I spent years collecting dusty, outdated maps to aid my frequent cross-country business trips. For a while, these relics were a point of pride; I would only stop to ask for directions as a last resort. Those infrequent conversations with clueless clerks were as embarrassing as they were humbling. Nobody likes to admit they’re lost.

From the moment I heard about the technology, I knew automotive GPS would prove invaluable. My glove box and consoles are free of rumpled maps, and my mind is at ease now that a mobile GPS unit does the navigating for me. The main perk is that I’ve cut out those tedious information sessions with gas station attendants entirely. It’s a breeze to maneuver around any city or country road, no matter how unfamiliar.

Your Garmin Forerunner will continually push you to do your personal best. The Forerunner 205 includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver and new courses feature for optimal performance. Or using the Forerunner 301 as a training partner will continuously monitor your heart rate, speed, distance, pace and calories burned so you can train smarter and more efficiently. GPS watches or wrist mount GPS units are also handy to help you find your way around unfamiliar areas while you break the monotony of the same old walk or run every day and get out there and explore new vistas.

The Edge 305 has the ability to measure pedaling cadence, heart rate, speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb and descent, plus much more. The heart rate monitor is a soft, comfortable chest strap that uses wireless technology to reliably measure and send heart rate data to the Edge. The cadence feature includes a self-calibrating, wireless speed/cadence sensor so you can monitor your pedaling as you ride. This data is then automatically sent wirelessly to the waterproof Edge GPS unit and stored for analysis when you have finished your workout.

Some of the options available for automotive GPS include widescreen or standard size, preloaded maps, Touch screen to easily look up addresses and services, voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination, and some and will calculate a more fuel-efficient route for you. Another thing to consider is if it is small enough and light enough to carry it with you when you get to your destination and the ability to continue to use it while wandering on foot.

Looking for a serious, yet versatile handheld GPS? The DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 or PN-40 GPS systems have a lot to offer. The DeLorme Earthmate GPS are great handheld GPS systems, but with the right GPS mounts they become automotive GPS systems. Since they are waterproof they can be used for motorcycle, bike, ATV or boat; and getting caught in the rain on a hike or geocaching expedition is no cause for alarm. 

Compact, these are easy to carry and include 500 MB of available Flash memory. With either you can download data directly to SD card while in the receiver and even display Navionics Charts. While only the PN-40 has a 3-axis electronic compass and sensitive barometric altimeter, both versions have many other great features. 

 Both the Earthmate PN-30 and PN-40 are pre-loaded with US secondary and connector roads, worldwide highway, major road base map and Topo USA with comprehensive street, road and topographic detail. DeLorme Earthmate GPS even include NOAA nautical charts and are WAAS-enabled, are rugged and waterproof for marine use. Both the Earthmate PN-30 and PN-40 support high capacity SDHC cards available at up to 32 GB and color daylight-reading screen for visibility in any light conditions. Add the fact that they hold up to 10 tracks, up to 1,000 user-defined waypoints and up to 50 routes they are terrific for paperless geocaching. They have almanac information on tides, sun and moon phases, and hunting/fishing conditions.  Since they run on 2 AA batteries you can carry backup batteries so you won’t get caught without your GPS.  

Want to run a marathon? How about just improve your jogging, or for those of us who prefer walking, just working in intervals of brisk walking with brief bursts of speed within our daily walk to build muscle and endurance or just to burn off last night's pizza or get ready for today's birthday cake? Whatever your goal, you can use your Garmin Forerunner as your pacing partner.

Your Garmin Forerunner will continually push you to do your personal best. The Forerunner 205 includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver and new courses feature for optimal performance. Or using the Forerunner 301 as a training partner will continuously monitor your heart rate, speed, distance, pace and calories burned so you can train smarter and more efficiently. GPS watches or wrist mount GPS units are also handy to help you find your way around unfamiliar areas while you break the monotony of the same old walk or run every day and get out there and explore new vistas.

