So You Think You Want A GPS!

We have all the up to date latest travel information, the latest road maps, our Internet route map printed out and in hand, this years copy of Next Exit information. "Hey! Wow! Look at this the advertisement for a global positioning device (GPS) says that we can get rid of all our maps and stuff and just use one of these gizmos." That was about all it took to set the hook. So to make things a little easier, or maybe I should say interesting (difficult), for our recent 2500-mile road trip we decided to purchase a GPS unit.

Let me reflect that the buying process could become very difficult (and it did) if you let it. Here are some thoughts, but do your homework.

1. You must decide what your budget will allow. You can find units from as much as $5,000 to as little as $99.

2. Units come in all shapes and sizes, from hand held to dash mounted, some can utilize your laptop as the display, and there is also an adapter to make it possible to use your PDA as a GPS

3. What will you use the GPS for, in your vehicle or for hiking, or some combination of many things. This will help define the type you purchase, if you are going to be hiking you don't want to have to carry a laptop and if you only will be using it for road travel the larger screen might be the better choice.

4. Make sure that the information that is provided by the GPS unit is what you want and need. Some units only provide tracking information for like walking in the woods. Other units provide very extensive information such as street addresses and presented in color.

5. Check for the existence and availability of accessories and add on items some have many more than others.

6. What software comes with the unit, is it the latest and greatest? If you need to update your GPS unit or its maps does the maker charge or are the updates free. Also if the maker provides the updates how do you get them to your unit (mine you have to download them to your computer then from there to the unit).

With all that said and done we decided on a multipurpose handheld unit and purchased it from a local store. The model that we choose came with basic interstate, rest stop and exit information therefore we decided not to purchase the in-depth map CD and required memory expansion upgrade at this time. Bad move there, as this information changes almost weekly it is therefore out dated when you purchase it also the operating software was in need of an update. When we updated the operating software it did not update the basic internal maps as we hoped it would. Shudda bought the upgrade from the start.

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