The Five Best GPS Navigation Units for Family Road Trips

I am going to date myself now, but I remember the days before GPS navigation, when family road trips meant pesky, hard to fold paper maps, and driving around (sometimes for hours) trying to figure out how to get to that prized destination. Fortunately, we now have GPS navigation units, which greatly enhance road trips. Here is a guide to five of the best GPS navigation units for road trips.

Hand Held GPS Units versus In-Car GPS Units
My husband and I have both a hand held Garmin GPS navigation unit and an in-car GPS navigation unit. While, I will admit that when driving I definitely prefer the in-car unit, there are many reasons why owning a handheld GPS navigation unit can enhance your road trip.

Handheld GPS Navigation Units Best for Off Road Trekking and Geocaching
For those who wish to combine their road trip with some camping, hiking or backcountry travel, a handheld GPS unit is essential. Handheld GPS navigation units are also great for those who participate in geocaching. For those who are not in the know, geocaching has become a popular recreation activity. Geocaching is a scavenger hunt, which utilizes technology via the handheld GPS navigation unit.

Two of the Best Handheld GPS Units
The Garmin Oregon 400t was voted the best handheld GPS unit by ConsumerSearch.com. This GPS unit is ideal for those road trips that involve some backcountry activities like hiking or camping. One of the best features of this handheld GPS unit is its easy-to-use graphical touch-screen interface. This GPS device also includes 3-D map viewing, wireless data transfer and paperless geocaching. The only downside of this device is that some consumers feel that the screen could be brighter and that the unit was expensive at $450. For those looking for a handheld GPS device with a lower price point, the Garmin e-Trex Venture HC has almost as many bells and whistles as the Garmin Oregon 400t for a much lower price of$125.

In-Car GPS Units Make Road Trips a Breeze
I adore my Garmin in-car GPS unit. As a person with absolutely no sense of direction, my GPS unit has enabled me to navigate my way on long road trips in the United States and in Europe. In-car GPS units enhance family road trips by enabling you to answer that most pesky of road trip questions "are we there yet?" with the exact time you will be there. With an in-car GPS unit, you need never buy another paper map for your road trip. Some GPS units are so road trip friendly they come complete with built-in DVD players.

Three Fantastic In-Car GPS Navigation Units
Garmin makes many easy-to-use GPS units. Two that have received the highest ratings from Consumersearch.com are the Garmin nuvi 265T, which was rated the best GPS receiver under $200. One of the best features of this GPS unit is that instead of stating "turn left in 200 feet" it will verbally tell you the name of the street where you need to turn. I wish my GPS unit had this feature. The Garmin nuvi 765 t, which is priced around $270 was rated the "best GPS navigation system overall". The excellent navigation and quick map refresh rate were listed as the GPS unit's best features.

For those looking for the ultimate "does everything" car system, you will want to check out theRoad King high definition in-car total solution. This high- resolution DVD player has a 7" screen and includes a GPS with advance navigation. The GPS system runs popular GPS software like Tom Tom and Route 66.

In my opinion, a GPS unit is essential for family road trips. These are five of the best GPS units on the market today.

Sources:

http://www.consumersearch.com

http://familytravel.suite101.comhttp://www.chinavasion.com