where To?” and “View Map.” The unit guides you each step of the way, providing spoken turn-by-turn directions to your destination. If you miss a turn, no worries — the unit will instantly recalculate your route and get you back on track. Want to add live traffic updates? The 300, 600 and 700 series are live traffic-capable.
2. Best Fully-Featured GPS for the Car
It’s Garmin’s nüvi series again, which has taken Garmin’s blending of form and function to a new level, offering an elegant yet essential travel tool to the traveler. The nüvi is sure to find its niche among frequent travelers who may find themselves finding their way through heavy traffic in Chicago on Tuesday and navigating the narrow sidewalks of Rome on Wednesday, with access to a spoken Italian Language Guide to boot (along with 8 other languages) along your stroll. PC Magazine calls the nüvi an “ indispensable travel companion…a portable GPS navigator, traveler’s reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one.” Garmin’s new 700 series offers the rich features found in the 600 series, but also adds multi-destination routing — which offers you the optimal route when you need to make many stops — along Garmin’s new “Where Am I?” safety feature and a sleeker form factor. The nüvi sports Garmin’s top-end GPS features, such as a brilliant touch screen, pre-loaded maps for North America, text-to-speech, which reads street names out loud when announcing turns, automatic rerouting if you miss a turn or encounter a detour, and live traffic updates.
3. Best Handheld GPS for the Back Country, Boat, or Vehicle
For the hiker, hunter, fisherman or anyone who likes to explore the
back country,
the 5-star Garmin GPSMap 60csx is powerful handheld unit that’s all about versatility and ruggedness. It’s waterproof and is an ideal choice if you’ll be in the field, on the water, and need a unit that is packed with features yet portable and durable. It also provides turn-by-turn driving directions for use in the car. It even has a “geocaching” mode. A great single unit solution to a wide range of navigation challenges. Winner of Outside Magazine’s “Gear of the Year” award.
4. Most Economical GPS for the Car
While it’s hard to beat Garmin’s nuvi series, TomTom has managed to bring entry-level to, well, a new level with the third edition of its popular ONE model. Selling below Garmin’s entry-level nuvi 200 series, TomTom packs the ONE with more features, offering great value in an easy-to-use package. Though you might miss some higher end features, like text-to-speech, the TomTom won’t disappoint as a reliable traveling companion. New to the third edition is access to live FM traffic services (requires purchase of antenna and subscription fee for TomTom PLUS services, $24.95/year). Also new is TomTom’s “Help me!” safety feature which allows you to find the location of the nearest hospital, police station, vet, dentist, pharmacy, etc. at the push of a button. Another new addition is TomTom’s “Map Share” feature which allows owners to make, submit, and download updates to their maps continuously.
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