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What is GPS?

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. A GPS receiver uses signals broadcast by satellites to calculate its position on the earth. Auto GPS navigation systems use position information and a large database of maps to give real-time visual and spoken directions to virtually any location.

Why use an auto GPS receiver to navigate at Disney World?

As anyone who's spent significant time driving around Walt Disney World knows, it's a large and confusing place. Driving your own car or a rental car is faster and more flexible (albeit more expensive) than using Disney's transportation. The rub is that you must navigate a somewhat confusing complex of streets and freeways inside Disney property, almost none of which have normal street signs.

Disney's on-property navigation signs are good, but they don't always take you on the most efficient route, and for the hotels and smaller destinations it is often necessary to know what general area of the World you need to get to. Only once you reach that area will the signs start displaying directions to specific resorts. If you don't know (for example) that Saratoga Springs is in the Downtown Disney Resort Area, you may have trouble navigating to it just by following the road signs.

Using a GPS receiver is a great way to avoid many of the navigation hassles associated with driving in and around the World. In theory, you just select your destination from the GPS unit's internal list of hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, etc. It calculates an efficient route and gives you spoken navigation instructions to get you there. If you take a wrong turn, most modern units will just calmly recalculate a new route and start giving you new instructions to get you back on track. In unfamiliar locations, a good GPS is a huge advantage, allowing you to focus on the road while it gives you the upcoming turns. It has complete knowledge of every road and it never gets mad at you because you took the wrong exit.

The flaw with this rosy scenario at Walt Disney World is that most current GPS units have a very limited selection of POI (Point of Interest) locations within the Disney World property, and what they do have is in many cases poorly placed. Many restaurants and hotels are left out, and the points for the various major parks are often placed not on the entrance to the parking area, but in the middle of the park itself. Faced with a point that is not actually on a road, GPS units will route you to the nearest road, which may be a service road that runs backstage. If you follow the GPS's instructions you'll likely find yourself at a security gate nowhere near the actual entrance to the park.

To help prevent this situation, I've created a file of accurate POI locations. Read on for the details!

The MouseSavers POI File

I've created a file of POI locations for just about every place you might need to drive while on vacation at Walt Disney World. All of the major Disney theme parks, water parks, shopping areas, golf courses and hotels are in it, plus all the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels. It contains all of the Disney sit-down restaurants, a handful of distinctive Disney counter-service restaurants, all of the Downtown Disney restaurants, and the restaurants and dinner shows discussed on MouseSavers.com. There are also nearby grocery stores, drugstores, medical facilities (urgent care and hospitals), and selected Disney outlet stores. The Universal Orlando area is also covered to a smaller extent.

For now, the files are only available for recent-model Garmin and TomTom units. If you have a GPS that allows custom POI uploads and would like me to make a version of the POI file for your unit, let me know. I'll add new formats if there are enough requests.

The MouseSavers POI file is for driving only. (Click here to learn why.) Nearly all of the locations have been verified in person and in general they should improve the driving directions, compared with using the built-in POIs on the GPS units, especially for locations on Disney property.

That said, here are some caveats to keep in mind:

1. The points covered in this file are not a comprehensive list of every hotel, restaurant, etc. in the Walt Disney World area. The list focuses on locations on Disney property and other locations mentioned on MouseSavers.com. Your GPS probably has other locations in it, should you need to find the nearest Waffle House or something along those lines.

2. There is no guarantee as to the quality of the actual driving directions your GPS will produce. The points are accurate, but the GPS must use its internal road maps to get you to the destination. If the GPS has outdated or inaccurate maps, it may direct you down a road that doesn't exist, or it may not know about a road that would allow a faster route.

3. Related to the above, it's vitally important that you get the latest map updates for your unit. The roads in and around Walt Disney World have been updated extensively in the most recent updates from both Garmin and TomTom, and were seriously deficient in the previous releases. If you don't already have the latest map, it's well worth the time and money to buy a map upgrade before you leave. If you have a recent Garmin unit such as the nüvi or StreetPilot (c330 or higher), you can buy a City Navigator NT update DVD. TomTom users will need to download the latest maps via their TomTom Home software.

4. GPS units don't know the difference between Guest areas and Cast Member areas at Walt Disney World. It's unlikely but possible that it will direct you down a road that is off-limits to guests. A more likely possibility is that occasionally it will direct you onto a road that is not off-limits to guests, but is nevertheless in some sense "backstage." There are lots of roads within the World that are perfectly fine for guests to drive on, but go past warehouses, casting centers, Cast Member parking lots, etc. This is not generally a problem. If, however, the GPS sends you a direction that doesn't look like it's open to the public, ignore its directions and drive on. It will quickly recalculate a new route.

