Car GPS Systems

Car GPS systems or Sat Navs as they are popularly called have revolutionized the way we travel by car forever. Before the launch of car GPS systems, if you wanted to drive around in an unfamiliar city or travel between city and towns on unfamiliar roads you had to depend on detailed maps either found in local driving guides like the once omnipresent London A-Z or maps which had been downloaded from sites like www.yahoomaps.com and www.mapquest.com. Now thanks to the introduction of car GPS systems which are often voice controlled those days of peering over maps and squinting in the dark to read unfamiliar road signs are behind us.

A car GPS system uses satellite signals to determine your location and helps you to get from point A to point B easily with a series of vocal instructions and visual displays in the form of street maps. These units even indicate of points of interest such as petrol stations, ATMs and local landmarks. There are two types of car GPS systems that are available in the market today these are built–in and portable and handheld systems. Handheld car GPS systems are easily portable and can be used in any car. However their screens tend to be smaller than built-in GPS systems and they usually attach to the dashboard of a car with Velcro etc. The portables usually have plugs for 12 volt outlets or attachments which hook it to the cigarette lighter of a car. They are priced more reasonably than in-car GPS systems.

Most in-car GPS systems need to be professionally installed and often fit in the slot of car's dashboard which is reserved for the installation of a CD player. However these in-built car GPS systems which often carry hefty price tags come loaded with other accouterments like CD and DVD players so your entertainment options are not sacrificed for the sake of navigation.

TomTom, Garmin and Magellan are three companies whose portable GPS systems have gained much popularity in the car GPS retail space. TomTom is a Dutch company that manufactures navigation devices and also creates navigation software which is used in GPS enabled smart phones like the Palm Treo 650.

TomTom devices used a GPS receiver to indicate precise locations and use both vocal and visual directions to enable you to drive to a chosen destination. Some TomTom models integrate with smart phones using Bluetooth technology and these can also show traffic congestion maps as well.

The TomTom Go series is the company's most popular model which is an all encompassing GPS navigation device which comes equipped with touch screen controls, an internal Lithium ion battery and is loaded with proprietary TomTom Home software. The unit charges, synchronizes and updates relevant data by connecting to a computer that has TomTom HOME software installed on it via a USB cable.

The TomTom Go 930 is one of the latest models produced by the company which is an extremely sophisticated navigation tool .This device understands voice prompts, makes route recommendations based on traffic activity and also works in tunnels. The device also enables drivers to customize the device according to their needs. Similar products are also produced by Garmin which has its Nüvi® series and the Garmin Mobile XT series and Magellan which has its Maestro and Roadmate series.