SquareTrade

Pioneer's AVIC-F premium GPS line will take you to the cleaners.

Sure, we were extolling the virtues of a low-cost GPS just a few days ago, but forget that crap.  We're looking at a new trio of car-mounted Pioneer AVIC-F units that start at $850, but man, do they pull out a few tricks you don't normally see in a GPS.

Like what, you ask?  Well, the Pioneer AVIC-F700BT, AVIC-F900BT and Premier-branded AVIC-F90BT all rock a 5.8" WVGA touchscreen that shows 3D mapping with text-to-voice directions, which frankly isn't all that special nowadays.  They're all fully compatible with iPods, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio, MSN Direct, HD radio, and hands-free connectivity to your Bluetooth-enabled phone... nice, but not spectacular.  But they also play CDs and DVDs and take vocal commands using Pioneer's advanced VoiceBox protocols.  That means it'll understand you better than most other electronics you talk to (for whatever reason) and filter out all your "ers" and "ums" and "ahs" when you command it to play you some Barry White.  And the AVIC-F series is smart enough to stack vocal commands, Star Trek-style.  If you tell it to call a friend and it finds multiple numbers for that friend on your phone, the AVIC-F will ask you which number to use... without you having to repeat the original "call friend" command.  We like. 

Popping in a Transformers DVD to watch on your dash while driving?  Not so much.  Save that for your passenger.

Naturally, such coolness comes at a premium.  The Pioneer AVIC-F700BT, AVIC-F900BT and Premier-branded AVIC-F90BT are expected to retail at $850, $1100 and $1200 respectively.  So maybe you'll want to guarantee they'll be around a while with a 3-Year SquareTrade warranty.  That way, if your new GPS leads you into trouble, you won't be out all that money.

These three expected to show up in the States in June, with maps covering the U.S., Canada, Alaska and Hawaii.  It's pricy kit, but sometimes you have to love yourself a little, right?

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The Navigon 2100 Max GPS is Xtreme to the Max.

Okay, enough of this $800 Tom-Tom nonsense... how about an entry level GPS that does all the neat things a mid-level GPS does?  Congratulations: the Navigon 2100 Max will get you where you're going for only $300.  Unless you get it at Amazon, which knocks twenty bucks off the price.

This is the U.S. model (Canada gets their own, the 2120 Max) and it'll hit you with a photo-realistic(ish) 4.3" touchscreen that includes the same street signs and corporate business logos you're seeing outside your windshield, plus the text-to-voice directional prompts all the kids are into these days.  There's no real-time traffic updates on this puppy, but it does have lane assist, a friendly warning feature when you exceed the speed limit (useless, since we never, never go 15-40 over the limit) and an even friendlier one-touch button that directs you to the closest emergency services.  Which you might need if you exceed the speed limit.

It's eligible for a SquareTrade warranty, of course, and basically bumps up the size, price, features and the "MAX!" on its older brother, the Navigon 2100.  If you want to finally jump on the GPS bandwagon (and let's face it, nobody needs a GPS more than people on a bandwagon), the 2100 Max looks like a good place to start.

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Thinkware's iNAVI K2 turns your GPS into GTA.

Let's be honest: 2D graphics were outdated back in 1995.  It's the 21st Century, man! We've got laser guns and flying cars and giant robots now!  So thank goodness somebody's bringing the 3D to a GPS format... namely the Thinkware iNAVI K2.

What you're looking at here is a 4.8-inch touchscreen, and yep, it displays a realistic 3D cityscape of the area you're in... the picture here shows it at street level, but it also pulls out so you can see the surrounding area.  By the looks of things, it's also displaying images of businesses that its local search feature would have on tap, in what we'll calmly describe as stunning detail. 

Under the hood you've got a three-axis sensor that dead reckons the position and direction of your car, so what you see on that screen pretty much matches what you see out your windshield.  There's an 8GB SDHC memory card with 256MB RAM, and supports MP3 playback, video, e-books, photos and - you guessed it - games.  Though it might be just a little too surreal if you were playing Grand Theft Auto on this thing.

Sadly, like all things super-cool, it's only out in Korea at the moment.  But the bar's most definitely been raised, and when the iNAVI K2 makes it over to our shores (or when the rest of the GPS world catches up) we'll enthusiastically put a SquareTrade warranty on ours.  Oh, and yours, too.   We guess.

And yeah, those FamilyMarts are all over Seoul.  Trust us on that one.

