garmin gps

In this article, "Garmin GPS Comparison," I'm going to give you an overview of Garmin's GPS products, what they do and about how much they run. I'll also compare Garmin's main models to Magellan's and tom Tom's. With that information, you'll be able to more easily pick the right Garmin product for you.

Just so you know, Garmin is not the only GPS manufacturer out there. The two other industry leaders are Magellan and Tom Tom. There are many other manufacturers of GPS systems besides these three. They make good products, but I guess I'm a little biased toward industry leaders when it comes to electronic gadgets.

If you want to know more about Tom Tom's and Magellan's products, stay tuned. I write a lot about GPS devices, and I'm sure I'll have overviews of their lines coming soon.

Back to Garmin.

Before we launch into a discussion of Garmin products, let's talk about what GPS receivers do, what basic features you can expect from any manufacturer, and what are the upgrades.

Basic features of any after-market, GPS system:

• Touch screen map with 2d and 3d views
• Auto-calculation of routes, fastest or shortest
• Database of Point of Interest (POIs)
• Pre-loaded with maps

Usually, you get a few more standard bells and whistles, such as digital picture viewer capability, and audiobook capability. It's all according to the manufacturer.

Main Upgrades are:

• 4.3-inch, widescreen
• Saying street names
• More maps
• Much larger database of POIs
• Bluetooth integration
• Real-time traffic and weather
• Multiple route calculation

Garmin GPS Comparison

Garmin's GPS systems are priced competitively with Magellan's and Tom Tom's. All three of these manufacturers have base models that start around $150. With Garmin, their introductory model is the Nuvi 200, which has all the basic features I mentioned above. In comparison, the Nuvi 200 does about the same thing as the Magellan Maestro 3100 and the Tom Tom One.

If you want more bells and whistles, you can upgrade to the Garmin Nuvi 350. With the 350 you get more maps, more POIs, and real-time traffic capability. Currently the Nuvi 350 runs around $200. This would be approximately comparable to the Magellan Maestro 3250, which does essentially the same for essentially the same price.

Garmin has two popular series of automotive, after-market GPS systems, the Nuvi and the older StreetPilot. The Nuvi's are sleeker than the StreetPilots. The StreetPilots, however, offer a few features that the Nuvi's do not.

Garmin's top of the line Nuvi is the 770, which comes with everything--maps of the United States, Canada, and Europe, real-time traffic, Bluetooth, and more. Currently the Nuvi 770 runs around $600. If you want to switch to their StreetPilot line, you can get what might be considered the most fully featured automotive GPS device on the market, the StreetPilot 7500. This baby does it all--and it's going to set you back a cool $1,000. (But for the size of the screen and the features, it's worth it!)

Conclusion

I'm not saying you have to buy a Garmin. Magellan and Tom Tom make great GPS devices. But Garmin is the industry leader, by far!

To learn more about GPS devices, what they do and how much they cost, you need an informative website.