Everyone agrees that exercise is good for you. If you’re overweight, if your blood pressure is creeping up, if you’re at risk for diabetes, exercise will be at the top of your doctor’s “get well” prescription. Exercise is known to help prevent heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Exercise can lower your risk of contracting certain types of cancer. For many, exercise can be as effective as medication in controlling depression and anxiety. If we want to be healthy, doctors say the best thing we can do is exercise briskly for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

So why is something that sounds so easy so hard to do. Well, most people say exercise is boring; but it doesn’t have to be. GPS devices can put the ”fun” back into exercising. Cool GPS sports watches bring a new element of challenge to running, walking or biking. Geocaching using handheld GPS units can turn exercise into an activity the whole family can enjoy. Adding whiz-bang GPS technology to your exercise routine can not only rejuvenate your own interest in exercise, but is a great way to hook the younger, video-game generation on healthy physical activity.

• Geocaching GPS. Geocaching is a modern day version of a treasure hunt. Using a handheld GPS you follow coordinates to a hidden cache which can be anything from a tiny film canister hanging from a tree limb to an old ammo box jammed under a rotting tree limb. “Treasures” range from log books that let you see who else has found the cache to unusual trinkets you can take home. The fun is in the hunt.
• Fitness GPS. A variety of cool cycling and running/walking GPS devices allow you to plot routes, track performance, monitor your heart rate and perform in-depth analysis of your workouts through web-based applications. It’s like having your own personal trainer along for every exercise session. You can chart progress and see improvement with each workout. GPS adds the motivating element of competition to solitary exercise.

News reporters are big fans of portable automotive GPS navigation units. On a daily basis they travel into unknown cities and neighborhoods in search of the news. A wrong turn or missed exit can mean they lose the story, and there’s nothing worse in the news biz than missing the scoop. So who better to test the capabilities of the top GPS devices for your car?

That was the thinking behind a recent comparison test conducted by Boston.com and Blast Magazine. In search of the best portable automotive GPS unit, reporters put the nine top-selling models to the test. This was no laboratory test, but a hands-on, down and dirty, get there or die trial that put these GPS units through their paces in everyday situations by real people. At both the entry and expert levels, Garmin’s Nuvi received enthusiastic reviews.

For cost-conscious consumers looking for practical functionality with a low price tag, testers liked Garmin’s Nuvi 200. Here’s what reviewers said: “The Garmin name without the price tag. Obtains a GPS signal quickly and has hyper-accurate maps and tons of points of interest.” The only drawback to the 200 model is that it doesn’t speak street names, a feature Garmin added to the Nuvi 250. With the 200 you don’t get all the bells and whistles of later models — music, video, Bluetooth capability, etc. — but you get an incredibly accurate GPS at an unbelievably low price; lower still if you purchase one of ActionGPS’s refurbished Nuvi 200 models.

On the expert level, testers raved about the Garmin Nuvi 880 which offers speech-activated navigation, MSN Direct and 6 million POI. But they were a little annoyed by processing delays in the 880 that were not found in Garmin’s Nuvi 650, and Nuvi 750 models which they noted “are known for their quick, responsive touch screens that let you zip through the menus to plot your course.” The Nuvi 650 and 750 offered nearly all the same advanced features as the 880 without those niggling new-product bugs — and at a fraction of the cost.

Bottom line, testers said, “You can’t ever go wrong with a Garmin.” How right they are. For a complete selection of Garmin GPS units for cars, boats, hiking, fitness, geocaching and recreation, visit ActionGPS. 

Those wonderful geeky guys at Consumer Reports just put automotive GPS devices through their paces, giving Garmin’s Nuvi series its highest rating. I love the CR crew. They put products through their paces and don’t pull any punches when they tell you how they held up. CR is my Bible when I’m looking to invest in a new product, whether it’s a new car, a DVD player, laundry detergent or a GPS unit, I know I’m getting honest, accurate information I can trust. They haven’t steered my wrong yet, and they’ve kept me from plunking my money down on some well-advertised lemons. But enough about my favorite guys in white lab coats; here’s what they said about GPS devices.