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Clever Chinese get GPS on their Rear View Mirror.

Sure, everyone driving a motorhome these days has a liquid-crystal rear-view mirror that pops of their dash, but peep the DSUS DS-400GB, a 4" GPS unit that sits flush to the right of your rear-view mirror.  And it's not a concept, either... this thing's live in China right now.

It's a touch-screen unit that synchs to your phone via Bluetooth for a hand-free mode, and comes complete with integrated speakers and an SD/MMC memory card slot for your expansion needs.  Is it safe?  Well, we like it better than the DVD in-dash player a few car makers were pushing a few years ago, and we don't figure it's much different from any other mounted GPS.  We just hope it's got text-to-voice so drivers don't have to keep looking in their rear-view mirrors.  Lord knows we never do.

This might just be a sign of Things To Come, given more fun toys like this are becoming standard issue in more cars, and there's a finite amount of space on the dash.  Sooner or later, we'll work our way up to semi-transparent displays on the windshield itself - probably in our Lexus Flying Car, but this is a nice intermediary in the meantime.  Be sure to pick one up when you're at the Olympics.

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Mio's Moov GPS is the best April Fool's ever.

Good news, everyone!  Mio's Moov GPS line makes our shores on April 1st... for real.  What do we like about the Moov?  Well, let's just say they know they've got some stiff competition, so they're stepping it up with some sweet extra features.

First, they're slightly cheaper, and that never hurts.  The Moov 200, 300, and 310 look like slight re-dresses of Europe's Moov 200, 330, and 370, but don't let those numbers bother you.  They still retail between $180 and $250, and the big difference between them is that they range from a 3.5" touch-screen to a 4.3-incher.  But here's what's comes standard on all three;

• Lifetime traffic updates, and it looks like it's going to be totally free.  Other GPS companies charge a $50 subscription.

• Marked-out traffic cameras and known/suspected speed traps, for which you get visual and audio warnings.  It's not a built-in radar detector, but that's still real, real nice.

• A SiRF chip they're claiming is five times faster than other GPS signals, so you're not waiting around staring at the "Acquiring Satellite" message.

We dig all that.  Plus, the 370 also has maps for 22 non-America countries with local searches, which could save you a boatload of cash if you travel a lot and like to take your GPS with you.  Other companies tend to charge for adding those maps to your GPS.  Oh, and text-to-voice on all three, too. 

And you could do a lot worse than to put a SquareTrade GPS warranty on it, maybe with Accidental Damage coverage just to be on the safe side... you never know what kind of trouble you might run into out on the open road, with the wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth.  Now that's livin'.

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Cheap GPS devices at Best Buy!

Okay, Best Buy, after a rough start, you've been good this week and we were very pleased to see you've singled out six GPS models and chopped between $50 and $300 off the price of each one.  We approve.

And the selection's pretty eclectic, too.  On the 15% off end of the scale, you've got a pair of TomToms; the ONE XL-S, a nifty text-to-speech gadget with a 4.3" touch-screen and a Gig of onboard flash memory, going for only $300, and the GO 920T, which bumps the SSD up to 4GB.  We also found a trio of Magellans - the 3200, 3250, and 4250 for $$70, $80, and $100 off, respectively, leading up to a $700 all-in-one GPS/CD/DVD in-dash player from Pioneer, down from $1000.  That's good stuff, BB.

But, and we're sorry to keep bringing this up, your warranties still cost about twice what a SquareTrade GPS warranty does... and oddly, it doesn't even look like you're offering warranties on your sale GPS devices.  That's okay; we are.  And we're throwing in a 5-Day Service Guarantee and an option for Accidental Damage coverage, too.

That's a pretty good arrangement, BB.  You sell the swag for less, we'll keep it safe for less. We should do this more often.

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The TomTom 930T and 730T are nice software updates.

Considering how many new GPS devices we saw debuted at CES this year, it's always just a little shocking to find something got left out.  Today, for example, we get the brand spankin' new TomTom 730T and 930T, which are basically just software updates to the 720 and 920.  But it's the little things that count, right?

The little things in this case being what they call IQ Routes.  Basicially, the new TomToms stop calculating driving time by how fast you're supposed to go (i.e. the posted speed limit) and start calculating by how fast you're likely to go (you leadfoot), based on historical data.  The new models also throw in Advanced Lane Guidance, which add a bit more definition to the directions by showing you which lane you're supposed to be in, as opposed to the normal One Arrow/One Road configuration. 

