New GPS navigation devices and ratings

In our last push for the 2008 holiday season, the GPS team has posted the final Ratings update for the year. We added seven portable automotive navigators to the Ratings chart and product selector, with each having its own product page. Plus, we created the Consumer Reports Value Index™ to help shoppers to get the best GPS for their money. Our analysis is presented in two separate blogs, complete with an interactive graphic: Value Index for basic navigators and traffic-optional navigators and traffic-ready navigators.

The latest Rated navigators include:

Alpine PND-K3 – This new unit is a pleasant surprise, marking a significant improvement over past-tested Alpine units and boasting attractive graphics.

Garmin Nuvi 265T– Part of the latest 2x5 generation, the Nuvi 265T features free real-time traffic and provides a lower-cost alternative to the widescreen Nuvi 265WT. (See our Nuvi 265WT First Look review.)

Garmin Nuvi 765T – A premium, full-featured navigator with traffic services, the Nuvi 765T has reality view and lane guidance to help navigate through potentially confusing, major intersections.

Insignia NS-CNV20 – A cellular-connected device, the Insignia NS-CNV20 uses Google Web-based search for points of interest (POI), rather than relying on an onboard database, and it provides real-time traffic information.

Magellan Maestro 4350 – Much improved over the previously tested Magellan devices, the Maestro 4350 impresses with crisp graphics, attractive user interface, reality view, and lane guidance.

Motorola Motonav TN20 & TN30 – Motorola has entered the market with this pair of decent basic navigators, distinguished by including Bluetooth connectivity at an entry-level price.

Improved guidance
With this update, we made slight scoring criteria changes that impact the overall scores and rankings. To better reflect the increasing state-of-the-art in this fast-moving product segment, we adjusted how we score Routing options, Info for driver, and Display. In the Routing Options category, multi-destination routing is now further assessed to rate the ability to optimize a route with multiple waypoints. The ability to enter coordinates was added to this category, as well. For Info for driver, reality view and lane guidance was evaluated, and exit guides were also added to scoring. In the Display category, we added a judgment on the graphic qualities of the units.

Given that these features are becoming increasingly prevalent, the enhanced Ratings will help distinguish between models that not only have these useful elements, but separate the ones with better execution.

Finding the best GPS navigator

Whether you are looking for a portable navigator for your car or a handheld hiking GPS, we have current buying advice and the latest Ratings to help you make the best choice for your needs and budget.

Get started by visiting our redesigned GPS special section. You’ll find detailed recommendations, and a slick, new product selector. This dynamic tool lets you sort and filter ratings by the features that matter most to you, and it even includes information on units in testing.

—Jeff Bartlett

For more information on portable automotive GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings and buying advice and watch our video guide. If you're interested in going off the beaten path, See our handheld hiking GPS buying advice and Ratings. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.

Comments

[Ron Paulus]

The Garmin is always rated pretty highly by CU and my experience with them has been good. But when a technical problem occurs it is never an easy task to reach a Garmin representative. The usual "wait time" is 45 minutes. This should be a factor in rating GPS systems.

[Exit Device]

Hi, Good team work, nice informative info GPS is good system but some it's never work by technology problem it's not a good impression create in the makes customers. they want a create more reliable security system.