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I Think I Have Finally Found The Right GPS

© Barry Houseknecht

After trying several different GPS devices, I think that I have finally found the one that fits my needs the best. As I finally get to this model, it is one that is discontinued, which is good and good for me. Here is the good news, they are plentiful on Ebay and the prices are coming way down as people want to upgrade to the latest and greatest GPS units. I found the prices to be very manageable in the $175 to $250 range, and the other good news is that the manufacturer is still supporting it and selling ad-ons for it.

Ok let's start at the beginning. My first attempt at a GPS was a Garmin unit called an E_Map. A great little unit capable of tracking you in the woods as well as on the roads and interstates of America. This GPS has a lot of features in a very small package. Now, as I see it, the unit has three drawbacks.

1. A very small screen, too small for use in a car unless you have a co-pilot.

2. It is in black and white, that by itself is ok but color adds so much to the detail that it aint funny.

3. This E-map seems to use up batteries very quickly.

My next attempt at a GPS was a leap to the other side. If E-map was to small then my laptop would be the right size, right? Well I buy software, and a little antenna that turns my laptop into a walking talking color GPS. This is great it is color, and it responds to your voice commands. It talks to you, and it has a big screen. OOPs, the big screen, when you take the laptop to the car, it is to big you have to put it in the passenger seat, well this aint gonna work. This unit has everything you could want in a GPS but its size makes it not unusable in the average auto or truck.

All right we need something in between. Enter the Street finder III made by Garmin. The screen is almost 3x3 color; it is in color, has a voice that tells you when to turn next (when doing a route). There is a readout for what the next intersection is, what road you are on, how fast you are going, and much more. You can program this unit from your laptop. It is battery powered, better by far than the E-map for battery usage, or has an auto adaptor. The dash mount is quite user friendly and stays where you put it.