Posted Oct. 4, 2007
On a recent trip to L.A., the Mio Digiwalker C230 Portable Car Navigation System saved me the extra charge (up to $10 a day) I’d normally spend on rental-car GPS (Global Positioning System) options like Avis’s Where2 or Hertz’s NeverLost. Unlike a lot of bulkier GPS devices, this one is almost ridiculously portable—a little over three inches deep by four inches wide, less than an inch thick, and weighing just six ounces—and yet it still has a bright, highly readable screen. Key in your address using the pop-up keyboard on the touchscreen, and the Digiwalker, consulting with a satellite, plots your course on its map (street maps for the entire U.S. are preloaded) and can even tell you where to go, because it has so-called “text-to-speech,” which lets it speak street names (“Turn left on Broadway”). Text-to-speech GPS devices used to cost hundreds more than this handsome little gadget, which makes it the best under-$200 portable GPS device on the market.
$193 at Buydig.com.