Budget Auto GPS

Best GPS receivers for $200 or less

Budget auto GPS units keep getting cheaper and better. Experts say the entry-level Garmin nuvi 265T (*Est. $185) and its widescreen variant, the Garmin nuvi 265WT (*Est. $230) are the best budget GPS receivers and have an incredible array of features including free traffic information for the life of the GPS unit. "There are very few, if any, other GPS that provide such a value," writes CNET's Bonnie Cha.

The Garmin nuvi 265T auto GPS receiver includes most of the features you'll find on the priciest Garmin GPS navigation units: a color touch screen, 6 million points of interest, the ability to speak street names -- even Bluetooth hands-free calling and a new ecoroute feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route. Some niceties are missing, most notably lane assist (which tells you which lane you need to be in at an upcoming freeway interchange) and the ability to automatically sort multiple destinations into the most direct route.

Free traffic information for the life of the unit is one feature you won't find on other automotive GPS units in this price range. Garmin's traffic data info covers 90 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada. But in exchange for the free traffic service, you have to look at advertising on your Garmin GPS receiver. "For example, when searching for a hotel, the nuvi might display an ad for Hilton Hotels," explains Fletcher Previn, the reviewer at GPSMagazine.com.

Most critics say they were prepared to hate the compulsory ads on the Garmin GPS receiver, but after testing, they agree that the advertisements are actually quite inconspicuous. Garmin typically charges $50 to $60 for traffic-information subscription services from Navteq and Clear Channel.

If you don't need the free traffic service, experts say the cheaper Garmin nuvi GPS devices navigate just as well, and they're as easy to use. The Garmin nuvi 255 (*Est. $175) and widescreen Garmin nuvi 255W (*Est. $195) omit Bluetooth and make traffic information an extra-cost option. So do the entry-level Garmin nuvi 205 (*Est. $115) and widescreen Garmin nuvi 205W (*Est. $165), but these basic models, the cheapest of all Garmin GPS receivers, can't speak street names. That's such a helpful feature -- and the price difference is so small -- that experts urge buyers to spend the few extra dollars to get it.

Garmin's latest budget model, the Garmin nuvi 1200 (*Est. $185 to $275), includes special features for pedestrians and public transit. You can buy maps of major cities in North America and Europe for $10 to $15 each and find the best routes for walking, bus and/or subway travel, which works fairly well in tests. However, traffic information costs extra on the nuvi 1200, and reviewers still prefer the Garmin nuvi 265T for car travel.

TomTom GPS are also good budget picks

TomTom's budget car GPS units typically cost less than Garmin's, but reviewers don't recommend them as often. Testers frequently find Garmin GPS navigation devices easier and more intuitive to use than TomTom's. As for performance, experts in the U.K. and Australia usually find TomTom navigates the best, while U.S. experts usually say Garmin GPS receivers navigate better in North America.

The low-priced TomTom One 140S (*Est. $150) competes with the top-rated Garmin nuvi 265T and still gets praise from U.S. experts. Although the TomTom doesn't offer Garmin's free lifetime traffic service, the TomTom 140S automotive GPS receiver does add a few useful features you won't find on a budget Garmin GPS: IQ routes (which chooses the quickest route based on other TomTom users' actual speeds on a given road), advanced lane guidance (which shows you which lane to be in at an interchange) and the ability to sort multiple destinations into one route. Traffic information with the TomTom One 140S GPS costs an additional $60 per year.

PCMag.com's Craig Ellison picks the TomTom One 140S in a head-to-head matchup against the Garmin nuvi 265T, although he notes that "either would be an excellent choice for an entry-level navigator; it comes down to which features you value more." TomTom also offers a widescreen version of this GPS receiver, the TomTom XL 340S (*Est. $160) and a step-down version that can't speak street names, the TomTom One 140 (*Est. $140).

Reviewers say these TomTom car GPS receivers are an improvement over the slightly older budget GPS devices TomTom still offers: the TomTom One 130S (*Est. $130), widescreen TomTom XL 330S (*Est. $160) and TomTom XL 330 (*Est. $160), which omits spoken street names. Testers say they missed the IQ routes and louder speakers found on the new TomTom car GPS units as well as enhanced maps, a bigger points-of-interest database and shortcut icons for often-used functions. The TomTom One 125 (*Est. $100) gets a couple of nods as TomTom's most basic GPS navigator, without spoken street names or Canadian maps; it's the cheapest GPS experts recommend.

You'll find other GPS brands for sale under $200, but reviews don't usually recommend these. They tend to be from minor manufacturers -- such as the Nextar I4-BC (*Est. $160), which gets nods from About.com and the U.K.'s PocketGPSWorld.com -- or older models now offered at deep discounts, such as the discontinued Navigon 2200T. Reviewers like Navigon's GPS devices, but the company announced in May 2009 it was pulling out of the U.S. market.