Sushi Money

I’ve always been an early adopter when it comes to technology. At least until I realized how much money I was spending and became a dedicated investor and saver a few years ago. I still love new technology, but try to wait a little longer before trying a new product. That’s what I did with GPS, but now it’s time to think about getting a unit for the car. GPS navigation has finally gained widespread adoption and is hitting the mainstream much like computers about 10-15 years ago. Oh… what is GPS? Well, GPS stands for Global Positioning System:

“The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based radionavigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis — freely available to all. For anyone with a GPS receiver, the system will provide location and time. GPS provides accurate location and time information for an unlimited number of people in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world.”

I like the free part… just buy a GPS device and you get pinpoint navigation whenever you want!

Many folks think the adoption and use of GPS is much more widespread, which it is among commercial users worldwide (Thanks to the USA!). But millions of people across the world haven’t even considered using GPS until recently. The leading U.S. gps navigation manufacturer is Garmin with a 56% market share according to ChangeWave Research. That’s a huge percentage among worldwide competition, and Garmin appears to have some cool products coming in the future.

Garmin (GRMN) may be a great company to invest in as well, although the stock price has been hit pretty hard lately after huge gains last year. Almost a 60% drop, but I suspect it will do pretty well next year. Another Apple in the making? Could be, at least for a few years. But the stock is hugely volatile… not an investment for the faint of heart.

But with products like Garmin’s cool Nuvi line of navigation devices, people really like what they see. I used to own a Garmin product about 8 years ago. It was a small portable gps that I used for outdoor recreation such as hiking. It was pretty neat but not nearly as intuitive and user-friendly as the products out now. I’ve held off purchasing another one while these products matured but I think it’s finally time.

So I’m going to purchase an “in-car” navigation device in the next few weeks. Why now? Two reasons:

1. To save time and money! Which is often the same thing…

2. For a summer travel vacation around the country

But think about it… the less time we spend driving from point A to point B, the less gas we use. Big “duh” right? But really, how many times have you driven somewhere and made the wrong turn, or needed to go a different way for something? With the cost of fuel prices these days, if you drive a car for your job you almost can’t be without one of these devices now. For someone doing a lot of driving to new places, a gps unit could save a lot of money in both fuel costs, and in terms of time.

I like the axiom “Time is money.” If a gps unit helps me save gas and time, then it will probably pay for itself within the year. More than that, the units they have out now are kind of fun and for a family- it makes traveling a little safer and more secure… you know you’ll get where you want to go.

Garmin nĂĽvi 660 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

My only problem now… which one do I get?! Costco has some great prices, but so does Amazon and I don’t have to pay sales taxes. Do you have any recommendations? I’m leaning towards the Nuvi 680 or the 750 models based on price. I’m kind of looking forward to having someone (else!) tell me where to go while I’m driving…

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