Otherwise, we're talking about the same 4.3" touchscreen GPS gadgets as before, with the 930 having slightly more intelligent navigation that isn't disrupted when you loose the GPS signal.  Of course, they're both eligible for a SquareTrade GPS warranty, with or without Accidental Damage coverage.

We've heard prices of $450 and $500 on these things, set for an April release, but considering that would be a fifty dollar price drop from the lower-end 920 to the 930 (dead-even on the 720/730), we're a little skeptical.  We'll see.

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Leap Year Sales catch some decent air.

We know you're thinking an extra day in February is just The Man's way of making you put in extra hours at the office, but it's also a handy excuse for big box stores to put things on sale. 

Best Buy doesn't have much other than the Vaio/Inspiron sale from three weeks ago and a bogus "$700 Off" home theater package that requires a $200 Geek Squad buy-in to save money on a TV that's already on sale elsewhere.  Circuit City, on the other hand, has a handful of electronics deals we like... such as a Philips DVD Player (non-HD, no-Blu) going for only $30... or $50, if you're lazy and don't mail in the rebate.  They've also knocked 33% off the price of the Garmin c340 StreetPilot GPS, or there's the TomTom ONE going for $167... down eighty bucks from normal. 

CC's desktop computer bundles and laptop sales are pretty joke-worthy ($30 off a $1000+ comput er just doesn't do it for us), but they are offering free 1GB memory cards with certain digital cameras, and some truly great deals on DV camcorders.  We particularly like the $270 they chopped from the price of the Canon HV20 HD Camcorder, putting it down to $730.  Not bad for a best-in-class device. And that's how you discount something.

Speaking of which, you can get 20% Off your SquareTrade warranty for any of these things (or anything else) from now through March 2nd... and that's on prices that were already about half what Circuit City would charge you.  That includes Accidental Damage coverage, too, if you want it.

Just use Coupon Code: MARCHSALE on our checkout page.  And do it while you're at work, too, just to stick it to The Man.  He deserves it.

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Garmin Nuvifone revealed.

Okay, we knew this was in the works, but it caught just about everybody by surprise last night when Garmin uncorked its upcoming iPhone-like handset, the Nuvifone, without nary a hint or warning that an announcement of any kind was forthcoming, for anything.  And while we admire their anti-guerilla marketing technique in the age of teasers and spoilers, Garmin's first (and only) smart phone is shaping up to be gadget worth your time.

What we're seeing so far is essentially Garmin transferring it's GPS touchscreen technology to an iPhone-sized case, shoving in all their normal GPS functions, then adding phone, media player (MP3s and MP4s), camera and web surfing features on a home-grown browser.  An iPhone, basically, only with a few uniquely Garmin touches.  Such as real-time traffic, weather, stock, and fuel price reports, a handy "where'd I park?" feature, and location-tagged photos.  It'll also be the first Garmin to perform Google local searches (stomping right on Apple's firmware 3.1.1.), all from its iPhone-sized 3.5" screen.  There will be voice prompting on directions, but no word yet on whether it'll have text-to-voice (which is the difference, for those who don't know, between "Turn Right Here" and "Turn Right on Market Street").  Garmin's release photos strongly suggest it'll flip between portrait and landscape views just as easily as a... well, you know.

The Nuvifone is targeted for a Q3 release, and it'll be eligible for a SquareTrade cell phone warranty when ours it finally arrives.  We'll hopefully find out who's carrying it and how much it'll cost by then, too.

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Cheap Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS at Circuit City.

Right on the heels of all the new Magellan GPS models unveiled at CES, Circuit City's decided to share the love by knocking $150 off the price of the Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS for one day only (that would be today).  The catch?  You have to buy it online.  Darn!  But you can still pick it up in-store.  Hooray!

The sale price comes to $250, which is a pretty sweet deal. It also lowers the price of your 3-Year SquareTrade GPS warranty to just $30... ten bucks a year to guarantee against any normal-use mechanical or electrical failures, and guarantee a five business day turnaround on any claims you make.  Accidental Damage coverage will cost a bit more, but you are taking this thing on the road, after all.

For the record, this is the one with the 4.3" screen, voice guidance, a pre-loaded AAA Tourbook, and Searchable Points of Interest, in case you're on the last street in America without a Starbucks. 

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GPS warranty