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.