After exhaustive testing, Consumer Reports awarded the Garmin Nuvi 760 its highest rating. Nearly identical are Garmin’s Nuvi 650, Nuvi 660 which is Bluetooth enabled, and Nuvi 750 widescreen. All of these outstanding GPS automotive navigation systems have nearly identical features and are available from ActionGPS. ActionGPS makes it easy to compare units. Just check the box next to items you want to compare and click the Compare Selected button at the top or bottom of the product list. Action GPS gives you an easy to read table that compares major features. At a glance you can determine the product that best suits your individual needs. When you choose the unit you want, make sure to check the product list for refurbished units. ActionGPS’ factory refurbished units offer you a considerable savings over our already low prices while still providing you with Garmin’s great one-year warranty.

Other GPS units that received CR’s highest rating include the Garmin Nuvi 660, TomTom Go 920T (very similar to the 910), and Garmin Nuvi 350. CR noted that consumers can realize a considerable savings with no loss in quality or major features by purchasing a slightly older Garmin Nuvi or TomTom Go model. Some of the new bells and whistles are fun, but primarily expand peripheral uses and do not increase the automotive GPS function of the devices. For a complete listing of features and specifications, visit the ActionGPS website.

Call me a worrywart, but when my daughter and her roommate decided to hike the Vermont Trail, I insisted they take along the Garmin Rino GPS FRS/GMRS 2-way radio. They were planning a rugged week backpacking in the mountains of Vermont where the weather can change in an instant. It’s not unusual for afternoons to turn stormy and nights to drop to 40 degrees even in the dog days of August. But I was more concerned about the rugged terrain and my daughter’s relative lack of primitive camping experience. With a Garmin Rino GPS 2-way radio along, I figured they’d have a better chance of calling for help in an emergency.

The Vermont Trail is an ongoing volunteer project to build a multi-purpose four-season trail across Vermont. When completed it will make for comfortable hiking in the Vermont mountains. But it’s still a work in progress and, like the Appalachian Trail, in many places is no more than a deer path through the wild brush. My daughter had done some wilderness camping back in her college days and her roomie, a Vermont native, had hiked the Trail with friends as a teen; but that was years ago. Despite their assurances that they had everything under control, mom that I am, I envisioned crumbling rock ledges and vicious bear attacks. I felt much happier when they agreed to take the Rino along for the trip.

Weight is a big issue when you’re carrying all your supplies on your back, but at just 10.3 ounces, the Garmin Rino 520 HCx GPS 2-way radio didn’t weigh them down. They were able to add topographic and trail maps and plot their route to leave with friends. With the capacity to store 500 waypoints it was easy to mark overnight shelters, dangerous water areas and paths to nearby towns. With conservative use, the 14-hour battery life would see them through the mountains and safely home. The highly sensitive GPS receiver on the Rino 520 provides a whopping 5 watts of transmitting power, enough to locate your position even in heavy cover or deep canyons — and provide a 14-mile line-of-sight contact capability. In an emergency situation, I felt confident they’d be able to pinpoint their location and contact rescue teams.

Today is day 2 of their trek in the mountains and knowing they have the Garmin Rino GPS 2-way radio with them, I’m not really worried. (Well, not much anyway.)

Many of our newer readers often ask us to provide them with basic information in helping them choose a GPS unit. We often get questions like how difficult is it to operate a gps unit? Is there a monthly usage fee? Which model is right for me? While this blog has answered all of those questions in some form, we understand that it would be beneficial to our readers to make this information available in an an easily accessible area. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that we will soon be launching ‘The GPS Learning Center’ on ActionGPS.com.

The Learning Center will include some basic information on topics such as gps technology, geocaching, and bluetooth. Additionally, the Learning Center will feature buying guides for the automotive, fitness, marine, and outdoor GPS categories. In the future, we will also be adding gps tips along with best practices to further enhance your GPS experience.

We expect the Learning Center to be live Monday, August 11th. Be sure to check the homepage at actiongps.com then.

- ActionGPS Staff

If you’re traveling to Beijing for the Olympics, don’t forget to pack your GPS. Garmin has released City Navigator China NT 2008 just in time to help you navigate your way around China.

