Arguably the finest inventions of late that is basically good for something is the portable GPS unit. Whether you are on an extended road vacation or just heading somewhere near to home you'll adore using a GPS to steer you along the way! Do i have a soft spot in my heart for TomTom for some reason? Yeah actually, but just because it is the only brand that I've used so far.

My spouse and I enjoy going on weekend excursions with our kids to places that we can drive to. I am the driver and my spouse is the navigator, problem is she likes to sleep while I drive. There have been occasions where she's been sleeping and I have missed a turn, and one or two where we've been confused with the directions we printed online . How great it would have been to have a GPS to show us which way to go with nice big arrows and voice commands!

Transportable GPS have been about for some time now and just keep getting better. Like any other electronics, they are way expensive when new in the store, but now you can get yourself a great GPS unit for rather less than you might think.

One of the first models like the cheap TomTom One XL is still a good buy today, and it's a 3rd of it's retail price. The neat thing about GPS is that you can simply update the maps thru the TomTom web site so that the unit really never does become out of date. If you are pleased with the functionality of the unit and you do not need any of the extra features of the newest and best, then why pay for what you do not need?

If you are a heavy user of a movable GPS and can use all of the awe-inspiring features that are presently available then your luck is in. TomTom at this time has units like the Go 740 Live, that might not only steer you to your destination, but you may make hands-free calls via Bluetooth, get real time traffic, gas prices, searching powered by Google through wifi, voice recognition and more!

Should I even purchase a GPS? So many phones have it built in, what's the point? Not everyone has a cellphone with GPS capabilities, so yup there are tons of us that need a real GPS unit. The cool thing about purchasing a portable GPS is that you don't have to pay extra monthly fees like you would if you upgraded your phone to something with GPS built in. Mull it over, $30 additional every month for Internet on your phone or an one time purchase of one or two hundred dollars? Of course if you are looking to save far more, you could buy a cheap TomTom GPS for even less than that!

The one query that remains is what takes place when more people keep getting iPhones and others like Androids with inbuilt GPS in the phone? Little need for another movable GPS… Does this mean the end of Garmin and others? Only time will tell us for sure!