Behind the times I know, but my days of road tripping with a two-year-old, coffee-stained atlas are sadly and finally over.
My recent stint to Oregon to visit Crater Lake, the Pacific coast, and on up to Portland, was my first road trip complimented by the presence of a GPS Navigation System. And what a comforting presence it was – I cannot even begin to tell you. It sat there, in its windshield holder, eye level and reassuring me with its soft black gaze of maternal vigilance, consoling me in times of doubt with almost-instant knowledge of my exact location (give or take a few meters) of the rather complicated back-road system of the Northwestern United States.
My customary poor preparation has never been so inconsequential. No addresses, directions, or calculations, and only the vaguest semblance of an itinerary, I nevertheless was easily able to find my way to the nearest local whatever-pops-into-my-head: that is, camping sites, restaurants, grocery stores, and recreation spots. I always knew how far I was from where I wanted to go, and approximately how long it would take to get there. And the result was one of the least stressful road trips I have ever taken.
Since the late 90s, when the very first handheld GPS receivers for civilians were introduced, the GPS market has exploded into all kinds of devices, add-ons, hookups, upgrades, in all shapes and sizes and for a variety of applications. Initially targeted for outdoor activities, the GPS market has since been overwhelmed by what has become the ideal roadway navigator.
The most popular GPS manufacturers today are Garmin, Navigon, Magellan, Mio, and TomTom. Inundated with features, Garmin’s Nuvi 880 is the fancy choice. And with a list price of 599.99, it is also the most expensive. It’s most impressive feature is its highly accurate speech recognition system — incidentally doubling as its most prominent safety feature, as anyone foolish enough to dink around with a touch screen at 80 mph can tell you.
Also with limited speech recognition is the Navigon 7200T, and with a more affordable price of 289.99. Although it sometimes is faulted for its complicated interface, it offers an impressive variety of navigation features, and reports roadway directions with precise accuracy.
Still, GPS’s are expensive no matter what. A budget-kind alternative to these pricey devices is your very own laptop, which can be turned into a GPS with a USB device such as the DeLorme Earthmate LT-40. Or, if you are comfortable without assistance from satellites, the GPS map atlas software alone, such as DeLorme Street Atlas USA, will give you up to date info, map routing, and street-level detail. Check on prices on different packages here: SoftwareMedia GPS.
For full reviews and comparisons of other popular GPS navigation systems, visit GPS systems at Cnet.com.