5. In general the navigation points are located on the driveway to the destination. Usually this is going to be the place you turn in from the road, where the entrance sign is located. In the case of destinations that are inside shopping centers or amusement parks, you will still need to find your way on foot to the final endpoint, and this file will not help you do that. For example, if you're headed for a restaurant in Epcot, the POI location in the MouseSavers file is the entrance to the Epcot parking lot. Once you're past that, Cast Members will direct you into a parking space, and you'll need to enter the park and find your way to the restaurant. For information about GPS inside a theme park, click here.

6. Some locations have multiple entrances, and when that's true all of them are marked separately in the POI file. Usually choosing the closest one to your location is the right choice, and conveniently the GPS will show POIs in order by distance from your current position. For Walt Disney World in particular, it's usually better to navigate directly to the park or location in the World you want to get to, rather than routing to one of the entrance gates and then to your final destination; the GPS will pick the best entrance automatically.

7. In the Orlando area, many roads are divided and have a wide planter strip in the middle. Often there is a gap in the divider strip so you can make left turns into shopping centers and so forth, but GPS navigators don't have all of those small left-turns in their map data. So when the destination is on the left side of the street, it's common for the GPS to tell you to drive past the location, make a U-Turn at the next light, and come back so the driveway is on your right. This adds an extra minute or so to the route at times, but if you're paying attention and see that the destination is directly to your left, you can often just take a left at the gap in the median and save a little time.

8. Hours are not provided as they are subject to change, other than a few locations that are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, since that tends to remain constant. Those locations are noted as "24hr" in the description. For hours of other locations, call the number provided.

MouseSavers POI Categories and Contents

Airport: Separate (and accurate) points for both Terminal A and Terminal B at Orlando International Airport. If you don't know which you are supposed to use, just pick the closest one. It's really one big terminal building with a north (A) and south (B) entrance. You can enter on either end to get to any gate or ticket desk, but possibly with some extra walking. All the on-property car rental lots are on both sides, and they don't care if you pick up from terminal A and drop off at terminal B.

Amusement Park: All the separate Walt Disney World main gates, major parks and water parks, plus Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Wet 'N Wild.

Car Rental: The airport drop-off locations for all the major rental car companies, plus the rental desks nearest Disney World and Universal.

Drugstore: The Walgreens locations closest to Disney World and Universal. All are 24hr locations.

Entertainment: Off-property dinner shows like Medieval Times and Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede; Cirque du Soleil and AMC Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney; Disney dinner shows like Hoop-De-Doo and the Polynesian Luau; and some miscellaneous locations like the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Gas & Auto: All the Hess stations on Disney World property; a specific Hess station that is conveniently located where most people get on route 417 on the way to the airport; and the Disney World Car Care Center, where you can get gas or car repair.

Golf: The five major courses at Disney World.

Grocery: The nearest supermarkets to Disney World and Universal, plus an Albertsons recommended for stops on the way from the airport.

Hotel: All hotels on Disney and Universal property, plus the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels.

Medical: Nearby walk-in urgent care facilities and hospitals with 24hr emergency services.

Restaurant: All the Disney restaurants that take reservations, a handful of additional counter-service restaurants, all the restaurants at Downtown Disney, and a few recommended off-property restaurants.

Services: A miscellaneous group including the SunTrust bank at Disney World; health spas; the Disney Wedding Pavilion; the main Disney World kennel and lost-and-found; the nearest library; and shipping centers like FedEx, UPS and the US Post Office.

Shopping: Stores in local outlet malls offering Disney merchandise, the major stores at Downtown Disney, and the nearest Costco.

Installing (& Uninstalling) the MouseSavers POI Files

The detailed installation instructions below are for PCs running Windows only. You can use a Macintosh to install these files if your GPS unit will work with a Macintosh, but I can only give general instructions. Get your GPS attached to the Macintosh using the instructions that came with your unit. Then read the Windows installation instructions below and you should be able to translate the steps to Macintosh equivalent. In the end it's just copying a file or a few files onto your GPS using normal file operations.

