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  Amazing Gps Navigation Deals for Black Friday
  
  Californians Get to use GPS Systems again
  
  The easiest way to prevent your gps from been stolen
  
  Garmin Nuvi GPS Systems | 200 Nuvi Series
  
  Don’t buy a GPS from EBay without reading this
  
  Get the amazing Dash for only $299
  
  Get a Knight Rider GPS Navigation System
  
  iPhone Competitor ready for Launch
  
  iPhone might shut down Tomtom GPS Software
  
  Why does my GPS give me funny directions?
  
  

Get Black Friday Deals

Best Buy is positioning themselves as the place to go to get the best gps navigation systems deals for Christmas this year. They have released their black friday sales and have some great sales that you can get. Other retailers like Radio Shack, Dell and Walmart will also have some great deals.

Best Buy

Garmin Nuvi 205 - $119

Garmin Nuvi 260W - $189

Garmin Nuvi 780 - $349

TomTom GO 720 - $249

Radio Shack

Garmin Nuvi 250W - $169

Garmin Nuvi 255W - $229

Mio Moov 300 GPS - $129

Motorola TN20 - $149

Motorola TN30 - $249

TomTom ONE 125 - $99

TomTom ONE 130S - $199

Ace Hardware

Nextar M3 - $89 after $30 Mail in Rebate

Dell Home

Pharos PDR-200 - $95 after $25 MIR

Gander Mountain

eTrex Summit Handheld Bundle - $199

Garmin Nuvi 255W - $199

K-Mart - Thanksgiving Day Sale (Not Black Friday)

Nextar X3-03 - $79 after $20 Mail in Rebate

Sam’s Club

Sony ?NV-U74T? GPS - $179

Sears

Garmin Nuvi 205 - $124

Magellan RoadMate 1200 - $99

Magellan RoadMate 1412 Widescreen - $149

Sony NV-V44 - $179

TomTom ONE 125 - $99

Toys R Us

TomTom ONE 130 - $149

Walgreens

Nextar - M3-04 - $89

Ok … the title is a little misleading, but people in California are currently banned from mounting their GPS units on the windshield in their cars. Law makers there thought that GPS units mounted on the windshield could interfere with the deployment of airbags and that they could also be an obstruction to a drivers view.

A new law signed by Governor Schwarzenegger which goes in effect on Jan 1, 2009. It permits windshield mounted GPS units in the lower left and right corners. Units mounted anywhere else will still be considered a violation, and drivers may be ticketed and be fined up to $108.

Minnesota is the only other state in the country that still bans the use of mounted GPS units anywhere on the windshield. You can always use a self adhesive disk on the dashboard which allows the suction cup on the GPS mount to be attached, or a bean bag which sits on the dashboard. These alternatives also help to prevent your gps from been stolen.

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According to the National Crime Prevention Council, it takes a professional car thief less than 30 seconds to break a window, unlock the door and steal anything that’s inside. Property theft from cars is mostly a crime of opportunity. There has been a sharp increase in car thefts directly linked to cars that have a gps system, so the folks here at gpsdock.com decided to let you know of the easiest way to prevent your gps system from been stolen.

1. DON’T LEAVE YOUR GPS IN THE OPEN. This is equivalent to you leaving $500 on your dashboard and getting pissed when someone breaks into your car. Just don’t do it.
2. Thieves will target cars where they can see a stand or suction cup on the windshield (or even suction cup marks) even if the gps is not on the stand. Most people leave the gps system inside there car. The solution to this is simple, most gps navigation systems are sold with a dashboard disc, use the disc and there will be no cup marks on your windscreen.
   

   dashboard disc

Garmin are the best selling gps navigation manufacturer here in the US. They have a great line of GPS systems called the Nuvi which are usually in the top selling gps systems. There are currently 27 models in the line broken into 7 series models: We have broken the Nuvi Models by series down for easier comparison.

