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Re-activatePortable GPS navigation units have become a hot gift item for holiday shoppers this year. In our latest Ratings of GPS units (available to subscribers), you'll find our colleagues over at the Cars Blog have bought and tested models that cost as little as $150, and prices are likely to be even lower during holiday sales. Some are very capable performers, making our list of Recommended GPS navigation units (available to subscribers).
But GPS isn't just an aid for drivers navigating the paved paths of urban and suburban travels. Portable, handheld personal navigation devices (PNDs) also make great gifts for hikers, boaters, and others who prefer going off the beaten path. (After all, the GPS system was designed to help the U.S. military more accurately navigate the vast seas and trackless terrain of desert and woodland battlefields.)
Still, the navigation needs of hikers can be vastly different from drivers. As such, our colleagues in the CR Cars section have further refined our GPS Buying advice and produced a new report on handheld hiking GPS.
Our video on handheld hiking units (click on the embedded player above to watch) will help you see how such units differ from the portable GPS units used by drivers. More importantly, the video will show you how you can use portable navigation units for "geocaching."
It's a real-life adventure game that's often described as a "high-tech treasure hunt" where participants use the Internet and PNDs to find hidden caches of goodies—often small-valued trinkets—in all sorts of places, including the urban jungle! More information can be found in our video and at https://www.geocaching.com.
If you're looking to cash in on geocaching or need to find that perfect gift for the "directionally challenged" person in your life, there's more good news. The new Consumer Reports Value Index™ on GPS units can steer you to a PND that gives you the most bang for the buck. See the latest CR Cars Blog entries, Best GPS values: Traffic-ready navigators and Best GPS values: Basic navigators for more information.
—Paul Eng
—Paul Eng
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