Consumer Reports guides lost GPS shoppers
A few weeks ago, Consumer Reports, alerted online readers to some really good GPS Black Friday deals. But which one should you have bought? Do you want one totally portable? Do you need speech to text capability? Should it play mp3s? Will those cool-sounding traffic alerts work in your area? CR helps the lost and confused GPS shopper get back on track with its handy guide to GPS features.While we think the magazine should have offered this useful guide before Black Friday, those of you who resisted the super-discounted units can take some comfort knowing you thoroughly researched before paying more. Then again, maybe you're just holding out for something rugged, tough and covered in rubber.
[Source: Consumer Reports]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
VP 7:32PM (12/10/2007)
Got a nice deal on a Garmin Streetpilot C340 for $210 at Walmart since it's a discontinued product. Couldn't be happier. It has text to speech & without the unnecessary bells and whistles like an MP3 player.
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YouFaceTheTick 7:42PM (12/10/2007)
3 years tops all of this will be built onto all new cell phones. The independent GPS product is dying fast.
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lordtrini 12:24AM (12/11/2007)
but who can read the gps screen on a phone and drive at the same... i cant... plus... using the mapping feature uses up air time on verizon... plus adds a 9.99 monthly fee...
SPF 8:02PM (12/10/2007)
It won't be as good though, I think. My N95 8Gb takes forever to get a signal from the satellite, unless I use A-GPS which costs me extra money.
zamafir 8:40PM (12/10/2007)
Odd, I purchased my Nuvi 3 years ago and people were claiming the same thing then. I'm not holding my breath, there are certain economies of scale and the very fundamental difference between simple easy to use OSes such as that featured on the Nuvi for example, and the rather awkward cell phones with GPS built in.
John 10:14PM (12/10/2007)
How long have cell phones been able to play MP3s? Amazingly, people still buy iPods. Will most cell phones have GPS in 3 years? Probably in some form. Will most people still have/want a stand alone GPS device? Probably in some form. Besides, in 3 years we'll all have flying cars and need much more sophisticated GPS devices.
retsel 7:50PM (12/10/2007)
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icu812ru469 10:19PM (12/10/2007)
What is a cell phone suppose to do? Make calls when you need it to. MP3, GPS, video, games, etc..... what happens after your "gadgits" drain your battery while you're on the road? You don't have a phone to use. I never understood mixing a phone with every gadget known to man.
Bought a NUVI 660 over BF for $399 and it's the best. Had a StreetPilot 2620 and beats it in 90% of everything.
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YouFaceTheTick 11:34AM (12/11/2007)
Car charger? I have an iGo that i use to power my ipod and cell phone at the same time. I used to have an indy GPS system but soon realized with my company paying for a data plan I could simply use my 8130 on Google Maps Mobile. For $45 I can get a GPS bluetooth puck too. Sold the GPS and use the phone's system linked to the puck. Google maps mobile is simply better for me and I have a couple hundred back from selling my GPS unit.
Eventually the market will dry up. With free services available online and GPS becoming prevalent on more phones (additionally the cheapness of gps/bluetooth pucks), it's becoming more evident the old stand alone GPS unit's days are numbered.
Now if only people would stop buying those stupid in-car navi units. 2k for tech and software that runs less than $200?! Manus could put in-car navi into every new cars for a couple hundred extra...it shouldn't cost users thousands.
RockStoneSteel 10:21PM (12/10/2007)
"speech to text"... huh? Don't you mean "text to speech"?
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Richard Warren 10:50PM (12/10/2007)
Cellphone 9.95 a month, no airtime charges, updated daily, includes harzardous condition avoidence. Works great larger cellphone screens good speech, great 411 ability from U.S. Cellular.
As to battery life, in the car plug in the car charger, battery charges, no need to watch the screen just listen to the directions and you can discontinue the service anytime, even works while your walking.
"Will most cell phones have GPS in 3 years?" Yes, it's a federal law for 911, might as well use the feaure for mapping and trips.
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NLN350 8:31AM (12/11/2007)
It'll be integrated in some phones alright. But people will still buy those portable gps units for their cars. Just like people are still buying those Ipods, cameras and handheld games.
Who want's to carry a phone which has a 4.3" screen? ;)
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gsolman6 10:30AM (12/11/2007)
"but who can read the gps screen on a phone and drive at the same... i cant... plus... using the mapping feature uses up air time on verizon... plus adds a 9.99 monthly fee..."
That's what really irks me: the taxpayers of this country spends millions upon millions to put up more than a dozen satellites and someone has the gall to charge money for a free transmission. Sorry the software interface doesn't cost that much and the electronics are already built into the phone.
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Otis 11:04AM (12/11/2007)
And that right there is why people do not like cell phone companies. They nickel and dime you to death. And your only options are to spend too much or way too much.
I can't wait until Google gets the 700 MHz spectrum and gives us some real options that focus on true competitive markets.
YouFaceTheTick 11:27AM (12/11/2007)
Dog it out but if you have a PDA/Wm6/Blackberry with a data plan then the days of using old school independent GPS are gone. You can use products like Google Maps Mobile for "free". And unlike the crappy stuff in most handhelds, products like google maps mobile shows you real-time traffic, sat images, google search look-up/dialing/mapping. One integrated device that achieves all the indy GPS devices can and more...
If your pda/wm6/blackberry has a built in sirf star III, then you're really in business as you can get legit routing/tracking. Otherwise you can use towers to guess your location. Either way it's "free" - assuming you're paying for data charges already.
Why bother with an extra GPS system then? The screen? Come on. Are you really looking at the maps that often?!
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JUSBEEZ 12:56PM (12/11/2007)
Doesn't this require a data plan? Doesn't that cost $40-$50 a month? ($480-$600 a year)
Steve Broback 8:10PM (12/11/2007)
Chris: We're hosting our blogger party at CES again this year, and hope you and any other autoblog writers going to Vegas can come. It's Jan 8th. Please email me or Jason (Jason AT blogbusinesssummit DOT com) and we'll shoot off the official invite and rsvp info.
Hmm. Garmin is blogging...
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Mi key 11:00PM (12/11/2007)
To the tick I total agree.
I don't get it.
These portable GPS units are getting cheaper and Factory units in cars are getting more expensive, its f***ing crazy!
I mean dealer try to charge customers $500-700 bucks on the same portable units you guys got for $200-400 bucks, Just crazy! :P
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