“This new suite of digital maps helps tourists locate stadiums, hotels, restaurants, and more — so they can spend their time being spectators instead of worrying about how to get there,” said Garmin sales VP Dan Bartel. “Presently, Garmin is the only satellite navigation manufacturer that is able to offer these highly-detailed maps.”

Just plug in the micro SD/SD card and 7 millions points of interest (POIs) are instantly  at your fingertips. The maps provide full coverage of China with street level detail for 980 cities and the roads that connect them. Download the free Chinese Sports Arenas POI bundle and you also get turn-by-turn directions to all the important Chinese sporting venues in Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Qingdao. Entries are sorted by both type of sport and city and provide competition dates to make following the world’s greatest sporting events a piece of cake. Road and POIs are presented in Pinyin, a Latin-alphabet phonetic spelling of Mandarin Chinese, to aid Westerners with road signs.

Best of all, Navigator China is compatible with all current Garmin personal navigation devices and can be easily downloaded from Garmin’s website. Remember to pack your Garmin GPS anytime you’re travelling outside the U.S. Plug-in SD cards provide language translation and travel guides to enhance your travel experience anywhere in the world.

At our family reunion picnic last weekend, my sister put a modern twist on that old camp staple: Find the Dinosaur Egg. If you ever went to summer camp, I’m sure you remember hunting through the woods for the “dinosaur egg,” actually a big, green watermelon. After a hot day of hiking, it made for a refreshing treat and always led to another camp favorite – the long-range seed spitting contest.

To keep our hyper-active slew of small fry busy so the adults could catch up on family news, my sister planned an elaborate dino hunt using her handheld GPS. A series of clues and activities led the kids around the picnic site, over to the playground, around the pond and down a hiking path in search of dinosaur signs. Along the way they had to search out mini-caches, each of which directed them to play a game or engage in an activity before moving on to the next clue.

Using the GPS held the interest of our middle-schoolers who took charge of directing the younger kids. At one stop they engaged in a noisy game of dino hide and seek which quickly degenerated into a game of chase with roaring ”dinosaurs” racing around chasing each other. We hid multiple clues around the playground to give each of the older kids a shot at using the GPS while the small fry played. With frequent references to the GPS, they stalked around the pond and through the woods until they finally spied the “egg.” Upon their triumphant return to the picnic site (all too soon), chin-dripping slices of watermelon were carved. And, yes, a seed spitting contest quickly ensued.

ActionGPS offers a wide range of geocaching GPS devices to suit every user. From Garmin’s dynamic Colorado 300 handheld color GPS with all the bells and whistles to the durable kid-friendly (i.e., indestructible) Garmin Etrex Venture handheld outdoor GPS receiver, ActionGPS offers GPS handhelds in every price range. Click here to check out the complete line of handheld geocaching GPS units at ActionGPS.  

Can’t wait to see what’s coming next at ActionGPS? Garmin’s Nuvi 800 series is creating a lot of buzz. The new voice-activated GPS is the most advanced navigation system available on the market. It adds amazing speech recognition to the already incredible features Garmin rolled out with its 700 series. Speak a menu option and Nuvi obeys. Simply press a button that attaches to your steering wheel and the Nuvi 800 series obeys your voice commands. It’s the ultimate hands-free technology.

With the Nuvi 800 series you get all the fab features you’ve already come to love in Garmin’s 700 series:

• sleek, ultra thin, high resolution, brilliantly colored, sunlight readable, wide screen 4.3-inch display provides perfect visibility from any angle
• high-sensitivity internal antenna for a sleek look
• rechargeable lithium-ion battery with plenty of juice for navigating on foot
• integrated FM TMC traffic receiver provides up-to-date alerts on traffic delays and road construction
• preloaded City Navigator NT street maps with millions of points of interest including hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs, attractions and much more and you can load in custom points of interest such as safety cameras and school zones
• superior 2D and 3D mapping with turn-by-turn voice directions and proximity alerts
• handy route planning with capacity to save 10 routes and plan the most efficient route between multiple destinations
• a 10,000 point trip log to track your travels
• invaluable “Where Am I?” feature pinpoints the nearest police stations, hospitals, fuel stations, address or intersection and keeps track of where you parked so you can find your car after the concert or a long day at the amusement park
• entertainment tools including a MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, games and more
• optional MSN Direct
• optional micro SD card plug-ins allow you to add language translation and detailed travel guides
• anti-theft Garmin Lock to protect your GPS
• a host of other cool tools including currency converters, an alarm clock and more

