The Global Positioning System (GPS) has been a very hot gift during Christmas and even after Christmas. Due to the advancement of technology GPS has now been made affordable for common people. Yet the prices are still in a higher bracket but still much lower than historical prices. As the technology is new there are very few people who know which one is better as they do not know anyone with experience with this technology.
I will compare two products from different manufacturers to help you out in selecting the better one out of the some different types available.
I will discuss about the following two GPS system:
- Magellan Roadmate 6000T
- Garmin nüvi 350
1. Magellan Roadmate 6000T: The system comes with 3.5″ high-resolution color LCD touch screen and costs about $600.00 at Best Buy website.
Pros: The system has 4 GB hard drive with detailed built-in maps and almost 6 million points of interest. The system is SD card compatible. There is a 3.5″ high resolution color antiglare LCD touch screen with backlight. Turn by turn voice guidance is available through 12 GPS satellites which it can track simultaneously using WAAS system. With proper subscription you can get LIVE traffic reports to allow you to avoid congestion. There is also a SmartDetour which automatically calculates a detour when traffic stops for more than a couple of minutes. There are 4 selectable views which include Map View, 3D map, TrueView 3D split screen and maneuver list. There is also a music player and photo viewing abilities for added convenience. It has a built in microphone and speaker.
Cons: The zoom buttons are placed at a awkward place making it hard to use them. The Power on/off procedure is confusing. The instruction manual is very complex and hard to understand. Multi-destination routing is confusing to use.
2. Garmin nüvi 350: Garmin breaks new ground with its Garmin Nüvi 350. The price of the system is about $600 at Best Buy.
Pros: The system is small and light enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. The unit centerpiece is 3.5″ color touch screen. There is only a start switch located on the system and rests of the commands are entered via the touch screen. Lack of buttons gives the unit a sleek and uncluttered look. There is voice guided turn by turn driving direction and it boasts of the fastest satellite acquisition times and improved GPS signal reception in areas where the view of the sky may by partially obstructed. There is a MP3 player and the JPEG picture viewer with a slide show function, a world clock, currency and measurement converters. Most of the people are impressed with the Garmin Nüvi 350’s performance. The voice guided driving directions are easy to comprehend and were accurate. Garmin claims 4-8 hours of battery life, depending on factors such as MP3 playback.
Cons: The lack of buttons on the system makes it little difficult to navigate some commands such as volume. You have to go to main menu to adjust volume which could be difficult for some to do while driving. The car kit is the benefit over all the other similar products but you have to pay about $75 extra to take advantage of it. There are a lot of features like language dictionaries, travel guides and other tools on SD cards for an extra fee. All those extra fee adds up quickly.
Both of these GPS comes at about same price and both are quite different from looks. One gives all the commands accessible from outside and other gives every command from touch screen. It depends on your personal need and what type of system you prefer. Both the systems have performed well and also like any other products on the market they have there own cons.
My request to all people is to go through the pros and cons of each system and figure out whether you can live with the cons and still enjoy the system. The basic function of both the system is to give correct directions so that you do not get lost in new places. Both work very well for that and give good results. If you are looking for pocket navigation system Garmin Nüvi is a good idea. If you are looking for a car navigation system then Magellan one is good.
This is my personal experience and the results vary from person to person. I would suggest that you go through the reviews at epinions or best buy. Consumer guides also gives a good idea about which one is good. I hope you get a GP system which makes you happy and you never get lost on your way again!
