With people’s on-the-go lifestyles, and more Americans spending a greater amount of time in their vehicles on a daily basis, travel companions are becoming increasingly popular. When most people think of a travel companion, they think of another living, breathing being occupying the front seat next to the driver. However, in today’s market when we refer to travel companions, we are more than likely speaking in terms of a GPS navigation system. One of the most highly appraised navigation systems was greated by Garmin. The Garmin nuvi 660 was an update of the previous Garmin 350 model. Both get solid, steady reviews for performance, quality, and functionality. The Garmin nuvi 660 offers a 4.3 inch touch screen and text to voice commands. It offers point of interest (or POI) information for certain locations, which include restaurants, rest stops, ATMs, hospitals, shopping, police stations, and much more. Even better, the Garmin nuvi 660 offers a bluetooth compatible way to talk. It is compatible with any bluetooth ready phone, and can be used as a hands-free device while driving. The downside of the Garmin nuvi 660 is that you can’t program in multiple stops to a single destination. For each place you are going, a new destination point has to be programmed into the device. There are no multiple destination stops available. Another downside is the hefty pricetag. While its screen is amazingly clear, even in direct sunlight, and the options it offers are very nice, not many people are willing to fork over the cash for such a GPS device, when there are others almost as good for a fraction of the cost. Traveling companions and GPS systems are making it much easier for people to get around. Going to a new place is not nearly as daunting as it used to be. Just plugging in a simple address will get you turn by turn directions to any destination you need to get to. And the voice commands will tell you when and if you miss a turn. Getting to your destination has never been easier.

Navigating our world is sometimes tricky, be it by car or on foot, but there is a product out there that makes it easier, the Garmin Nuvi 360. Garmin designed the Nuvi 360 to be sleek enough to fit in your pocket making it ideal for directions while walking. The Nuvi 360 isn’t just a GPS it’s full of entertainment features like MP3 player and useful tools like currency convertor. It really is the GPS that does more than travel! With preloaded maps and points of interest the Nuvi 360 is ready to go right out of the box. But for those users who want a more personal feel there are customize options, including your own points of interest. Pair it with your wireless blue tooth phone for easy hand free calling. There is even the optional feature of connecting a receiver to be alerted of any traffic problems. With a little over a two inch touch screen the combination of 2 and 3D directions are fantastic. You’ll never have to take your eyes off the road, the unit has a built in speaker that announces the directions as you go. Miss a turn, have to take a detour, no problem the Nuvi 360 can direct you back on route. Hate highways, want to avoid tolls, again no problem each unit comes with a Route Avoidance setting, simply tell the GPS what you want to avoid and it will design a route just for you! An anti-theft feature known as Garmin Lock will help keep your investment safe. After all who would want to lose the MP3 player, JPEG viewer, zone clocks and currency convertor? With all GPS systems it’s always great to get the travel packs, normally they include a case, car charger, extra power cord and the cord needed to connect it your PC. You just never know where the road might take you so it’s great to have the flexibility of having what you need when you need it. If you decide against the whole kit you may want to at least consider the case to keep it protected and working for years to come. With it’s size, and extra features the Garmin Nuvi 360 is a great GPS . It’s great for a first time or for the advanced user. You may not know where the road is taking you but it does!

The Garmin 760 is a navigator with advanced navigational features and very similar to the nuvi 660. It has a widescreen display to ease the visibility. It also comes equipped with many other features such as integrated Bluetooth, a large wide touch screen display pre-loaded maps, hands free calling, traffic alerts, an FM transmitter and more. It also has premium navigation capabilities, like route planning and an emergency locater. The nuvi 760 is not what you can call small but it’s still portable and also small enough to fit into the pocket. The nuvi 760 like the nuvi 660 is loaded with City Navigation NT street maps with hotels, ATMs and restaurant point of interest (POI) databases. The wide touch screen comes in handy during this, all one needs to do is just touch the direction on the screen and 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions guide you there. The device has route where you can save up to 10 different routes, specify through the POI. It also has a feature that sorts multiple destinations to give one an efficient route for errands or delivery calls. It also displays speed limits for highways and interstates. You can also keep track of yourself by just tapping “where Am I?” and this will find the nearest addresses and intersection. You can also pinpoint your exact latitude and longitude coordinates and also remembers where you parked by automatically marking your position when you remove it from the windshield mount. The nuvi 760 has an SD memory expansion slot, a mini USB port and a head phone jack. Unlike the nuvi 660, the nuvi 760 has an in-built antenna. Included in the devices package is vehicle mount for the windshield or the dashboard, an AC adapter, a car charger with an integrated FM receiver, a USB cable for easy connectivity to your PC and a carrying case. For hands-free driving, the nuvi 760 has integrated Bluetooth. To make a call just dial the number with the touchscreen keypad. To answer calls, tap the screen and speak directly into its in-built microphone. The integrated FM TMC traffic receiver receives alerts about traffic delays and road construction that lie ahead on your route. To get around this problem, simply touch the screen to view traffic details. The nuvi 760 has entertainment and travel tools such as MP3 player, JPEG picture viewer and currency converter.

The Garmin nuvi 350 is a portable GPS navigator manufactured by the Garmin International Company. The nuvi 350 is not an ordinary GPS navigator but also a travelling assistant and a digital entertainment Center. The Garmin nuvi 350 is small and light enough to snugly fit into your pocket. It measures 3.8 by 2.0 by 0.8 inches and weighs a mere 5.1 inches. It also packs the latest technology and high performance. The nuvi comes with a 3.5 inch color touch screen and a 320×240 pixels resolution making the screen readable at during daylight. It also has five backlight timer settings. The nuvi has a flip antenna which folds into the back of the case. A memory card slot on the right can be used to extend its 2GB of flash memory. Although half of this 2GB memory is dedicated to user interface and detailed maps of North America there is still enough for digital photos and music. There is also a USB port for easy PC connectivity. And since the nuvi 350 is recognized as a removal drive, you can drag and drop files into the folders courtesy of a USB cable that is included in the package. Also included on the package is a suction-cup that attaches to a vehicles windshield, a 12-volt adapter and carrying case. Another great feature that comes with this device is that charging the battery can be done by either by using the 12-volt adapter or by plugging it into your PC’s USB port. Because the nuvi 350 employs the best of SiRF star GPS chips, fast satellite acquisition along with improved GPS-signal reception in areas where the view of the sky may be blocked by buildings. The nuvi 350 comes preloaded with City Navigator NT street maps which includes POI (points of interest) database with hotels, ATMs and many more. All one needs to do is use the touch screen and once you touch your destination on the screen, nuvi takes you there with both 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn directions. It also employs voice guided driving directions. The nuvi can even translate such phrases like; “Can you get me to a doctor?” which can be translated into English, Portuguese, French Italian and other languages. The translations are then displayed in text form which the nuvi’s text-to-speech interface can speak.