8 features that a 5-star GPS navigator should have

When the Garmin Nuvi 200 (my first GPS device) was new, we expected so much less of our portable navigators.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

There was a time when all that a GPS device needed to do was get you from point A to B — preferably alive and in one piece. Over time, we began to expect so much more. We wanted hands-free calling, synching of contacts, large databases of local destinations, and traffic data. The bar for what counted as a good GPS device had to be raised.

That bar is still rising, faster yet and higher than ever now that GPS navigators must compete with smartphones and tablets. Simply getting from point A to B isn’t enough when dozens of apps and competing hardware models all seem to do the same thing. A truly outstanding GPS navigator has to add value to the driving experience, make the driver’s life both easier, and increase the safety of each trip.

With that in mind, I’ve rounded up 8 features that would separate an outstanding modern GPS navigator from the masses of merely good.

Smarter destination search This is actually the feature (or rather, often lacking feature) that annoyed me enough to write this list. Most navigators that I’ve tested can search for a destination nearby, but there are better methods than a simple radius search. Destination search engines need to get smarter.

A good first step is searchin… [Read more]