Gadget Girl

When I first began traveling, I had pulled out a map, found my starting and ending points, and drew in the route with a marker. I graduated to printed Yahoo! directions to – finally – having a global positioning satellite (GPS) device. For a person with absolutely no sense of direction, my GPS has been a savior.

I have one of the first-generation GPS’s, and while I love my TomTom, it lacks some options I will be looking for when I upgrade – namely street by street navigation. I find it hard to eyeball “turn left in 500 yards” when faced with several intersections within that 500 yard radius.

On a recent cross-country trip my son and I took, I programmed the location and off we went. I still had Yahoo! directions and my son programmed his (Verizon) phone with the directions. Between the TomTom and the telephone, the directions were similar although the TomTom did choose a more circuitous route. The Yahoo! map closely followed the phone’s route.

Before looking to buy a stand-alone GPS device, check with your cell phone carrier to see: 1) what service they offer; 2) the price; and 3) the commitment you need to make to the service. If you’re only traveling for a month or so, make certain you can activate, and de-activate without penalty. Having your GPS in your phone will cut down on the amount of gadgets you need to carry around.

For anyone looking to either upgrade or purchase a GPS, here are some things to consider.

• If you’re making short jaunts choose a lower end model. If you travel long distances then consider a more option-packed device.
• Where will the GPS attach to your vehicle? Many attach via a suction cup to the dash or the windshield. Keep in mind, in some states it’s illegal to mount devices on the dash or windshield.
• Are map upgrades critical? If you’re using your GPS for local travel, you may not be concerned with maps that aren’t up to date. If, however, you are traveling longer distances, you may want up to date map functionality.
• Look for text to speech functionality. Most GPS devices offer this. You don’t want to constantly eyeball the device to see where the next intersection is. Also, street-by-street nav is a desirable feature.
• The Points of Interest (POI) feature that comes built into many devices allows the user to plug in POIs such as gas stations, grocery stores or amusement parks without having to program the street address.
• Check out the usability before you buy. Is it easy to program? Easy to read? Easy to program?
• Consider the device’s weigh. You may never take it out of your car (although do keep it out of sight when you’re not in the car), consider whether you’ll be hiking on your vacation, if so, you can use your device when out trekking through the woods.

I admit that one of the options I like with my device is the option to select the voice I want to offer me directions. Have fun on shopping for your gadget and happy travels!

Any items you’d like to see discussed? Any gadget issues you want addressed? Any gadget must-haves or never-buys? Let me know. Write to me at thegadgetgirl@ymail.com