Although GPS units come with all sorts of great features, they all essentially do the same thing. They show you where you are and tell you how to get where you’re going. If you lived in New York, you could type Los Angeles as your destination, and the GPS would tell you exactly how to get there–turn-by-turn.

In addition, all GPS receivers come with some large number of pre-programmed destinations. These are called Points of Interest, or POI’s. Finally, they all have a touch screen interface you can use to choose icons or type stuff in.

It’s not really the base function of these things that gets confusing. It’s the extra features! And the fact there are a number of manufacturers out there all of whom are making very good, competitive devices.

Let’s talk about all of this, starting with the manufacturers.

Although there are several manufacturers, I personally prefer to stick with the top three, Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan. Sure, there are other companies who make these things, but I like to know my purchase is going to be supported next year and the next.

Garmin is without question the industry leader. They currently have almost 70% of the total market. They offer an excellent selection of products at all price points. You can get a basic Garmin (the Garmin nuvi 200) for less than $150, or you can get the top of the line model (the 880), which sells for close to $1,000.

Tom Tom is fast catching up to Garmin, however. They’re doing this by offering a lot of product at very competitive prices. Take the Tom Tom One 3rd Edition, for example. It is priced at almost exactly what the Garmin nuvi 200 is priced at, but the 3rd Edition has a few more really cool features.

Magellan was one of the first companies to start offering GPS units. I especially like their Maestro series, which runs from about $150 to about $350. With a great company name behind them and a great package of features, it’s hard not to choose a Magellan. I especially love their deal with AAA, where they’ve got AAA’s Tour Book right in the GPS device. It’s only for AAA members, but for someone who really likes to travel, what deal!

It’s almost impossible to tell you everything you need to know to buy the right GPS unit in 500 words or less. What you need to do now is to find an informative website where you can read about specific products and also check prices.