Take the new Garmin Nuvi 800 series for a test drive. Garmin’s interactive website gives you a taste of the Nuvi 800 that will have your mouth watering for more. Of course, it’s new so if you want an 800 series today, you’ll have to dig deep. But don’t worry. It won’t be long before ActionGPS will be able to offer the 800 at a considerable savings. Until then, the highly affordable Nuvi 700 series offers the same fabulous features without voice recognition. An excellent choice while you’re waiting for prices to come down. Check out the Garmin Nuvi 700 series at ActionGPS today. 

Choosing a new GPS just got a little easier. Like many people, I’m a careful shopper. I spend hours checking out products from different vendors, reading Consumer Reports, pouring over product reviews, evaluating features, and charting the pros and cons of my top choices. When I buy, I like to get the biggest bang for my buck!

ActionGPS made buying my latest GPS unit a breeze. ActionGPS carries all the big names in portable and handheld GPS units: Garmin, Mio Tech and TomTom. You can search for products by manufacturer or type: automotive, outdoor, fitness, marine, motorcycle, recreational, geocaching, etc. But my favorite feature is the instant product comparison (click the link to view a comparison of two of our hot new arrivals).

Here’s how to make your own product comparison on ActionGPS:

• On the homepage of our website, click on one of the categories in the right-hand column.
• Read the summaries that accompany each product and click the item to peruse the details, specs and reviews.
• Once you’ve decided on your top contenders, check the box next to each item you want to compare.
• Click the orange oval “compare selected” button under the category title at the top of the item list.
• ActionGPS pulls up a nifty chart that compares all the major features, including price.
• Place your order.

It’s that easy. ActionGPS takes the guess work out of shopping for a new GPS. Visit the ActionGPS website and try it for yourself.

Have you checked out the new GPS arrivals lately? Just in is the ultra cool Garmin Nuvi 750 Widescreen Automotive Navigation System, the BMW of nav systems. Sleek and wide, Garmin’s Nuvi 750 provides superior viewing on a colorful, easy to read widescreen display. Premium navigation capabilities like route planning and a handy locator are enhanced with advanced nav features including preloaded maps, an integrated FM transmitter and traffic alert receiver, a useful travel kit and more. The internal antenna gives the Nuvi 750 a sleek, thin profile that slips easily into a pocket or purse.

Pre-loaded with City Navigator NT, the Nuvi 750 is ready to go right out of the box. The 4.3-inch display is sunlight-readable so you always get a perfect view of the brilliantly colored widescreen from any direction. Just touch the screen to view precisely detailed 2D and 3D maps with turn-by-turn voice directions to millions of points of interest (POI) such as hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMS, parks, local attractions and much more. You can easily load in custom locations such as school zones, safety cameras and the kids’ soccer practice fields. For added safety, the Nuvi 750 announces street names and exits so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Proximity alerts provide timely warnings of approaching POIs.

You’ll always know where you are with the Nuvi 750 GPS. Tap “Where Am I?” and the unit shows the closest address and intersection to your location, as well as the relative locations of nearby hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. When you remove the unit from your windshield, it automatically marks your position. You’ll never lose your car in a crowded mall, amusement park or stadium parking lot again. Use your Nuvi 750 to navigate on foot and easily find your way back to your parking space.

You get more than a navigation system with Garmin’s Nuvi 750 GPS. All the “must have” entertainment and travel tools you crave are included on the Nuvi 750: MP3 player, audio book player (with subscription to Audible.com), JPEG photo viewer, FM radio reception and more.

