Sunday, March 18, 2012

Consumer Reports rates the best GPS navigators

garmin-nuvi-885t

The September issue of Consumer Reports showed up this past weekend, with an article titled “Best GPS Navigators.” Their top ten chart says it shows the best choices from their tests of 89 models; the list includes five Garmins, three TomToms and two Magellans.

Topping the list are the Garmin nuvi 885T, TomTom GO 740 Live and Garmin nuvi 765T, good choices all and hard to argue with. I’d probably put the nuvi 765T on top, partially because I find touch-screen input easier and faster than voice-input.

Their “best buys” are the nuvi 760, nuvi 265T, TomTom ONE 140 and nuvi 200 (they note that for the nuvi 200 and 760, they are actually recommending any model in the 200 and 700 series). Again, the choices are pretty good, though I’d add the nuvi 2×5 series, which is currently one of my own top recommendations.

The Magellan RoadMate 1440 makes the list, and it’s a good unit. The 1220 shows up as well, but it’s an earlier generation unit with too many flaws to recommend.

Consumer Reports’ GPS ratings have greatly improved since we first started following them. I do question the inclusion of some models ahead of the excellent nuvi 2×5 series, but overall, I think they’ve done a good job. I hope we’ll soon see an article on the best handheld receivers.

About Rich Owings

Rich is the owner, editor and chief bottle-washer for GPS Tracklog. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus.

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