Are We There Yet? My GPS Short List

For an entertaining read, check out Getting There, by Nick Paumgarten. Paumgarten looks at the current crop of navigation technologies that get you from here to there and recognizes that even though navigation systems get you from point A to point B you might not have a clue about the big picture. Ironically, you probably learned more about the big picture from a Rand McNally Atlas laid out across the kitchen table than you do from all the GPS systems combined.

While GPS (Global Positioning Systems) don't solve the big picture problem, entering your starting point and ending point and getting a voice that tells you where to go, turn-by-turn, provides an incredible sense of well-being. For most of us, knowing where we are in the big picture is nice; getting from here to there without getting lost is essential.

There are some interesting twists on the features sets in GPS products, based on where you plan to go, and how you plan to get there.  A GPS system that you'd use on a hike ought to be, at minimum, waterproof and lightweight. In the car, having a bright screen and the ability to navigate by specifying a starting and ending address takes precedence. Battery life is important if you're away from your car; downloadable maps become important if you're always traveling to different parts of the globe.

I've selected three in-car GPSs that should satisfy most of us, most of the time: Garmin Nüvi 350, Magellan RoadMate 700 and the TomTom Go. For a side-by-side look, we've rounded them up for you.