Car GPS Navigation Systems - Buy One Like A Pro!
In Car Gps Navigation Systems And How To Buy One Like A Pro!
Over rated!
That’s what I use to think about car GPS navigation systems not so long back.
If driving is a part of your job as it was for me, getting lost is simply an occupational hazard whenever you go somewhere you've never been before.
It's irritating sure but, my trusty A –Z's were well thumbed, time tested and could always be relied on to (eventually) point me in the right direction.
As far as I was concerned, those new fangled GPS navigation devices were just another fad, why shell out hundreds for something complicated when the simplicity of an A-Z would do?
Then one day I got one of those "new fangled" wonder gizmos as a birthday present!
Well! What can I say? I was blind but now I see, lost but now am found!
If you're new to the GPS scene and still fumbling around in the dark, I know the feeling so allow this enthusiastic GPS late comer to guide you into the light.
For starters don’t get the idea that car GPS navigation systems are infallible, they're not! For all of their sophistication they're no match for human common sense.
They aid and assist but you can quickly find yourself up the creek without a paddle if you allow your brain to switch off.
Ok first up, car GPS navigation systems are either built into your dash or they are of the portable variety. In a nut shell, you plug in and go on departure and unplug and take with you on arrival.
Buying one is a breeze if you do some homework and you can be boned up and ready to go in less than twenty minutes with our free beginners guide (see below)
The bare bones basics however, goes something like this;
All car GPS navigation systems use the same thirty odd satellites whizzing around thousands of miles above your head to accomplish the task of getting you from A to B.
So it should come as no surprise that at the most basic level some features are common to all of them no matter the size of the price tag.
All come with a receiver built in (that's the actual "GPS" you hear everyone talking about) and right alongside is an electronic preloaded map or maps.
Your GPS picks up signals from above which - through electronic wizardry - it uses to calculate your starting position on the map, works out a route to your destination - which you input via your touch screen interface - and marks your progress as you drive along.
All the time it's updating and scanning for alternate routes and picking whichever one will get you to journey's end the fastest.
You get a visual display of these goings on via your screen which displays the information in 2D (birds eye view) fashion or 3D (street level) plus a (hopefully) pleasant voice to direct you on your way.
Here's some more basics;
You'll have a built in Point of Interest (POI) Database which means that as you progress your display can alert you to the presence of all manner of things like hotels perhaps, restaurants, gas stations, police stations and so on and so on.
So much for the common features.
But it's the uncommon ones you're paying through the nose for at the end of the day, like for example Bluetooth which allows the use of your mobile phone with your satnav, without the use of wires.
Then there's an optional "widescreen" display for greater clarity (and they look cool!) as well as the fact that your sat nav can play MP3 audios and passengers can watch movies.
Your money also gets you a huge POI database that can do everything but sing, dance, and tuck you in at nights but the option I always look for from any POI worth its salt is speed camera alerts.
More money again possibly gets you a large hard drive (20Gb plus) useful for storing those audio tracks by the hundreds and especially so for lots of mapping, great for those who travel internationally – without this kind of capacity you'd have to be continually hooking up and download this stuff from the net.
There's more lots more!
But you've now got enough to approach the business of checking out car GPS navigation systems with more confidence than you did two minutes ago.
If you want a bit more depth though, download and read our free and popular 20 page beginners guide is available, by clicking here =>
GPS Navigation Systems Guide