Whether you are preparing for that Century race, or even if you are just trying to motivate yourself to go a little bit farther or a little bit faster every day, you will really like the addition of a speed cadence sensor with your GPS device. For ultimate fitness progress you can monitor your pedaling cadence as you ride with a self-calibrating, wireless speed/cadence sensor. It will help you track your speed, distance and pace so that you can monitor your workout performance. It measures and reports your pedaling strokes per minute, providing feedback for optimal efficiency. The Garmin speed/cadence sensor (GSC 10) is compatible with the Edge 305 and Forerunner 305. The best part is that you can use the speed cadence sensor even on your stationary bike so that you can continue to work out even on the bad weather days we seem to be getting more of this time of year.

Some of the options available for automotive GPS systems include widescreen or standard size, preloaded maps, Touch screen to easily look up addresses and services, voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination, and some and will calculate a more fuel-efficient route for you. Another thing to consider is if it is small enough and light enough to carry it with you when you get to your destination and the ability to continue to use it while wandering on foot.

Time for another product comparison; I am looking at two more automotive GPS units - the Garmin nuvi 255 versus the nuvi 775T. Both are excellent automotive GPS systems. The nuvi 255 is built more for the budget conscious traveler; whereas the nuvi 775T has more options to offer and increased functional capacity. Here are the functions that are the same in both: They both have color displays to make it easy to read the screen. Both have rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the battery lasting approximately 4 hours on the nuvi 255 and 3 hours on the nuvi 775T. Each has a high-sensitivity GPS receiver. Neither of them is waterproof, so I wouldn't recommend using them as a motorcycle GPS unit; however, waterproof is not really an issue in automotive GPS. Both come with preloaded street maps and the ability to add more maps if you are interested, but the nuvi 775T includes transatlantic maps which can be nice when you travel to Europe. Both of these versions of the Garmin nuvi come with internal solid state built-in memory and are designed to hold 1,000 Waypoints/favorites/locations; the nuvi 755T also built to remember up to 10 routes. Each includes a basemap and accepts data cards which are not included, but it would be handy to have for additional memory. Neither of these Garmin nuvi versions includes voice-activated navigation, so you are not able to operate the device with spoken commands; sorry about that one as that is a nice feature, but is yet another perk to look for in other automotive GPS systems in future reviews.

Both include choice of route setup for either faster time, shorter distance, or off road and route avoidance to help you avoid highways, tolls etc., also handy features to have in automotive GPS units. Both of these versions of Garmin nuvi also are FM traffic compatible (with receiver and lifetime traffic included with the nuvi 755T) and are MSN® Direct compatible and have a speed limit indicator which displays speed limit for most major roads in the U.S. and Europe. Both also have the functionality of the Where Am I? feature to help you find the closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection and ecoRoute^TM which calculates a more fuel-efficient route and the ability to add custom POIs (points of interest), all great features to have in unfamiliar territory. Personalize either Garmin nuvi version by adding Garmin Garage^TM vehicles and voices, a free service at Garmin where you can download car-shaped icons and custom voices to your device. Photo navigation in order to navigate to geotagged photos, World travel clock, currency & unit converter, calculator and picture viewer are also nice features available in both.

Now for more differences between the two: The Garmin nuvi 755T has a few more features which the nuvi 255 does not. The nuvi 755T has higher display resolution and a 4.3-inch diagonal screen compared to the 3.5-inch screen of the nuvi 255. Nuvi 755T also includes 3-D building view which displays buildings in 3-D, the ability to auto sort multiple destinations which provides the most direct route, and Bluetooth® wireless technology so you can connect to your phone for hands-free calling. Garmin Locate^TM marks your position when the GPS receiver is removed from the windshield mount - this can be really handy to help you remember where you parked your vehicle. The included MP3 player, Audio book player and FM transmitter with headphone jack/audio line-out will entertain you on your travels.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that both of these Garmin nuvi automotive GPS systems come with Garmin Lock^TM anti-theft feature and touchscreen convenience. Well, I hope that helps to sort out the differences and advantages of each of these Garmin nuvi versions for you. Happy traveling!