Chosing a GPS System

 

By Chris Bibby

 

 

Chosing a GPS system can be a bit of a daunting task, there’s so much out there in the market these days that its all too easy to get baffled by the all of the whizbangery.

 

Before we have a look at the various systems available, the first thing you need to determine is what you are going to be using the GPS for. Do you want a plug in and go system that requires minimal setting up? Do you require off road mapping? Do you require voice prompted turn by turn navigation? Do you want to be able to take the GPS out of the vehicle? Do you want a big screen to view all the maps on? All these questions and more need to be answered to determine the best GPS system for you.

 

Consumer GPS systems on the market today can be broken down into the following categories, Hand Held GPS, In Car Navigators, PDA’s and Laptop/CarPC. We’ll have a look at each of the categories and their respective benefits and caveats as well as a couple of systems that are on the market.

 

Lightweight, all in one handheld units that have a proprietory operating system and independent power supply, these tend to be the most common types of GPS units available on the market today. Popular bands include Magellan and Garmin.

 

Benefits of these systems include

 

 

Disadvantages of these systems include

 

These units are best suited to entry level users and bushwalkers, canoeists and others who require a rugged portable unit.

 

 

This is magellans entry level handheld GPS and retails for $250.

 

Magellan claim it to be rugged, pocket sized, lightweight and easy to use.

 

This system has a map plotter type interface, which whilst cannot display maps, shows your position relative to waypoints on the display.

 

For $360 in the Magellan range you get the next model up, a rugged pocket sized lightweight and easy to use handheld GPS with Maps. Megallen claim this to contain a base map of Australia featuring highways, main roads, parks, waterways, airstrips and more.

 

The maps are pretty basic, the screen is monochrome (not colour) and only 2.28” in size, it is a great entry level mapping GPS, and great for getting from say Perth to Bunbury, but not so great for getting from Perth to Elachbutting Rock.

 

Similar in specification to the 200, and retailing at $420, the 210 comes with a USB port and PC style file management system for loading Magellan compatible maps.

 

Screen size is still a tiny 2.28” and four level gray scale. But this is a good cheap entry level solution for someone wanting to get into moving map navigation.