What to Look for in Navigational GPS Units

A GPS device can make the difference between a successful road trip, or a weekend disaster.  Make sure that your GPS unit has the features and settings you need before buying.

Navigational GPS devices usually come with mounting hardware that allows you to attach it to your dashboard. Methods range from suction cups and adhesives all the way to bean bags. You should also consider screen size because you want it to be large enough to see from your dashboard. Most GPS devices now come with large, well-lit displays and have simple menus. You also want to pay attention to battery life and weight since these are significant factors relating to the kinds of recreation you enjoy.

Currently the top two manufacturers are TOMTOM and Garmin.  Both offer entry level models such as the TOMTOM 140s or a high end unit such as the Garmin Nuvi 660.  Most users will find the $79-199 price point will satisfy their needs quite well.

Below are a few of items to consider in your new GPS:

Screen Size: The navigational GPS units are usually kept on the dashboard of your car so you want the screen to be big enough to see easily from the driver’s seat.

Built-in Memory: The best GPS devices will have enough memory to hold many waypoints and Point of Interest records.

Battery Life: A good GPS receiver must be able to operate for long periods of time to accommodate any kind of trip.

Traffic Services: Many GPS units can also receive real-time updates about traffic, accidents and construction areas that may affect your travel.

Pandigital, Sony and Kodak offer new digital photo frames

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
Original URL:  www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2010-05-05-digitalframes05_ST_N.htm
Summarized by: Scott Peterson


LOS ANGELES: You've got mail on your digital photo frame, and it's smiling.
Manufacturers of digital photo frames are attempting to increase sales by looking at new ways to get pictures into frames. Digital photo frames are great gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Pandigital's $149 Photo Mail frame comes with a dedicated e-mail address so pictures can be sent directly to it using AT&T's 3G network. Kodak's $119.99 Pulse also has a dedicated e-mail address which connects to your home Wi-Fi network. The Pulse also links to friends' photo albums at Facebook and Kodak Gallery. A potential drawback to using Wi-Fi is network set-up for those who don't already have access, whereas with AT&T's cellular network, it's ready to go out of the box with 300 photos included (more available for a fee).

Photos are stored to internal memory on Kodak's Pulse, which has a 7-inch touch-screen and 512 megabytes of storage, vs. 1 gigabyte for the 8-inch, non-touch Pandigital. Web photos from Facebook and Kodak Gallery are streamed, not stored to memory. Photos can also be displayed directly from a memory card.

The new features and connectivity aim to make it easier for users to download content to the devices. Typically, users will become quickly frustrated, then not use their digital photo frames anymore.

However, this news comes at a time when the hottest new tech toy is Apple's iPad, which starts at $499. The iPad can display photos in a never-ending slide show...just like a photo frame. Pandigital and Kodak remain undaunted, though. They maintain that the price point and fuctionality of a simple digital photo frame will maintain its niche.

However, he says, Pandigital has its own answer to the iPad. In late May, it will introduce a $179 e-reader that doubles as a photo frame and can run four apps at once. It will be based on the Google Android operating system.