| So what brought us to the point of asking, | | | | routes. Shortest is not always fastest if |
| "Do we buy the Garmin StreetPilot c340 or do | | | | every other car is trying to use that road. |
| we buy the TomTom One 3rd edition". | | | | |
| | | | - Does it have text to speech capability, |
| Maybe you too are in the market for a | | | | i.e., the audible voice actually speaks out |
| portable vehicle GPS system. We were looking | | | | the street names instead of "take next |
| for one in the under three hundred dollar | | | | right". This is useful when streets are close |
| range. This article tells a little of our | | | | together and keeps you from being confused or |
| story and how we went about narrowing our | | | | distracted from your driving. "Turn at Main |
| search down between these two units. | | | | Street" is preferable to "turn at the next |
| | | | right turn". It is also nice to be able to |
| This past summer we had the opportunity to | | | | change the "voice" of the computer generated |
| use a portable GPS on our trip to the coast. | | | | speaker/guide. |
| I was not especially impressed the first | | | | |
| several hours of use as we were primarily | | | | - Is the face plate readable and glare |
| traveling on Interstate roads, and those of | | | | free--from different angles and in bright sun |
| which we were quite familiar. As we got | | | | light, as well as at night time; can you |
| closer to our vacation area, the Interstate | | | | adjust the brightness of the display at |
| stopped and we were forced to take two lane | | | | night. |
| country roads the rest of the way to the | | | | |
| beach. This was an area we had not | | | | - Does the unit have an internal rechargeable |
| specifically gone to before and had it just | | | | battery. Is there a car adapter for |
| been me and our map, we would have been quite | | | | recharging as well as an AC plug to use |
| lost! Our GPS delivered us directly to our | | | | inside your home. |
| hotel, going so far as to tell us which side | | | | |
| of the road it was on (that, I think I could | | | | - Preloaded map databases should be included. |
| have figured out). | | | | Most come with all of USA preloaded, but the |
| | | | degree of detail may vary from one model to |
| Later in the week the "hook was set" when we | | | | another. |
| decided to try out a new restaurant about one | | | | |
| hour south of where we were staying. Not | | | | - Real time traffic reporting is a nice |
| only did the GPS "find" our restaurant in its | | | | feature; unfortunately the current technology |
| POI (points of interest) data base, but it | | | | is dependent on the timeliness of local |
| routed us there, telling us how far it was | | | | traffic reporting networks. |
| and how long it would take to get there. I | | | | |
| was quite skeptical of the time element, | | | | - Watch for included extra features such as |
| knowing the reputation for bumper to bumper | | | | bluetooth capability, MP3 player, FM |
| tourist traffic, but our new GPS friend | | | | transmitter, and iPod connections. You may |
| proved to be right and strategically routed | | | | want these, or you may want a less expensive |
| us around the heavy traffic on some back | | | | unit without these. |
| roads we would never have taken on our own. | | | | |
| | | | - Check out the available mounting hardware |
| We returned from our trip and began the | | | | -- look for this to come with the unit. |
| search for our own portable vehicle GPS | | | | |
| systems to keep in our cars. These are the | | | | When trying to decide which GPS system to buy |
| guidelines we used in our search. | | | | for our vehicles we found both of these |
| | | | units, the Garmin c340 and the TomTom One to |
| - Size of unit -- Portability was important | | | | be pretty similar in their features. The |
| to us. The size, if too big can hinder you | | | | TomTom lacks text to speech capability, but |
| moving it from one car to another (or if too | | | | also runs fifty to eighty dollars less than |
| big, keep you from using it in a pedestrian | | | | the Garmin. The TomTom has Home software so |
| situation) | | | | that you can update your unit database |
| | | | through your own computer. Both are touch |
| - Does it allow you to choose between | | | | screen driven and small enough to carry with |
| shortest routes, fastest route or toll free | | | | you if walking around in an unfamiliar town. |