Advice on buying a GPS widget...

[pwaldron]

The go community has a number of gadget-lovers in its midst, and so I come to you for help.

I'd like to buy a GPS system as a gift and really have no idea what to look for. The recipient lives in North America, but will be traveling to Europe this summer so I'd like to get something that will be good for both. He also enjoys fishing, so something that would do double duty on the boat would be nice.

Any suggestions as to either brand or models? Any features particularly necessary? Any makers to avoid?

[hyperpape]

I don't buy many gadgets these days, but I've been really impressed by the Wirecutter, which is a one-man website devoted to choosing the best gadgets in a given category. For some products, I'd want an exhaustive comparison, but if not, I'd just look at that site.

Here's his car GPS piece: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-be ... n-2455lmt/. I think that one comment hints that it can be extended to maps for Europe, but I'm not sure.

[tj86430]

In GPS widgets there are three things to look at:
- maps
- features
- UI

1. Maps: all maps come from two different sources, and they are in practice equally good. What you need to look at is coverage: which countries are covered, and, in some cases, how well (for instance some devices only have main cities and roads of Eastern Europe). Also, you may want to look at whether you can purchase additional maps, and if yes, at what price. What do updates cost, or do you get free updates for a period of time?

2. Features: There are all kinds of interesting features, some useful, some not. Do you want to use the device as hands-free for your phone via bluetooth? Do you want to be able to receive traffic announcements? etc. The list is becoming endless. Also note, that some features may require extra services (with fee) to work.

3. UI: How easy it is to type an address? What do you want to see on the screen? Do you want to customize your screen? Unfortunately it usually requires that you can fiddle with the device to get a feeling whether you like the UI or not.

To answer your specific questions:

- I don't think you can find a device, that works well both in car and in boat
- TomTom, Garmin, Navigon are popular brands, with which you probably wont fail too miserably.

[CnP]

I have a TomTom, which is only for use in my car - it's not suitable or designed for handheld use, e.g. going walking. I also have a Garmin GPS which is not suitable for use in the car and only suitable for walking. More expensive models Garmin GPSs than I have can be loaded with OS maps and presumably US equivalents (you just need to change the position units to get mine to work with US maps I think - which is very easy).

I don't know about every model they make, but this is my general impression of the market in the UK.

Of course, a smart phone can do both. I've not heard any argument that says the specialist gadget has a better GPS signal, perhaps there's a battery life issue. I'd probably trust a Garmin more than my phone though.

[wms]

Of course, a smart phone can do both. I've not heard any argument that says the specialist gadget has a better GPS signal, perhaps there's a battery life issue.

I've had two smart phones with GPSes. One was significantly more accurate than the other.

Battery life is an issue, but for most popular smart phones you can buy third party extra large batteries that should be able to get you through a lot of GPS use. Another problem with a smart phone is that you may lose some functionality when you are outside of phone range. If you get a SIM-based phone, you can pretty easily get pay as you go sim cards almost anywhere in the world, but if you are fishing in a remote location you would need to remember to pre-download maps of the area where you intend to go.

But I think that this is fairly irrelevant to the original question. It sounds like pwaldron really wants to get his friend a dedicated GPS, not a GPS-equipped smartphone.

[CnP]

Ok, yes it's probably an irrelevant question then (I was paying attention), but 'can my phone do it or do I need to buy a specialist device?' is a question I ask myself now more and more.

My only other contribution then is to point out that you might be surprised at how much the map data costs in the UK if you are only used to the US - your map data is free I think? The ordinance survey data (OS) is very expensive. But I'm sure this is old news to everyone, so apologies. I don't know about the rest of Europe (hey we're an island). GPS just for roads is fine, of course.

[mdobbins]

Ok, yes it's probably an irrelevant question then (I was paying attention), but 'can my phone do it or do I need to buy a specialist device?' is a question I ask myself now more and more.

I have made the transition from a dedicated GPS to my smart phone with the Waze app. It has some social features, like locating speed traps, accidents, traffic jams, etc. Check it out.