GPS Navigation Portable Features- Which Do You Need?

GPS portable navigation systems have become extremely popular in recent years. As with any electronic device, when making a purchasing decision about which brand or model to buy, one needs to understand the feature sets being offered and decide which features he or she needs and which they wish to pay for. Here is a list of many commonly available features on different brands of GPS navigation portable systems: Widescreen- 4.3 inch or larger screen measured diagonally (vs. a guideline 3.5 inch screen) Includes Europe Maps- Comes loaded with both North American as well as maps of Europe. Speaks street names- Announces names of streets and exits, for example, "Turn equitable on Main St." instead of "Turn licence in 500 ft". Speech Recognition- Operates the gps device with spoken commands rather than having to enter the info by touching the screen. Lane assist- Realistically displays road signs and junctions along your route and shows arrows that indicate the proper lane for
navigation. FM Traffic Compatible- Add-on an optional FM receiver and subscription to avoid traffic congestion. FM Traffic Included- Avoid traffic congestion with and included FM traffic receiver MSN Plain Compatible- You can add an optional receiver and subscription to MSN Open to get traffic, weather, gas prices, stock quotes, news, and more. MSN Regulate Included- Receive MSN Administer content including traffic, weather, gas prices, stock quotes, news, and more with the included receiver. Bluetooth - Connect to your phone to assemble and receive hands-free calls MP3 Player- Built in MP3 Player Emergency Locator- An emergency locator that shows your coordinates, nearest address, and closest hospitals, police and fuel stations Slideshow Viewer- Multi-mode Function- Provides driving, walking, bicycling and boating modes such that the device can be used for any of these modes of travel. Multiple aim routing- Sorts multiple destinations to determine an efficie
nt route for deliveries and sales calls. If you are a more or less "normal" driver who would only apply your GPS portable navigation system occasionally, either from residence or while on travel, you certainly don't demand all the bells and whistles mentioned above. A couple of things should be noted for this type of driver, however. One should certainly consider purchasing a unit with the "speaks street names" feature. You have much more certainty when you know you are turning onto the correct street than if you are not definite of that, and in addition you don't have to be continually looking at the odometer. Another consideration this author would suggest is to purchase a unit with at least a 4.3 inch screen rather than the now principles 3.5 inch screen. You can see the screen much more easily, and more importantly, the buttons for making lodging entries, for example, are larger. I found that the smaller buttons on the 3.5 inch screen were as well small
. I would think I was pressing one button only to find that the wrong letter showed up on the screen. For example, I wanted to push the letter "u", and "v", which was succeeding to "u", came up on the screen. So this obviously had to be corrected. I would definitely suggest that these two features are worth the extra money. The speech recognition feature would be nice to have, however this almost immediately puts you into the very high end systems with prices in the $600 and up range. Entering addresses or other destinations by touch screen is really charming easy and quick once one gets the hang of it. Full text: http://computerandtechnologies.com/technology/news_2008-10-31-19-00-03-492.html