Portable GPS Systems (Don't Order an In-Dash System When You Buy a Car) - Navigon GPS On Sale Now at $119.99

I've seen a few friends who've gotten the GPS systems built into the car dashboard, and while they look slick, I think you're paying way more than needed and getting a lot less usability. The way portable GPS systems have come to market, you'd be better off not having a system installed in your car but going for one of the smaller portable systems.

With the portable GPS systems, you get to choose a system that meets your needs rather than just taking the kind offered by the car manufacturer. And with the variety of models and levels available, you can find those that fit your needs. For some people, it's important to have text-to-speech, so the device tells you the name of the street onto which to make the turn. For some people, having it speak in a foreign language might be nice (my parents' native tongue isn't English, and perhaps a GPS that can give directions in Polish would be easier for them to use). You can get them with larger or smaller screens, depending on how important the visual is, compared with getting the directions in audio.

But having a portable one also gets you some additional flexibility. When you travel, you can bring your unit along and have it available in a rental car. First it saves money from having to rent one from the rental company (if they offer it). But it also lets you travel using one with which you're already familiar instead of wasting time learning how the rental company's unit works. After all, do you really want to spend a part of your vacation figuring out how to program a different GPS to find your destination?

A portable unit can even be used when walking around a town. If you're walking through a neighborhood and want to find out the location of, say, the nearest Chinese restaurant, most units have lots of points of interest loaded and can give you their address and distance from your current position. The GPS in your dashboard can't help you while you're taking a stroll.

As maps and points of interest get updated, the portable units allow for simpler updating with the new information, something you can do at your own PC. I'm not sure how an in-dash GPS would be updated but I'd be surprised if it's quite as straightforward (or if it's something you'd need to have the dealer do).

Finally, the best reason to stick with the portables is the price. They've come down a lot, and since there is always competition not just between the manufacturers but also between electronics stores, sale prices will often be available.

Right now there is a sale at Office Depot on the Navigon 2100 GPS system for $119.00. This is the system I purchased last Black Friday (the 2100 system on sale is the basic GPS and has an option to also subscribe to traffic reports so the device can suggest alternate routing). I've been very pleased with the performance of my Navigon. The GPS positioning has been accurate. It includes text-to-speech, so it tells me that a turn/maneuver will be coming up and state the name of the road onto which I'm making the turn. At major highway intersections, it includes a visual representation of what the road signs will look like (which can be nice if you're traveling on unfamiliar highways and want a more accurate idea of which lane to follow). It's small and easy with which to travel. Occasionally it is quirky (it always indicates it will take longer from my home to a destination because the two roads near my house are programmed in as 10 mph instead of 35 mph) but I really like this one. If you're looking for a fairly basic unit that still has a good feature range, I'd say the deal at Office Depot is a nice price. Here's the link for that offer. If you're closer to another store such as Staples (where the unit is currently priced at $199.99) you can ask them to do a price match.

I also own a Mio 310x system (that was my first GPS, and I got it at about half retail doing a price match at Staples with a coupon too). This one also has a nice feature set, although it doesn't have text-to-speech (it's just says 'turn right in 50 feet'). However, this one has 26 language choices (Italian, Polish, Greek, so many more... even English with a British accent), it includes a MP3 player so you can listen to your choice of music in between it giving you directions, it's customizable with how you want distances described (yards/feet, kilometers/meters). At the time I bought it, users complained about the maps being out of date, but Mio released an updated map to solve the problem.

The 310x is no longer their base model (although you can sometimes still find them on eBay). They now sell the Mio 220 at the base end and the 230 as the step up with text-to-speech. I haven't tested these but I would presume much of the functionality of the 310x has been kept in these newer models.

Other popular names of portable GPS systems are Garmin, Tom Tom and Magellan. They all have their own followings, and each one seems to have its own advantages. That's the best part of shopping for a portable unit. You can really compare the models, see which best fits your personal needs and then check various stores and sales to see how to get your own best price.