My neighbor is a marathon runner. She’s run locally and in neighboring states for years. Last year she took on the hills of San Francisco and is training for the pavement-pounding Chicago Marathon this fall. Of course, her dream is every runner’s ultimate ambition: the Boston Marathon. We live in an area of hills and ravines not far from the river, so she gets a good workout running in the neighborhood, but boredom was starting to kick in. Tired of the same old sights, she just bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Fitness Trainer with Heart Rate Monitor to help expand her practice route and track her performance. She said it was love at first sight!

The Garmin Forerunner 305 includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver, an easy to use new courses feature and a rugged wireless heart rate monitor that guarantees optimal performance. Its unique design wraps the GPS antenna around the wrist for improved reception under trees and near tall buildings. The Forerunner 305 ensures great reception whether you’re running in an urban cityscape, suburban neighborhoods or out in the country. The ANT wireless heart rate monitor has a soft, comfortable chest strap and superior battery life. With the Forerunner 305 you don’t have to worry about cross-talk with your MP3 or cell phone. The unit reliably measures and sends data to keep you training in your optimal heart rate zone.

What makes the Forerunner 305 so much fun for distance runners, bikers and cross trainers is the course feature that lets you compete against previous workouts. The Forerunner 305 allows you to transition easily between sports without resetting the unit to track your total workout. An optional Foot Pod accessory can track distance, pace and calories burned when you train indoors, even when GPS reception is unavailable. The Forerunner’s three main data screens can be customized to track 12 data fields, providing instant and continuous feedback during your workout. As with all Forerunners, workout data is stored in memory for review and analysis.

Last time my mother-in-law came to babysit the kids, her visit  was a disaster of missed piano lessons and soccer practices. (Though I’m not sure the boys considered a few less piano lessons quite the tragedy their grandmother did.)

We live in a town of complicated geography carved from the rural landscape not all that long ago. Our little piece of heaven is more a vaguely connected series of subdivisions than a planned community. Roads wind around lakes and still undeveloped clumps of forest. They snake through newly constructed subdivisions, circle improbable roundabouts, skitter down unpaved farm tracks  and connect without any rhyme or reason. I suppose the county planning commission will but a stop to the chaos at some point in the future, but for now, getting from hither to yon takes Eagle Scout-level mapping skills, something sorely lacking in my directionally-challenged in-law.

This time we were determined to make mom’s visit more pleasant and less frustrating than last time. We left her our Garmin Nuvi 260W Widescreen Automotive GPS Navigation System with TTS. We figured the easy to view wide screen would be easy for mom to see, and the turn-by-turn voice directions and spoken street names would allow mom to concentrate on the road. (She’d be on her own dealing with the rumpus in the back seat.) We carefully programmed in all the places we trek to in a typical week with the kids: school, grocery, piano teacher’s house, four different soccer fields, karate studio, library, bank, McDonald’s, local parks, church and assorted friends’ homes. In case of disaster (not uncommon with our active crew), we added the doctor’s office, the dentist, local hospital and 24-hour pharmacy.

Because the Nuvi 260 accepts custom points of interest, our task was a breeze.  All mom would have to do was touch the color screen, enter the destination and a series of easy-to-follow 2D and 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions would take her right to each of the kids’ activities. We even set proximity alerts to give mom a head’s up as she approached each destination.

When we returned home, we were pleased to find that not a soccer practice nor nary a piano lesson was missed. Mom loved the Garmin Nuvi 260 so much we gave her one as a thank you gift.

Leading GPS manufacturer, TomTom Inc. recently announced four new models to its growing line of products. The models are an addition to the popular ONE and ONE XL series.

The new models include: TomTom ONE 130, TomTom ONE 130S, TomTom ONE XL 330, and TomTom ONE XL 330S.

These units will feature a slimmer, sleeker frame. The highlight is a new folding mount known as ‘EasyPort.’ This new mount folds flat into the unit, while remaining attached to the device, making both the GPS device and windshield mount more portable than ever.

TomTom has also upgraded its audio and speech functionality. This upgrade will provide louder and clearer instructions.

The ONE 130 will be the standard unit with a 3.5″ screen. The ONE 130S will include an additional text-to-speech feature. The ONE XL 330 will feature a wider 4.3″ screen. The ONE XL 330S will include text-to-speech in addition to having a wider screen.

The units are expected in stock late May.