Buying guide: how to buy the perfect GPS navigator
By Anne Ward
Satellite navigation used to be the exclusive domain of very expensive cars. Now anyone can afford one. But there are so many options – mobile phone-based, portable, in-car… which to choose? We show you exactly what you need to know to get the perfect GPS navigator.
GPS navigation is one of the miracles of modern technology – some people liken its impact on travelling to the emergence of Google’s search technology on the internet.
The way it works is incredible: it picks up signals being constantly pinged to earth from 30 global positioning satellites orbiting the Earth and works out based on the fractional delay in signals from different satellites exactly where you must be. The satellites were launched into the space by the United States for military purposes in 1973, but have since been opened up for civilian use.
A GPS navigator matches your location to an electronic map provided by a mapping provider such as Sensis (a division of Telstra) or Navteq (a division of Nokia). It then evaluates thousands of different routes to get you to your destination and picks the fastest one.
From that point, it gives you live turn-by-turn spoken navigation, so you can keep your eyes on the road and get to your destination without a stressed moment ever again.
The most recent GPS navigators add helpful features like speed and red-light camera warnings, can help you find businesses in a specific area (e.g. “take me to the nearest petrol station”, or “take me to a florist on the way to my destination”.)
The first time you turn a GPS navigator on (and each time you turn it on if it hasn’t been used for a while) it must first scan all the satellite signals and acquire a lock. This can take two or three minutes, however each subsequent time you turn it on, it will lock on to the signals within just a few seconds. Some navigator brands allow you to connect your navigator to a computer to periodically download satellite orbit information to allow it to aquire a lock more quickly.
The major choices
You major choices when looking to buy a GPS navigator are:
- Purchased with a new car – car manufacturers’ GPS navigation systems are certainly the most nicely integrated with all your car’s features. However, expect to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege. On some pricier models of car, the cost of manufacturer GPS navigation can run to as much as $10,000 – $15,000.
- Professionally installed – the next best thing compared to factory-installed GPS navigation is systems from companies like Panasonic and Pioneer that can be professionally and permanently installed into your car. They integrate with a car audio and video system, and you never have to take them out of your car for security, since they’re hard to steal. These generally cost several thousand dollars.
- Portable – portable GPS navigators are the most popular category, because they are cheap, effective and can be moved easily from car to car. Good brands of portable navigator cost from around $350 upwards, and top out at around $800. Don’t get sucked into buying a “no-name” brand for less than $300, because you may struggle with a poorly designed user interface or miss out on software and map upgrades over time.
- Mobile phone – numerous mobile phone manufacturers (most visibly, Nokia) are building fully fledged GPS navigation into their phones. The upside is you can be sure you’ll always have your GPS navigator with you when you need it, but the downside is a much smaller screen for the map, and possibly a more fiddly interface to input your destination details.
- PDA – a less popular option these days is purchasing GPS navigation software to run on an existing PDA or mobile phone. It’s still worth considering if you really want to get into GPS navigation as cheaply as possible, but the big downside is that your PDA or phone may not have a loud enough speaker mode for turn-by-turn spoken navigation, and it may also be troublesome mounting the phone on the windscreen.
Where do you get the maps?
Most navigators come with maps included for the region you’re buying in. For example, if you’re buying in Australia, you generally get Australia-wide maps included. These are produced by just a few providers worldwide, so the mapping quality across all the devices is reasonably equivalent (though how the devices use the maps to plot routes may vary depending on how good the software on the device is.)
However one area where different brands of navigator differ substantially is in international mapping options. For example, some brands of navigator can provide maps of Australia, but do not have maps for other regions. Or you might find that although the brand you’re looking at has maps for Australia and the US, Europe and Asia are not yet available.
Map updates are another area to be aware of. It’s far more important on an electronic navigator to have an up-to-date map than the old days of street directories. It can be significantly dangerous if your navigator suddenly instructs you to turn right while you’re travelling over a newly built bridge, or tells you to turn into a street that used to be two-way but has since become one way. Some lesser known budget brands of navigator may not provide easy map update options, whereas the more established brands will.
Do you need Bluetooth?
Some navigators have Bluetooth built in, which allows you to connect your Bluetooth-compatible mobile phone and use the navigator’s speaker as a handsfree telephony device.
At the time of writing this feature was only available on high-end navigators that cost around $700 – $800, so it’s a feature that you should pay for only if you want it.
Traffic congestion alerts
The very latest navigators can access traffic congestion broadcasts so they can avoid congested roads when plotting the fastest route. This is called “Transportation Management System” (TMS) capability and requires both a paid subscription to the TMS service as well as a GPS navigator capable of receiving the signals. TMS signals are broadcast over FM frequencies, so your GPS navigator needs to have an FM antenna for the TMS system in addition to its inbuilt GPS antenna.
Screen size
Some navigators boast increased screen size over basic models. You might wonder why this is worth paying for when most of the time you won’t be looking at the onscreen map, but will instead be following the spoken instructions.
The answer is that the bigger the screen, the bigger the keys on the onscreen keyboard. When tapping in a destination using the touchscreen, it can often be quite fiddly to hit the right keys (especially when contending with a steering wheel in the car’s cabin). A larger keyboard makes a GPS navigator considerably more enjoyable to use because you’ll be able to type destination addresses in with ease.
Inbuilt camera
One feature of GPS navigators that seems to polarise people is an inbuilt camera so you can save your destinations along with a picture of the scene upon arrival. This allows you to then browse destinations later by photo rather than just name. Some people swear by the usefulness of the feature (especially since you can download other users’ pictures and install collections of scenic places in particular regions etc for special holidays) while other people say it’s a gimmick that adds nothing to your navigation. I’ll let you decide!
Reversing cameras
Pricier GPS’ can be connected to a small camera on your windscreen providing a view out the back of your car. This is very handy for parking and spotting small children before you run them over!
Special types of GPS
In-car GPS isn’t the only place GPS technology is being applied. If you’re a bikie, cyclist, avid bushwalker, or fisherman, you’ll find there are special GPSes designed just for you.
For example, the TomTom Rider GPS for bikes is weather proof, has Bluetooth capability that can link to a headset in your helmet, is encased in rubber for durability against knocks, has an ultra-bright screen for use in direct sunlight and so on.
GPS units for walkers have comprehensive walking track databases, place extra emphasis on compass and altitude information, may be able to record your walking routes and then plot them onto maps for you later, and may connect to a heart rate monitor.
Marine GPS units have sea-floor depth maps, can interface with sonar and weather units, and can plot routes that avoids obstacles, shallow water, buoys and other obstructions.
Don’t forget to check the accessories
Most dedicated GPS navigators come with decent windscreen mounts and a car charger, but you may want to buy an additional set of them so you can use the navigator in a second car without having to unplug and pack everything up.
Mobile phones and PDAs are more troublesome, though some mobile manufacturers such as Nokia which are heavily committed to GPS navigation also make affordable windscreen mounts available in retailers.
Music/photos/video playback
In the cut-throat race for supremacy in the GPS navigator market, some manufacturers have started adding iPod-style features to their navigators, including music, photo and video playback. While some people may find this useful, the feedback from most people is that it’s a finicky distraction to the real task at hand – navigation. But weigh up the options as you see fit – it might be more useful to you if the GPS navigator you’re looking at has an audio connector to the car-stereo, for example, rather than just using the inbuilt speaker.
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