Special Macintosh Note: When files are copied from a Macintosh to a non-Mac flash drive (which is what the Mac thinks your GPS is), it may create extra files that begin with a period and underscore ("._"). These files are not visible when you display the folder using the normal Mac interface. The GPS can see them, though, and it can result in invalid POI categories showing up on your GPS unit. To avoid this, I recommend that you download and use a file manager that will show you all the hidden files, and won't create these special files by default. One file manager that Macintosh users tell me works for this purpose (and is free) is muCommander, available here.

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Garmin Units

Notes on the Garmin Files

The Garmin files come in Complex and Simple versions. They both have exactly the same set of POI locations with the same names. The difference is that the Complex file has addresses and a few extra notes about the location, and the phone numbers are marked so the advanced nüvi/StreetPilot units can dial them via Bluetooth. The Simple files just have the name, phone number and basic location notes, and should work on any Garmin unit, but will not work with the Bluetooth dialing feature. If you don't care about the addresses and phone numbers, install either file; they should both work fine for navigation on any Garmin unit that supports custom POIs.

Note that if you try the simple GPI file and then want to try the complex GPI file or vice-versa, you'll need to delete the first one before adding the second one. If you have both the simple and complex POI files on your unit, the results may not be good. Instructions for removing the GPI files are lower on this page.

If you already know your way around your GPS unit and are familiar with copying files onto it, then here are simple instructions. If these confuse you read on for the longer step-by-step instructions.

1. For a nüvi or StreetPilot c5xx series, download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Complex.zip file.

2. For an eTrex like the Legend HCx or Vista HCx or lower-end StreetPilot like the c330 or c340, download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Simple.zip file. You can try the complex file if you like, but you'll probably find that the phone numbers and addresses don't show up on your unit.

3. Open or unzip the file and open the Garmin\Poi folder inside it.

4. Copy the GPI file (either MouseSavers_Complex.gpi or MouseSavers_Simple.gpi) found in the zip file onto your GPS unit, placing it in the X:\Garmin\Poi folder on your unit, where "X" is the drive letter of the Garmin unit. Create the X:\Garmin\Poi folder if needed first.

5. Unplug the USB cable and let the unit reboot, or replace the SD or MicroSD card back in the unit.

6. You're done! Read "Finding and Using custom POIs on the nüvi/StreetPilot" or "Finding and using custom POIs on the eTrex series."

nüvi (all) and StreetPilot c5xx series: These units have the ability to show extra information like address and phone number, and can dial the phone number if you have a Bluetooth phone (and a Garmin unit with Bluetooth). The POI file for these units contains more information including the full address and some extra location notes. Phone numbers are marked properly so the GPS can dial them. If you have trouble with the GPI files, you'll need to use Garmin's POI Loader and GPX files; instructions are further down the page.

If you have an older StreetPilot (c3xx or older): These can't show the phone numbers and addresses contained in the complex GPI file, so you'll need to use the Simple version of the files. They also don't show up as a drive in "My Computer," so you'll need to use the GPX files and Garmin's POI Loader; instructions are further down the page.

Note: Do not use Garmin's POI Loader with these GPI files; it won't work. POI Loader needs GPX (or CSV) files as input. Those can be found further down the page.

1. Download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Complex.zip file, and save it to a location you can find again. The desktop or your "My Documents" folder are good choices.

2. Go to the Start menu and select "My Computer" (or "Computer" if you're using Windows Vista).

3. Plug your GPS into your computer with the USB cable that came with the unit. If your unit didn't come with a USB cable, you'll need a common and inexpensive USB A to Mini-B 5-pin cable, available at any computer store, office supply, or electronics store (bring your unit along so you can check that the ends match). You may even have a cable that works already; many digital cameras, MP3 players, memory card readers, and other USB devices use the same cable.

4. Power the GPS unit on if it's not already on. Wait for a new drive letter to show up on the list of drives in the My Computer window. The drive may have a name like "Garmin nüvi" or something similar. If there are two drives added, one is for the GPS's internal memory and the other is for the SD card reader on the unit. Choose the one for the internal memory, which will usually be the one with the lower drive letter.

5. Open the new drive and check that there is a "Garmin" folder on that drive. If not, it's the wrong drive. Try another until you find the one that has the "Garmin" folder. There may or may not also be "Audible," "JPEG," and/or "MP3" folders, but they aren't important. Make a note of which drive it is and hit the "back" button to go back to "My Computer" or open "My Computer" again from the Start menu.

6. Open the ZIP file. It should contain just one folder, also called "Garmin"

7. Drag the "Garmin" folder from the ZIP folder onto the GPS drive icon in the "My Computer" window (NOT into the "Garmin" folder on the GPS drive).

