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Dec 10, 2008 -- $100 a key price point for good GPS units

Clark has always loved maps and used to relish getting the folding maps at AAA when he was planning a trip. Now he hasn't unfolded a map in years since getting his first GPS. His most recent GPS was the Dash, which he raves is "the most phenomenal GPS to date ever."

The prices on GPS units can be as cheap as $60 or $80 for a no-name brand or $100 for a name brand such as Magellan or Tom Tom. You can't go wrong buying a GPS from any of the Big 3 -- Garmin, Magellan or Tom Tom. Clark's personal preference is for Magellan out of the three big players.

The penny-pincher is often asked if you need to spend more than $100 on a GPS. The answer is no, the $100 models will do the job just fine.

Need more convincing? Think about it like this: If your GPS is stolen from your car, at least you're only out $100. But that smashed-in car window will probably run you more than that, as Clark's wife recently discovered.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

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What others are saying

  • Cheap GPS
    Oh yes, cheap is so good. I am a home inspector so i am always headed to places i have never been to. I find them invaluable and use them every day. When gas was high, it was even more valuable (more that invaluable!). I use two trucks in my business and have them in both. Last year my Xmas gifts to my kids were GPS's and this year i gave one to my baby brother for boosting me some mileage points for airfare.
    Last week, i loaned one of my buds one of my units to go to the SEC game in Atlanta from north Alabama.
    I was able to catch my units on sales at Kmart for $119 last year and online for less this years. I find it to be the best piece of gear in my truck with the possible exception of a ladder.
    I have found that not all new subdivisions are mapped yet, so i always ask what the home is near, major intersection etc to help me in the event i fail to get a hit when i program the location.
    Hoorah for the GPS, and Hoorah for you Clark
  • GPS Navigation
    Trying to find GPS for $100.00- for
    a Christmas present-unable to find one
    for that price-any suggestions-certain
    name brand? Thanks.
  • GPS
    I'm a gadget guy, work for a technology company, and never had a need for a GPS until this year, when I went on several vacations to places I hadn't driven before. In both places I drove (Scotland, and from OR to Yellowstone Park) I rented or borrowed the most basic low-end GPS units. I can honestly say after these two trips that should I ever need to buy a GPS unit, I would go the cheapest route possible. Most of the more expensive models include features like bluetooth phone connectivity and video/music/picture playback which I would have absolutely no use for. One of the models didn't have the text-to-speech playback for street names and I honestly didn't need it since it reminds you distances to turns instead. Being in the technology business I can tell you that the 'guts' of these machiens are all essentially the same, the GPS makers just turn on features for the more expensive models and put the connectors outside the box to use them since it costs too much to have bespoke internal hardware for each different model.
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