Let’s face it: many of us just aren’t good with directions. Maybe you’re lost, with no idea how to get back to the freeway, let alone how to locate the nearest on-ramp. Or maybe you’ve just picked up a rental car at an unfamiliar airport and have no idea how to find your hotel downtown. Maybe you just took a wrong turn on a hike. These types of stressful situations are a thing of the past when you’re carrying a portable GPS unit.
Global Positioning Systems make it virtually impossible for you to get lost, no matter where on planet Earth you find yourself. Thanks to a network of 24 NAVSTAR satellites the U.S. Department of Defense has orbiting the earth, a GPS receiver triangulates data from three or more satellites to calculate exactly where you are. Once your position is determined, GPS units can accurately display your location on an electronic map.
But that’s the very least a GPS unit can do for you. GPS units can also calculate and display other information like your current and average speed, direction, overall trip distance, distance to your destination, and much, much more. GPS manufacturers are providing more rich data to their navigation units by adding everything from up-to-the-minute traffic reports to locating the nearest (and cheapest) gas stations. Imagine how hassle-free any type of travel would become if you always knew how to find the nearest Chinese takeout.
There are hundreds of GPS navigators currently on the market under dozens of brand names, too many to survey in a just few pages, so we chose to review a range of units from one of America’s most popular manufacturers, Garmin™. Garmin has an excellent reputation, and they’re a pioneer of the industry (in business since 1989), manufacturing exclusively navigation and communications equipment.
While onboard navigation systems are a couple seasons away for Kia vehicles, these feature-packed, portable units from Garmin can be used in your Kia, on your jog or cycling route, for finding your way back from a long hike, or even in your airplane, if you happen to have one handy.
For all the latest devices, find your own way to garmin.com.
