Once rare, nowadays driving around Britian's roads it's hard not to spot GPS units hanging from windshields. The GPS revolution has been a grand one: a sleek little device sat just out of the way enough not to be distracting but in view enough to glance at its screen, GPS units are now slim, sleek, easy-to-use, affordable and can guide you seamlessly around nearly the whole of Europe and North America. If you don't have one, you should.
When buying a GPS unit, make sure the unit comes included with full map coverage for the places you want to go: if you're going to be taking trips just around the U.K, there's no need to spend extra for North American maps. Or if you're going to take trips around Europe -- especially to more out-of-the-way countries -- check the map coverage and reach; although you can generally expect 99% or better coverage across much of the continent, it's adviseble to double-check.
Get a grip: you won't want to hear your new GPS unit smashing onto the dashboard as you cruise the M1, so check the holding-unit's integrity. While most newer grips are robust, a few older ones do hover around, especially on cheaper units, that are annoying to manage.
A song and a dance: many GPS units come with Bluetooth connectivity, picture display, MP3 players and more; if you just want a device to actually navigate you from Point A to Point B (and you should), there's no need for these extra features that bulk up the price and confuse the device's menus.
The worst kind of jam: traffic jams are a common nuisance on our roads. If you travel on motorways a lot, picking up a GPS unit with built-in traffic monitoring is adviseable. Some GPS units that have this come with a three month trial, be sure to enquire what the amount required monthly for that subscription is. The same is true of speed camera monitoring.
Green with cash: Garmin have no-doubt just kicked off an eco-revolution with the introduction of the most fuel efficient routes. Although rare now, units that can advise you on the fuel efficieny of your journey -- to save the environment from pollution and your wallter from opening -- will likely soon become commonplace. Keep an eye out for them.
Learn a lot about GPS on Wikipedia.
Who runs GPS? The system is operated by the United States Military, specifically the Navy.
What does GPS stand for? Global Positioning System.
What's Galileo? Galileo is a teastment to ability of EU-bureactuts to out-bureacrat themselves. Designed as a Europen-alternative to the GPS system, Galileo should offer a more accurate and civilian-alternative to GPS. Slated to go live in 2013, expect Galileo-using devices soon after. Don't hold your breath, though; Brussels will need some serious navigation to its destination.
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