GPS or the Global Positioning Systems are becoming a "must have" these days. These electronic devices help you to know your location on the map and guide you to your destination as well. From restaurants, gas stations or hospitals, to hotels, tourist destinations, airports and various other Points Of Interest (POIs), the GPS tells you everything via voice instructions.

However, buying a GPS best suited to your needs isn’t that easy. The varieties of choices available baffle even the best informed customers. With over 50 different brands, price ranges varying from $150 to $1000, tens of features and upgrades to choose from, it’s not easy to decide. This is where the GPS Price Comparison sites come in handy.

The GPS Price Comparison sites help a buyer to make a better decision because –

• These sites give information about various brands available for the product. Some of the most favoured of which are – Alpine, Garmin, Goodyear, Magellon Maestro, Navigon, Nextar, TellyNay, TomTom, etc.

• The GPS Price Comparison allows you an extensive survey of the various features available. Multi-segment routing facility, text-to-voice conversion, POI database, etc are some of the basic features present in all. However, the screen size, onboard map database, traffic navigation systems and the multimedia features vary from model to model.

• They also help you to compare the prices of all the models available, allowing you to choose the best within your budget.

• The reviews and star ratings on the GPS Price Comparison sites give a prospective buyer quite an insight into the product.

While surveying a GPS Price Comparison site there are certain things to be kept in mind, before you choose your model -

• Know what your specific navigation needs are and then choose the best suited device. Is it for excursions, hiking, traveling, boating or camping?

• These systems are of many types – car systems, boat systems, hand held ones or cell phone integrated ones. Know the one that you need.

• While buying make sure the device has basics like – a touch screen interface, should calculate your route to the destination, should accept voice commands, and comes preloaded with maps. The screen sizes vary from3.5 to 7 inches. However, 4.5 inches is ideal size.

• Many GPS Price Comparison sites offer you the option of upgrading your device with – more maps, Bluetooth integration for hands free option, traffic and weather live inputs, a million POIs, Multi-route calculation, lifetime map updates, obstacle and traffic camera detectors.

• You must always ensure that your device has an updated software version, having latest data.

• Understand the difference between extravagant and necessary features in your system, to strike the right balance between price and features.

• On a GPS Price Comparison site, know that you can get a fairly good deal for $200-$300.

Summary –

The GPS Price Comparisons sites provide the buyer with a clear picture of various prices, features and brands a GPS device is available in. From the latest speed alert and cell phone integrated, multimedia rich features to the old and reliable voice interactive, touch screen interfaces with preloaded maps and POI inputs, these devices come in a wide variety and the comparison only makes your decision simpler.