Dashboard navigator

More drivers relying on GPS units to talk them through their journey

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 1, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Bob Andrews, of Aurora, uses a GPS unit in his 2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ Rubicon to pinpoint its location and to track where it has been. "The system is smart enough to know where you are," an automotive analyst said.

Those well-thumbed road atlases and dog-eared maps stashed in the car glove box could be going the way of the dinosaur - thanks to GPS technology.

More and more drivers are turning to Global Positioning Systems to navigate around town, the hinterlands or foreign countries.

The GPS units communicate with two dozen orbiting satellites that were deployed to help the military aim nuclear missiles and that since have entered commercial use.

The car systems - including portable units and built-in technology - literally talk you through your journey, each turn of the way. A GPS-enabled cell phone also will do the job.

"You just punch in where you want to go and the system is smart enough to know where you are. It tells you how you want to get to where you want to be," says Thilo Koslowski, Gartner's lead automotive analyst. "It's convenience. But it's also peace of mind."

The verbal guidance offered by a GPS unit helped Ben Patterson and his wife navigate the winding back roads of Maine. The duo were attending a wedding in a remote part of the state.

"It wasn't on the map exactly," says Patterson, a New Yorker who blogs for Yahoo! Tech. "We really relied upon it to find our way."

What type of system should an interested motorist buy?

"You basically have three options," said Roger Entner, senior vice president at research firm Nielsen IAG.

They are:

* Buying a vehicle that comes fitted with the technology.

* Retrofitting your car with a stand-alone unit - or portable navigation device - offered by such companies as Garmin, TomTom and Magellan.

* Using a GPS-enabled wireless device, such as a cell phone or a BlackBerry, that allows you to lease the service on a daily or monthly basis.

Entner said the last option - notably the daily lease rate - can help if you find yourself suddenly lost in a strange part of town in the middle of the night.

You can whip out your cell phone, quickly download the service for about $3, tell it where you need to go, and be guided to your true destination.

"Within two to three minutes, it tells you how to get out of Dodge," says Entner.

Forrester research estimates that as of last year some 12.2 million U.S. adults owned a portable navigation device, such as those offered by Garmin and TomTom. The figure is expected to surge more than fivefold to 67.8 million by 2013.

Each system has its pluses and minuses.

The wireless handheld systems, for example, don't have the screen size of the larger units.

The built-in models have the largest screens - measuring about 6 inches to 8 inches - but they can set you back a couple of thousand bucks.

The stand-alone, or portable, models have larger displays than your cell phone or BlackBerry - typically 3 inches to 4 inches across. And they cost far less than built-in systems. But they also are prone to thievery from so-called "smash-and-grab" thieves."

"The No. 1 item to steal in cars are GPS stand-alone units," Entner said.

The units often are suction-cupped to the windshield. The suction cup - or the resulting smudge if you take it down - are a sign that a GPS unit may be stashed in the glove compartment or elsewhere inside your parked car.

"If you're not careful, it's an advertisement to car thieves, 'Please break into my car,' " Entner said.

fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467

Choose a direction

Portable GPS unit * Price: $200 to $800

* Pros: You can retrofit your car with a stand-alone, portable unit. And they're not as pricey as the units that come built into the car. The screen width typically ranges from 3 inches to 4 inches.

* Cons: "GPS devices are now the No. 1 item being stolen from motor vehicles," according to a September 2007 article in GPS Magazine.

GPS-enabled wireless device * Price: You can lease the service for about $3 a day or $10 a month.

* Pros: You can carry it anywhere. And unlike the stand-alone unit, your wireless device won't leave a telltale sign on your windshield that might act as an invitation to thieves. Also, you can lease the service for a day or a month, depending on your needs.

* Cons: The display on your cell phone is much smaller than that on a stand-alone or built-in GPS unit.

Built-in GPS unit * Price: From $1,000 to $4,000

* Pros: Bigger buttons, bigger display, ranging from about 6 inches to 8 inches, and more reliable. "It's difficult to steal. A thief would be hard-pressed to yank the system out without damaging it," according to the June 2008 Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

* Cons: More pricey.

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