8. You should see a warning saying that there is already a folder by that name, and files with the same name will be replaced. It's not a problem; the only file that will be replaced is the MouseSavers GPI file, and then only if there's already an old version installed. Click "Yes to All."

9. When the file has been copied, unplug the USB cable and wait for the nüvi to restart.

10. You're done! Read "Finding and Using custom POIs on the nüvi/StreetPilot."

These units can't handle the complicated format used for the nüvi units. The GPI file for these just has the name of the POI and some basic location notes and a phone number. Also keep in mind that these units are not primarily designed for auto navigation. If you don't have the City Navigator or City Navigator NT maps installed and auto navigation mode turned on, it will just show you bearing and distance to your destination. To actually calculate directions, you'll need to buy and install auto-capable maps and change the unit to navigate along roads. See the manual and/or the Garmin web site for more information.

The below instructions work for an eTrex Vista or Legend (Cx or HCx versions). Other models may have slightly different ways of adding custom POIs. If these instructions don't work for your unit, scroll down for the instructions for using GPX files and Garmin POI Loader.

1. If you've never attached your GPS to the computer, follow the instructions in your owners manual to do so and get all the drivers and software installed.

2. If you don't have a MicroSD card for your unit, you'll need to get one to store the custom POIs on. It doesn't need to be huge; the POI file is less than 100KB.

3. If you don't have a compatible card reader for your computer, you can use the GPS itself as a card reader; use the owners manual to see how to put the GPS into "USB Mass Storage" mode, or use the GPX option, below.

4. Download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Simple.zip file and save it to a location you can find again. The desktop or your "My Documents" folder are good choices.

5. Take out the MicroSD card from your unit and put it in the card reader on the computer. You may need to use an SD to MicroSD adapter. Or plug the Garmin unit into the computer, then put it in USB Mass Storage mode (see the owners manual for details).

6. Go to the Start menu and select "My Computer" (or "Computer" if you're using Windows Vista).

7. Open the drive letter that represents the MicroSD card reader or Garmin device and make sure it's the card from the Garmin. It will usually have a "Garmin" directory in it, but if you've never saved anything on it, it could be empty. Hit the "back" button to go back to "My Computer" or open "My Computer" again from the Start menu.

8. Open the "MouseSavers_Garmin_Simple.zip" file. It should contain just one folder, called "Garmin".

9. Drag the "Garmin" folder from the MouseSavers_Garmin_Simple.zip folder onto the drive letter representing the SD card reader.

10. You may see a warning saying that there is already a folder by that name, and files with the same name will be replaced. It's not a problem; the only file that will be replaced is the MouseSavers GPI file, and then only if there's already an old version installed. Click "Yes to All."

11. Remove the MicroSD card from the reader and put it back into the Garmin unit (unless you're using the Garmin unit as the reader, in which case just unplug the USB cable from the Garmin).

12. You're done! Read "Finding and using custom POIs on the eTrex series."

If you can't install the GPI file using the above instructions, you can use Garmin's POI Loader and a set of GPX and BMP files. The downside of this approach is that you need to deal with more files, and if you want to combine the MouseSavers POI files with other GPX or CSV files you've created or downloaded from other sites you'll need to manually combine the MouseSavers points with your existing points. Read the instructions for the Garmin POI Loader for more information.

Note: Be sure to use the current version of POI Loader. Older versions don't recognize the advanced formatting used in the MouseSavers GPX files. The POI loader can be downloaded from Garmin for free, here. Get it installed and familiarize yourself with the instructions. Make sure it can detect your unit. Then proceed with the rest of the instructions.

1. For a nüvi or a StreetPilot c5xx series, download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Complex_GPX.zip file.

2. For a StreetPilot c3xx series, eTrex, or any other Garmin unit, download the MouseSavers_Garmin_Simple_GPX.zip file.

3. Unzip the zip file to a folder of its own somewhere on your drive. The desktop or your My Documents folder are both good options. 

4. Plug your GPS into the USB cable and power it up.

5. Run Garmin POI Loader, let it detect your unit, and click "Next" until it asks for the path to the folder of POI files.

6. Either type the full path of the folder you created that contains the GPX and BMP files, or click the "Browse" button and navigate to that folder. Leave the other settings alone, and click "Next." It should upload the POIs to your unit.

7. Unplug the USB cable and wait for the GPS unit to restart. With some units, you may need to power it off and back on again.

