Conservation »

A family member is starting a job to be a Rural Carrier Associate and is required to use her own car. Will a Garmin GPS Navigation system help to save gas by avoiding missed turns, especially when being on new routes all the time?
Any other gas saving tips or vehicle suggestions for Rural Mail Carriers welcome.

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Any PND GPS that is accurate can and will save gas, there is tons of studies available regarding fleet vehicles using GPS vs none GPS equipped vehicles. There is an increase not just in fuel savings but employee productivity.
We don't think about this much, but without a GPS in an area that you are not familiar with, you tend to pull over to read maps, slow down to read street signs and you may not take a route that is most efficient. Calling for the correct address also waste time and if you have your vehicle idling, it will cost you more fuel also.
Study shows you can save 33% with a GPS compare to not having one.
So the answer is YES, it will save you fuel but it does not have to be a Garmin GPS, Garmin currently is the best selling GPS in NA.

If you wish to try using a GPS for a few days until your family member get familiar with his or her route, you can rent a GPS PND from GPS4Rent without paying for a GPS unit outright....

09.12.09

We have been observing personal navigation device (PND) makers for some time now and one has to admit that they are coming under increasing pressure. The portable navigation market includes archrivals Garmin ( GRMN ) and TomTom, as well as other smaller players, such MiTAC Digital and Navigon. 

Since navigation products are given to commoditization, there has always been significant pressure on prices. However, the more immediate threat is Google ( GOOG ), which intends to add free turn-by-turn directions to the Google Maps app for smartphones using its Android operating system. 

The concept of adding navigation to phones is not new— Nokia ( NOK ) made its intentions clear last year, when the company acquired Navteq for a lofty $8.1 billion. Navigation is increasingly becoming a part of all smartphones, adding to the competition for the standalone portable device makers. 

In fact, iSuppli expects GPS navigation in all smartphones by 2011. It is clear that both companies perceive the threat, because holiday season prices have been slashed significantly. According to iSuppli analyst Danny Kim, Garmin offered 40-42% discount on all its products in the Black Friday shopping weekend. TomTom also offered significant discounts. While a certain amount of discounts are normal for the season, the rate this year is more significant than in prior years. 

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Which would you recommend: GARMIN STREETPILOT 360 OR GARMIN NUVI 200.

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Which one should i buy? i know you have to pay for updates for the tom tom after 90 days, what about the Garmin, do i have to pay for updates? Garmin is more money is it worth it?

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I use the Tom Tom One 3rd Edition (Tele Atlas) and like it. Before I bought mine, I did searches and saw very few bad comments about it -- mostly that there should be more information in the quick start guide (the full manual is on their website -- not in the package). The unit is ready to use out of the box and the maps are detailed -- I even found one-lane gravel roads were listed and named on the TomTom maps. If you want to, you can easily connect this GPS to your computer and download updates from TomTom for free (as often as you want -- every week if you want to). I never heard of just 90 days. In October a consumer magazine rated it a best buy after testing over a dozen units (there were several units that were rated higher -- but they were more expensive).

It is powered by the car cigarette lighter; the GPS is small enought to fit in your pocket and will run for several hours (longer if you turn the brightness and volume down / off) on the internal battery....

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