If you’ve never bought one before buying your first GPS system is a daunting experience. The best way to go about it is to compare automobile gps navigation systems from different manufacturers to find the one that will work best for you. Of course, to do this you need to know a little more about gps systems, what they offer, what the standard features are, and what you can get if you’re willing to pay more money.

Prices have gone down in GPS systems over the past two years quite a lot. Still these babies cost anywhere from $150 to several hundred dollars. I guess if you bought one you didn’t like, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but who wants to do that? The best thing to do is to get a little education before you actually start shopping.

With the Internet, you have a wealth of resources at your disposal. You can go to several shopping sites and learn about what’s available and how much it costs. There are also a lot of informational sites out there you can refer to.

In order to help you get off on the right foot, let me say a few things.

There are basically three main manufacturers of GPS systems, Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. Sure, there are a number of other companies that make these things, but these are the big three. Garmin is by far the biggest.

All GPS systems basically accomplish the same thing. They show you where you are on an electronic map and they tell you how to get where you want to go via voice instructions.

All automotive GPS navigational systems have touch screens, which usually has a choice of “views”–2D or 3D. 2D is what we call “bird’s eye.” 3D is the more realistic looking view. (It looks like an early version of a realistic video game.)

Other stuff you generally get with most systems is a database of Points of Interest (POIs). These are pre-programmed locations of hospitals, restaurants, state parks, basically the main places you might want to go. Almost all come pre-installed with maps of the lower 48 states. And, as I said, all will calculate your route from where you are to where you want to go.

Some features you can pay extra for are: actually saying the names of the streets, maps of Canada, Mexico or Europe, Bluetooth, real-time traffic and weather, and a larger POI database.

Don’t let all of this stuff keep you from buying a system! If you compare automobile GPS navigation systems logically, you’ll be able to find the right one for you!

Lee Cole is a true GPS enthusiast! You can check out his website and find more information about how to compare automobile GPS navigation systems!