This is the first part of the series showing you the Garmin Nuvi 200 series

Garmin Nuvi 200 Series

	Garmin Nuvi 200	Affordable navigation ~ $150 preloaded street maps for lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico	3.3/5
	Garmin Nuvi 200W	Affordable navigation ~ $160 widescreen, preloaded street maps for lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico	3.7/5
	Garmin Nuvi 250	Affordable navigation ~ $190 preloaded street maps for North America	3.6/5
	Garmin Nuvi 250W	Affordable navigation ~ $200 widescreen, preloaded street maps for North America	3.9/5
	Garmin Nuvi 260	Affordable navigation ~ $220 speaks street names, preloaded street maps for North America	4.1/5
	Garmin Nuvi 260W	Affordable navigation ~ $250 widescreen, speaks street names, preloaded street maps for North America	4.2/5
	Garmin Nuvi 270	Affordable navigation ~ $230 preloaded street maps for North America	4.0/5

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We have been receiving several email requests on warranty issues for gps navigation systems that are purchased from EBay. There several dangers when buying gps systems from ebay. Here are several reasons to steer clear of any ebay purchases of electronics, specifically gps systems:

1. Products that are purchased from online auctions such as EBAY are not covered by warranty. Online auction confirmations are not accepted for warranty verification and most manufacturers will not replace any missing components from any package purchased through an online auction.
2. GPS System manufacturers do not have any authorized dealers that sell new products directly on online auction sites. Any purchases made through online auction sites are on a “buyer beware” basis. A copy of the original sales receipt is required as the proof of purchase for warranty repairs. Online auction confirmations are not accepted for warranty verification and manufacturers will not replace any missing components from any package purchased through an online auction.
3. If a unit is purchased through an online auction, such as eBay, and that unit is found to be a stolen unit, then manufacturers have the ability to lock the gps system and are not obligated to release any registration or unlock code information. Also, be aware that the manufacturer can request that the stolen unit be returned without compensation and report this information to law enforcement authorities.

Having said that, you can find great deals on EBay for the most popular gps systems, just remember that you might face the problems that are stated above.

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Dash have just announced a new price on their amazing gps system. The new price of $299 is half of what it was when the machine debuted a few months ago. At this price point, the Dash suddenly becomes very competitive based on price.

Mio have just come out with a new navigation system called the Knight rider. The new gps system comes complete with Kitt’s voice and led lights that mimic the original knight rider tv series. The new system will be priced somewhere around $300 and should be available in a few months.

Garmin are gearing up on the release of their highly anticipated smart phone called the Nuvifone in a few month. Many analysts believe that this phone will compete with the iphone directly. Garmin have not disclosed the price of the Nuvifone but industry exparts expect it to debut at around $299.

Initial reviews for the Nuvifone have been mostly positive, with the device’s user interface gathering praise.

“It’s obvious that the device is very GPS-centric with tons of icons for applications to help you find nearby points of interest,”

according to Laptop magazine who played with the device at the ongoing CommunicAsia conference in Singapore. Here is a hands on review of the new Nuvifone.

[youtube PwCJMqFWUck]

Tomtom just announced that they have successfully tested and tried out their navigation software of the 3G iphone. There are some rumors that Apple might not have authorized Tomtom to develop the gps navigation.The iphone SDK legal documents specifically state the no company may design gps navigation system software for the phone.

Applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes.

This might mean that Apple will not entertain any other company’s gps software on their phone, or that they got Tomtom an exclusive contract to develop the software. What do you think ?

One critical element of a gps navigation system is the the routing engine that is inbuilt into a machine. The routing engine is software that figures out which route to display to a user. In order to come up with the best route, the software uses math algorithms and a decision model based on attributes like road closings, speed limits, number of traffic lights etc.

The software uses all this data and compiles to help it make a decision on the the best route. Therefore if you were to compare two competing gps systems side by side, you will probably get different routes depending on what routing engine the systems use.

There are two main players that design routing engine software for gps navigation systems, Navtexq and Tele Atlas. Garmin and Magellan systems use Navteq whil Tomtom uses Tele Atlas.

The software is sold to manufactures like garmin and magellan in packages and the price is based on how many attributes the software should analyze. Therefore more expesive gps systems typically have better routing engines than their least expensive couterparts.

One of the main reasons why your gps sometimes gives you funny directions is that its software did not process enough attibutes to give you the best route. This usually happens with the cheaper gps systems bacause the manufactures did not want to spend enough money on the routing engine. So the next time you get some funny directions from your gps system remember you get what you pay for.

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