Although they havent descended to the status of Cracker Jack prizes, by now, most owners have been through several generations of portable GPS navigators. What that means is that the bottomless-pit phase of GPS marketing is temporarily over. Manufacturers and buyers dwell in whats essentially a replacement/upgrade market. As a result, the pace of new product introduction has cooled. Garmins last major product was really the GPSMap 396 in 2005-the GPSmap 496 can reasonably be considered an upgrade of the 396, albeit a good one. With the market static and likely to remain that way, this may be as good a time as any to replace that old Garmin 195 or even something newer. If there’s any recent trend in GPS development worth noting, its price competition. As vendors scramble for sales in a volume-limited market, some are cutting prices to the bone or throwing in accessories as an edge against the competition. If price is your driving consideration, shop the Web; the deals are out there. Otherwise, buying a portable navigator in the current market is all about capability and how much you need and want. At the top end, the Garmin GPSmap 496 is essentially a portable EFIS with much of the capability of Garmins top-of-the-line G1000. At the bottom end, a $500 Lowrance AirMap 600C delivers accurate navigation, easy operation and a crisp color screen for one-fifth the price. Everything in between is, well, in between. We think there’s a product to match every budget and wish list and, in this article, we’ll examine the options. For space and simplicity, we are reviewing dedicated portables here. we’ll look at PDA and 
Portable GPS Shootout: Garmins 496 is Top Dog
Although they havent descended to the status of Cracker Jack prizes, by now, most owners have been through several generations of portable GPS navigators. What that means is that the bottomless-pit phase of GPS marketing is temporarily over. Manufacturers and buyers dwell in whats essentially a replacement/upgrade market.