By Alex Nunez on November 23, 2009 in
We've covered a few Black Friday GPS deals already, but in the time since those initial offerings leaked onto the web, the big guns -- Target and Wal-Mart-- have one-upped pretty much everyone else when it comes to aggressive pricing on portable automotive GPS units. If you've been thinking of picking up a GPS for yourself, or plan to give one as a gift, there are now a couple of clear cut winners to choose from.
For a basic GPS unit, Wal-Mart's $59 TomTom unit is untouchable.
The TomTom One 125 (*Est. $100), a runner-up model in our latest auto GPS report, is about as basic as a dash or window-mount GPS gets: 3.5-inch touchscreen, a map of the U.S., and not much else. Wal-Mart is offering up a variant called the TomTom One 125 SE for $59 as a Black Friday doorbuster (5 AM to 11 AM).
TomTom doesn't list the 125 SE on its website at all, leading us to believe it may be some sort of Wal-Mart-exclusive. Regardless, be thankful, because the TomTom One 125 SE adds the all-important text-to-speech feature that's missing from the standard One 125. This brings it very close to the TomTom One 130S (*Est. $130) in terms of features (the 130S features a map of Canada, in addition to the U.S.), and it does so at the bargain-basement Black Friday price of $59. We'd been waiting to see one of the older, entry models get its price dramatically slashed for the post-Thanksgiving shopping throwdown, and here it is. You will not find a cheaper deal on a quality, basic auto GPS than this come Friday. Anywhere.
For a more advanced, feature-laden GPS, set a course for Target.
The TomTom XL 340S doesn't eclipse the array of Garmin devices that get more reviewer love, but it remains a very full-featured GPS that includes desirable features such as a widescreen display, lane assist, and TomTom's IQ Routes tech (which uses crowdsourced data collected from other TomTom users to help the device determine the optimum route, taking into account factors such as the time of day, etc.). Regularly priced at $250, Target is selling the TomTom XL 340S for $97 on Black Friday. That's about as good as it gets for a widescreen model with interesting features. It's clearly a better value than the $89 TomTom XL 325SE doorbuster at Wal-Mart, as the 325 lacks both IQ Routes and lane assistance.
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