In-car GPS with traffic services

Bonnie Cha, Senior Associate Editor April 1, 2009

We've yelled, we've honked, we've all experienced the pain and the frustration of traffic. And as people spend more time in their cars and endure longer commutes, is there any relief in sight? Some GPS manufacturers are betting so. The latest crop of portable navigation devices(PNDs) from the likes of Garmin, TomTom, Navigon, and Magellan is incorporating traffic services to provide you with real-time road updates; highlighting construction zones, slow-moving roadways, and traffic accidents. Many of the models will even suggest alternate routes around the affected areas.

Now, in the past, you've had to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee for the privilege of getting traffic updates (as you do on the Magellan Maestro 4050), but now we're seeing a trend where GPS manufacturers are offering the services for free. For example, the Navigon 7200T offers a lifetime of free traffic as does the Garmin Nuvi 265WT, though as a trade off you have to put up with some minimal advertisements on the Nuvi. Meanwhile, both the Dash Express and the TomTom GO 930 require extra costs, they also use historical traffic data to provide you with the most efficient route to your destination. Check out our full reviews of these PNDs to see if one is right for you.

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