Best selling GPS for November 2011

My top ten GPS list comes with a twist this time around. This monthly feature usually ranks models according to the most popular GPS Tracklog reviews. But during the holidays, there are enough sales made here and on our GPS Deals site, through our various partners, that we can rank actual units sold. Of course, auto units dominate, especially this time of year; the handheld list carries little meaning below the top five spots, with the remaining models selling just a couple each. I’ll save further caveats and analysis for the end. On to the rankings…

Top selling auto GPS

1. Garmin nuvi 1450LMT
2. Garmin nuvi 50LM
3. Garmin nuvi 1490LMT
4. TomTom EASE
5. TomTom VIA 1535TM
6. Garmin nuvi 40
7. TomTom XXL 540TM
8. Garmin nuvi 1350LMT
9. Garmin nuvi 1390LMT (tie)
9. Garmin nuvi 2460LMT (tie)

Top selling sport and handheld GPS

1. Garmin Oregon 450
2. Garmin eTrex Venture HC
3. Garmin eTrex 20 (tie)
3. Garmin GPSMAP 62s (tie)
5. Garmin Approach S1 (tie)
5. Garmin eTrex 10 (tie)
5. Garmin eTrex Legend HCx (tie)
5. Magellan eXplorist GC (tie)
9. Garmin eTrex Vista HCx (tie)
9. Garmin Forerunner 110 (tie)
9. Garmin Oregon 550t (tie)
9. Garmin Rino 650 (tie)

Caveats

Now this is all highly impacted by which units go on sale. When the TomTom EASE is available for $49, you can bet that it’s going to rank high. And there are many other factors affecting the list, including which of my reviews rank better on search engines, how positive (or not) I was about a particular unit, previous top ten lists, etc. If you want a different view of the best selling GPS, check out Amazon (though their list is more dynamic as it is updated hourly).

Analysis

I always like reporting actual sales, because it tends to shake up the rankings a bit, so I’m both amused and a bit distressed that we have the same two units atop each category that have been there since April of this year!

Auto GPS

Here we saw a whopping eight out of the top ten models being bundled with lifetime map updates. I guess consumers really value that, huh? Looking at screen size, we see six 5” models, three 4.3” and one 3.5”. The big screens dominated, but they weren’t quite as popular as the map updates. One other note – none of the newest nuvis made it into the top ten; I’d say this is primarily because they haven’t been discounted that much yet, though the nuvi 2595LMT did come in at number 11, tied with the 1300LM.

Handheld GPS

The Oregon 450 continues to dominate over the 62s; price is one factor but maybe people prefer touchscreens, or perhaps they are just easier to market. On the low end, the venerable Venture HC did quite well; perhaps the eTrex 10 would have done better if I would have had a review posted for it. The eTrex 20 certainly looks like it will be a popular model though. On the high end, the total lack of the Garmin Montana from the rankings definitely surprises me. As a matter of fact, not a single one was sold through my sites last month. I’m sure price is a big factor, but with the Montana 600 dipping below $400 in one sale, I would have thought a few would move anyway.

Thank you

Finally a big thanks to everyone who shopped or purchased through the site. We get a small fee with each item sold (coming out of the merchant’s pocket; it doesn’t increase your cost at all), and it’s really the only way we can justify the hours it takes to keep GPS Tracklog up and running. With your support, we’ll keep bringing you the latest GPS news, reviews, tips and tricks!