Want to get a GPS for the Holidays? Mapicurious Recommends...

We are starting to answer some questions about what GPS to purchase this Holiday season. Our disclosure here is that we have received zero devices for free, zero money from any manufacturer, and we have personally used every device type listed.

1. Garmin - These are the best devices for US drivers all around. Easy to use, very intuitive, and a breeze for senior drivers. Updates are free. Traffic is available but will not be as good as Dash below.

2. Dash - Recently the Dash company announced that they no longer will produce the hardware, but license the software. Buy this for real time traffic flows and two way location based applications (Yes - some of these are Mapicurious produced!). You should be able to pick up the old hardware at Fry's and Amazon until sold out.

3. Magellan - Recently the quality of these have decreased, and customer service is impossible if you do run into problems. Some first time GPS users are satisfied with Magellans on US roads.

4. TomTom - If you are a US driver avoid these devices. Road announcements are poor, directions are poorly timed, and menus too confusing. We are willing to sell you a used top-end one if you must have one from this manufacturer.

How to use this list:

1. If it is not on this list, keep your money in your pocket.

2. If you are at a store (let's say Best Buy or RadioShack - sorry Circuit City - you closed all of your stores around us.) and looking at a $199 device from each of the above manufacturers, choose in the order of this list.

3. Please send us your feedback or issues with any of the manufacturers.

Thanks,

Maps

Mapicurious GPS Holiday Gift Guide

Here is the official Mapicurious, "I need a GPS this Holiday Season", gift guide.

Hopefully these will help you create maps.

I've already got a digital camera, and I want to remember where I took the picture.

SONY GPS-CS1KA GPS Logger

Works with most newer digital cameras, not just Sony products. You turn on this device, wait for the unit to pick up GPS signals, and then start shooting pictures. This $149 device uses USB to download the GPS tracklog to your computer, and synchronizes your camera's pictures based on time the picture was taken with the GPS information from the device.

The device comes with software from Sony that merges the GPS data, but after that you can use your favorite photo editing software to manage pictures. When you upload these pictures to Flickr or Picasa, the GPS data is read and used to plot the photos on a map.

Happy Holidays,

Maps