GPS Costs-Price vs. Features
GPS costs can vary greatly depending on the features you want. We will be looking at GPS costs and features for automotive GPS. Most GPS units come with such things as touch screens but many other features directly drive the cost of the GPS unit.
Some of the feature to look at and compare between models would be:
- Screen Size- As you can imagine, the larger the screen, the higher the GPS costs. A large screen can be helpful although,if you are driving I would hope that you are not trying to look at the screen.
- Preloaded Street Maps- This one is pretty easy, just be sure the maps loaded in the GPS unit are for your region. It would do you no good to drive in the U.S. and have European maps loaded in you GPS.
- High Sensitivity Receiver- This is available on most mid to high range devices, you may have to do some hunting to find the feature on lower end models.
- FM Transmitter- This allows the audible directions to be broadcast through your car stereo speakers. One downside with this feature, while in a large metropolitan area it can prove frustrating. Due to a larger number of radio stations in the area, you may experience quite a bit of interference.
- Voice Prompts -with and without spoken street names- Since almost all GPS units offer spoken instructions there is a difference between the high end models and the budget models. While a lower end model may simply say turn “right in 100 yards” a higher end model might give more explicit instructions such as ” turn right on Main Street in 100 yard”. This is a very useful feature and should be considered strongly when shopping.
- Real Time Traffic Detection and avoidance.- While not available on all after market GPS devices, this is a nice feature. But expect to pay for this luxury.
- MP3 Player- Yes some GPS units are capable of being used as an MP3 player. If you choose a unit with this function, check that it has an expandable memory capabilities such as a microSD slot.
While there are the basic features available on today’s units, more and more bells and whistles are being added. One basic rule to go by is that if it is a newer bell or whistle it drive up GPS costs.
Finding the right GPS unit for you may take a little time but after you do you will never be lost again. One way to save money is to look at refurbished units such as those available at buy.com.
