Not too long ago, the three letters GPS would be meaningless to most consumers.  Today it isn’t uncommon a site at all to see the GPS mobile navigation units mounted prominently on dashboards of all sorts of vehicles.

In the early days, consumer GPS software was loaded onto a notebook PC.  You had to balance the notebook on your front seat of your vehicle with a rather large antenna set up on your dash for satellite reception.  Although it was clumsy, it provided a taste of what was to come.  The new GPS navigation systems actually can be a great accessory that contributes to safe driving. 

While there literally are thousands of GPS units on the market today, the most popular units share many things in common.  The most popular units come with mounts for dash or windshield mounting.  You can purchase exterior mounted antennas but in most cases the units perform fine when mounted on the upper dash near the windsheld.  The newer models are easy to operate and most will find their satellite positioning in a matter of seconds. 

Although I’ve been able to use a good number of different models and brands, the TomTom GPS navigation system has become my favorite.  TomTom GPS has proven to be inexpensive yet very functional.  The TomTom systems also make excellent gifts for anyone who frequently drives any distances.