You can be my wingman any time: My favorite GPS

Bonnie Cha, Senior Associate Editor July 17, 2008

A little while ago, a CNET reader sent me an e-mail asking for some GPS buying advice and wondered if I used any model in particular, so I thought it'd be a good time to share my list of favorite portable navigation systems. I don't personally own one, but I'm very lucky in that I get to test most of the in-car GPS devices that come through CNET's offices, which is great because I love to take road trips. And I've found that most systems do a solid job of getting you from point A to point B, but it's things like design, interface, and features that really make the difference. So these are my four picks, and here's why. For ease of use and simplicity, the TomTom GO 930 is the one. It's ready to use right out of the box, and I admire its minimalist design. This is even more impressive considering that the GO 930 is a fairly high-end model, and hey, I certainly don't mind the advanced navigation features like lane guidance and optimized route calculation. The Garmin Nuvi 880 makes the list because not only does it offer the solid features and performance that we've come to expect from Garmin, but it also has the best voice command system I have seen to date. Its accuracy was truly impressive. The Mio C520 gets praises for being an exceptional value. For less than $400, you get an accurate system with text-to-speech functionality, integrated Bluetooth, and multimedia--all wrapped up into one sleek package. And last, but not least, there's the new Mio Knight Rider GPS. Now, I should disclose that I haven't actually road-tested this unit yet, but hey, the GPS features the actual voice of KITT (William Daniels)--how can you NOT love that?

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