GPS

The 3rd and last in our GPS section of the 12 Gizmos of Christmas is the Garmin Forerunner 301 which is a heart monitor with GPS built-in for all you health-conscious geeks out there who love getting outdoors for your workouts – running, cycling, hiking, etc. Like most other heart-monitor systems, the Forerunner consists of a wrist unit and a digital heart rate transmitter that you wear around your chest. The transmitter is coded that so there is no interference from other heart rate monitor users nearby. The 301 unit continuously monitors heart rate, speed, distance, pace, and calories burned. You can set up alerts to help you maintain your heart rate within a specific range. Now, for the GPS features, the 301 lets you do things like mark your starting point, maintain a ‘breadcrumb’ trail, and offers a USB connection to your PC for analyzing your workout data afterwards. For you off-roaders, you can also overlay your path onto a map. The 301’s rechargeable lithium-ion battery runs for 14 hours.

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Garmin Forerunner 301 Personal GPS with Heart Rate MonitorRead More »

The first of our 3 featured GPS devices is the widescreen Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS Personal Travel Assistant. It has a 4.3″ touch screen display and is preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps for the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This map database features nearly six million points of interest (POIs), provided by NAVTEQ including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and more. The Nuvi integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a microphone and speaker that lets you make hands-free mobile phone calls and plays back MP3s. When it comes to mapping and routing, you can select to use either a 2D or 3D map view perspective, automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names, and traffic alerts with the integrated FM TMC traffic.

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Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS Personal Travel AssistantRead More »

With the TrackStick GPS Data Logger, you can portably track your adventures via mapquest of google earth with a built-in GPS. Containing 1MB memory, you can keep track of your adventures over an entire month and you can set the record interval from 1 to 15 minutes.

What would you need this for? Well, imagine hiding this little unit in your car before your teenager goes out for the night… or you’re going on a cross-country bike ride and want to record your progress… or you’re taking the trip around the world and want to preserve your steps… or…

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TrackStick GPS Data LoggerRead More »

A friend sent me this very new GPS entry from Sony, the NV-U70. This is a neat 3.5″ touch-screen GPS receiver that resists fingerprint smudges, and can be seen clearly from wide viewing angles. I find this pretty amazing – it has 1GB of memory (as much as my laptop!). Of course, this is loaded with map info for the US. Another cool feature is the automated brightness control that adjusts depending on the light conditions. Now, as for navigation itself, there is the screen with arrows to guide you, a voice synthesizer that tells you what to do next and intelligent rerouting if you make a wrong turn.

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Sony NV-U70 NAV-U GPS Portable Vehicle Navigation SystemRead More »