What is GPS?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigational system that can pinpoint your location on earth. GPS has its origin as a military project that was conceived in 1973 by the US Department of Defence. In the 1980s GPS was made available for commercial use.
Today the GPS system is made up of 24 [...]
Garmin Ltd
Garmin is a leading provider of GPS navigation systems and technology. The company manufactures GPS systems for both the consumer electronics market and the aviation industry. Garmin GPS systems are used for in-car navigation, avionics, boating, fishing and for other recreational purposes.
TomTom Inc
TomTom is company based in Netherlands, now operating in [...]
Laptop based GPS Systems
Laptop based GPS systems are relatively cheap compared with other standalone GPS units. In these systems the map and software are loaded into the laptop hard drive. The only accessory that you need is a simple receiver that can connect to your computer (via USB or serial ports).
The mapping software loaded into [...]
PDA based Systems
A PDA which stands for Personal Data Assistant is a hand held device that has trimmed down features of a Personal Computer.
A PDA that uses the Palm OS software is usually known as a Palm Computer, while PDA the uses the Microsoft mobile operating system is called a Pocket PC.
Buying a PDA based [...]
Sports / Training Units
Sports enthusiast or training athletes will find wearable units very useful. These units can be worn in the wrist like watches.
They have many integrate features such as heart rate monitors, lap/racing timers, calorie count monitors, and virtual partner software that allows you to set your workout target and objectives.
Many wearable units come [...]
Car GPS systems
Car GPS systems come in two flavours
1. Portable Add-on units
Many people now a days use a portable unit (see above) in automobiles. Most of the portable units come with accessories that allow the user to use them in a vehicle. These accessories include suction cup to attach the unit to the windshield, car [...]
Portable Units
Portable GPS units can be used in car or by a pedestrian.
Lower end portable models may have small screen sizes and little memory capacity. Due to their limited memory capacity they can only store maps of a specific region. It may not be possible to store the whole map of a country like the [...]
The basic units are just the plain old receiver with minimal set of features. A basic unit can be bought for around 100 dollars.
These simple devices have the basic functionality of reporting the location in terms of latitude and longitude. They may also have a base map (a very high level map that contains major [...]
What features to look for when shopping for a GPS system
Maps
Your navigation experience depends a great deal on the quality of your electronic maps. Today most of the GPS systems come preloaded with maps. The maps that come preloaded with your system may not be detailed street level maps.
An alternative may be to buy a [...]
Buyer Guide
What type of GPS system is right for you?
Even though GPS systems are straight forward and easy to use devices, many people are confused in selecting the right GPS system. Choosing the right GPS Navigation System is a real challenge.
There are different types of GPS systems catering for the needs of different users and [...]