The Spring starts up the driving season, and it’s also Dads and Grads time too. Here are a few of the hotter GPS units on the market that offer a lot of value.

As your budget allows, I recommend features that make a GPS much easier to use: Text to Speech, and a widescreen in that order. Other additions such as Traffic, Bluetooth Handsfree, etc. are definitely nice to have.

Standard Screen Units

• Garmin Nuvi 270 – $139 – Has US and Western Euro Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but if you are heading to Europe and need a unit, this is a great deal.
• Garmin Nuvi 250 – $104 – Has North American Maps pre-loaded. No Text to Speech, but is great deal for Garmin quality.
• Garmin Nuvi 260 – $134 – Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Adds Text to Speech.
• Garmin Nuvi 255 – $149 – Down a bit in the last few weeks – Has North American Maps pre-loaded. Has Text to Speech. Adds new interface that updates the look and feel; significant usability upgrade in my mind. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes.
• TomTom ONE 130 – $112 this week, North American Maps, and a high quality TomTom Interface. Very easy to use at a low price. Does not have Text to Speech. Upgrade to the TomTom ONE 130-S for Text to speech at $119 – very cheap upgrade for text to speech. Possibly the best value out there for cheap Text to Speech.

Widescreen Units – 4.3-inch or larger

• Garmin Nuvi 255W – $179 – Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. More Info – See my Full Review on the Nuvi 255W.
• Garmin Nuvi 265WT – $222 – Text to speech, improved interface, maps of North America. Supports ecoRoute gas saving driving routes. Adds free lifetime TMC traffic to the base 255W model features. Very good buy here.
• Garmin Nuvi 760 – $199 – Down $10 in the last week or so – Thin design with Text to Speech and Maps of North America. Route Optimization – plug in multiple stops and let the unit optimize the route for fastest planning, adds Bluetooth handsfree and built-in TMC traffic. Slightly older interface (still has updated maps though). See My Full Review of the Nuvi 760.
• Nuvi 205W at Amazon $151 – Entry Level Widescreen – No Text to Speech, Continental US Maps. See My Full Review – Nuvi 205W.
• TomTom ONE XL 330S – $160 – the new Basic Widescreen for the TomTom line, Maps of North America, new Easy Port fold flat mount, and text to speech. See my Full Review for more information.
• Garmin Nuvi 855 – $299 after $200 off at Costco. This is a widescreen unit with Text to speech but also utilizes Voice Command capabilities that allow you to enter commands without having to tap the screen. Very good price for this highly capable unit.
• TomTom GO 740 LIVE – $317 – an internet connected GPS that has robust traffic reporting and is Google connected for interest search. Has Gas prices updates and comes with 3 months free connected service; about $10/ mo after that.

Rebate ALERT

• The Garmin Forerunner 405 – $296 after $50 Mail in Rebate – And as I mentioned the other day – Buy the Garmin Forerunner 405, get the $50 rebate AND a Free Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch too.
• The Garmin Forerunner 405CX that adds a calorie burning calculation. It will ship June 8th, and has the same $50 rebate deal and same Free Forerunner 50 deal. $319 after Mail in Rebate.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:GPS Steals and Deals – 5/31

Just in time for summer cruisin’ – Midnight has arrived in the Garmin Garage. This low-slung cruiser has style for miles. And the attitude to back it up. Midnight looks great in the Garmin Garage and it will look even better on your nüvi. Plan a new route to the Garmin Garage and grab Midnight before the sunsets.

Source: Garmin
Read more here:
Garmin Garage: It’s Midnight

TomTom has finally made the new NAVIGATOR 7 available for Windows Mobile; available for purchase to all end-users instead of bundling it with certain HTC phones.

You can either download after paying £ 35 or get it on a microSD card for £ 90. The current list of compatible devices include

• HTC P3600
• HTC P3470
• HTC Touch Cruise
• HTC Touch Cruise II
• HTC Touch HD
• HTC Touch Pro
• HTC TyTN II
• O2 XDA Diamond Pro
• O2 XDA Guide
• O2 XDA Orbit 2
• Orange P4550
• Orange SPV M700
• SFR s300+
• Swisscom XPA1615
• T-Mobile MDA Vario III
• T-Mobile MDA Vario IV
• Vodafone XPA1615

And the maps cover maps of western European countries. However you can also purchase maps other countries ranging from Mexico to New Zealand.

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Source: Navigadget
Read more here:TomTom NAVIGATOR 7

Thinkware iNAVI ES300 is the latest GPS navigation system from the company. Get this though; this beauty is considered low-end in South Korea! It has a big 7″ screen, supports split views to show you amazing realistic 3D intersection view, as well as vicinity map with 3D buildings.

Thinkware jumped on the green band wagon and included the ECO Drive function which is supposed to discourage you from driving like a maniac and get you the most efficient route to your destination. As far as hardware this “low-end” GPS navigation system features brushed aluminum looking keypads, comes with 2, 4, or 8GB of space, has a nice 900mAh battery, and the ability to read SD cards. It costs somewhere between $260 and $340 depending on the storage space… via

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

Source: Navigadget
Read more here:Thinkware iNAVI ES300

While Garmin runners Adam and Jake (plus Jake’s wife Jocie) are likely kicked back poolside in sunny Cali, resting their legs for tomorrow’s San Diego Marathon, I’ll sorta be doing the same, only from the ‘burbs of KC. My justification for pool time is recovering from a hot & hilly brick workout with the Forerunner 310XT several hours ago. Jake recapped the highlights of the 310XT’s swim-proofness, long battery life and multisport features, and I have to give a plug for the new quick-release mount design. The quick-release wrist and bike mounts (sold as an optional accessory kit) are easy to set up and the unit secures with just a quarter-turn twist. So I can swap the 310XT head unit from wrist to bike in seconds and know it’s secure. I’m also a big fan of the 310XT’s vibration alert. These little perks just prove that Garmin engineers, many of whom are athletes who live and breathe the sport just like you, think of pretty much everything.

Since the 310XT can swim but I don’t, I can’t speak to its in-the-water performance, but I do know that one of the software engineers used it for his first tri of the season two weeks ago and was very impressed. Jake promised to take the 310 for a cool-down dip in the Pacific after the marathon, just like we did after our Hood to Coast relay last August. Maybe someday I’ll take the plunge. Until then, I’m content to use the 310XT for my duathlon training and racing. Check out links to my data in Garmin Connect from today’s workout: run 1, bike, run 2. Currently, Garmin Connect stores individual legs as separate activities, but a later release will link them together so you can analyze multisport workouts as a single activity.

Source: Garmin
Read more here:
Peg’s Posts: The multi-talented Forerunner 310XT

Source: Garmin
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Rockin’ and rollin’ with Forerunner 310XT at San Diego Marathon