The Best Automotive GPS

The major decision to make when selecting the best automotive GPS is whether or not you want the GPS to speak street names to you.

If you buy a GPS that does not speak street names, it will tell you in advance "turn right in 400 feet" to let you know the turn is approaching.  At the turn, it will say "turn right".  You must look on the GPS display to verify the street name on which you are to turn.

The best automotive GPS speaks street names and will tell you "turn right on Elm Street in 400 feet".  You do not have to take your eyes off the road to read the street name.  This is much safer than the unit that does not speak street names.

The GPS that speaks street names costs more than one that does not.  This feature is worth every penny.  From personal experience, I highly recommend that you spend the extra money for this feature.

Best Selling Automotive GPS

A couple of other features to look for is the size of the display (3.5 inches versus 4.3 inches) and how bright the display is so it can be easily seen in bright sunlight.

Best GPS that does not speak street names

Not recommended

Garmin Nuvi 205  This GPS has a 3.5 inch display.  The Garmin Nuvi 205W is the wide screen version of this unit.

Best GPS that speaks street names

Recommended

Either the Garmin Nuvi 255W or the Garmin Nuvi 780.  These two units are ranked as the top two best selling GPS units on Amazon.  They both speak street names.  If you want a save a few dollars get a smaller screen in the Garmin Nuvi 255.

The Garmin Nuvi 780 was discontinued by Garmin, but this creates an opportunity to buy a great GPS at a very low price.  The Nuvi 780 has many expensive features included that the Nuvi 255 does not have (FM transmitter, Bluetooth, FM traffic receiver, widescreen, and others).

Garmin recently released a new line of automotive GPS units.  The comparable units in this line to the Nuvi 255 are the Nuvi 1200 and the Nuvi 1250.  These unit are slightly thinner and weigh 1.2 ounces less than the Nuvi 205. However, the Garmin Nuvi 780 is still the best GPS for the money.

Best Automotive GPS for the Money