8. You're done! Read "Finding and Using custom POIs on the nüvi/StreetPilot" or "Finding and using custom POIs on the eTrex series."

Note: These instructions were tested with a nüvi 360. Other nüvi or StreetPilot units may put the Custom POI section under a slightly different menu option, but you should be able to find it by looking for a looking for a "My Locations" menu option or an "Extras" menu option or something similar.

1. Tap the "Where To" button.

2. Tap the "My Locations" or “Extras” button.

3. Tap the "Custom POIs" menu option.

4. You should see a bunch of categories like "Amusement Park (MouseSavers)."

5. Select the relevant category, or "All Categories." Then either scroll through the list of nearby POIs or use the "Spell" function to start spelling the name. When you find the place you want to go to, tap the button to see the address, phone number, and so forth.

6. Hit the "Go" button to navigate there, or hit the phone-shaped button to dial the phone number of the location (if you have a Bluetooth cell phone and have paired it with the nüvi).

Finding and using custom POI files on the eTrex Cx or HCx series

When you go to the "Find" menu (by holding down the menu button), you should see a "Custom POI" menu option. When you select this option, it will show all the MouseSavers POI (and any other custom POI you've installed) in one list, sorted by distance. To search by name, press the Menu button and select "Nearest Containing…". To show just one category, press the Menu button and select "Select Database." Or just select a POI, then select "Go To" to navigate to it.

Removing the MouseSavers POI locations (all Garmin units)

If you installed the files using POI Loader, use POI Loader to delete the POI files. Just run it and select the "Delete all custom POI from my device" option.

If you copied the GPI files manually, follow the instructions below:

1. Attach the GPS to the computer using the USB cable (or plug the MicroSD card into the reader) as per the instructions given above for adding the POI files.

2. Open the GPS drive (or MicroSD drive).

3. Open the Garmin folder.

4. Open the Poi folder.

5. Delete any files that have the word "MouseSavers" in their name.

6. If you've installed any POI files using POI loader, there will also (or only) be a file called POI.GPI in that directory. If that contains MouseSavers POI points (because you installed them separately using POI Loader), you may need to delete it as well, or recreate it using only non-MouseSavers GPX or CSV files.

7. Unplug the GPS and let it reboot (or replace the MicroSD card in the unit). Power the unit off and on, if it doesn't automatically reboot itself.

TomTom Units

All TomTom units use the same (simple) format. Since they are pretty much limited to one line of text, the files contain just the name of the POI, some extra location information like "In Epcot" (which may get partially cut off on screen), and the phone number (which is marked so the unit can dial it, if it has Bluetooth and you have a Bluetooth cell phone paired with the TomTom).

1. If you've never attached your TomTom to your computer and installed the drivers and software, do that now. Download all the software updates and so forth and get the latest TomTom Home software installed.

2. Download the MouseSavers_TomTom.zip file and save it to a location you can find again. The desktop or your "My Documents" folder are good choices.

3. Go to the Start menu and select "My Computer" (or "Computer" if you're using Windows Vista).

4. Plug your GPS into your computer with the USB cable that came with the unit, or put it on the cradle that came with the unit and plug the cradle into a USB port. Power on the TomTom if it's not already on. When it asks if you want to connect to the computer, tap "Yes." Wait for a new drive letter to show up on the list of drives in the My Computer window. The drive may have a name like "TOMTOM DISK" or something similar.

5. If the TomTom Home software starts up, just close it.

6. Open the new TomTom drive. There should be a folder at the root named something like "USA_and_Canada" or "North_America". Open that folder.

7. In a separate window, open the MouseSavers_TomTom.zip file and drag all of the files inside it into the "USA_and_Canada" or "North_America" folder on the TomTom.

8. Wait for the TomTom to finish writing its files (it will show a "do not remove" graphic on the screen until it's done), then unplug it from the computer or remove it from the cradle and let it reboot.

1. Tap the screen to get to the menu.

2. Tap the "Navigate to" button.

3. Tap the "Point of Interest" button.

4. Tap the "POI in city" button.

5. If needed, select "Orlando FL" or "Lake Buena Vista FL" as the city. (Depending on the version of the software you're running, you may need to select the state first by hitting the state button, or you may just be able to type "Orlando FL".)

6. Tap the right-arrow button to see all categories.

7. You should see some new categories like "Airport (MouseSavers)". Tap the down-arrow to show all of them and scroll through them, or you can type "Mouse" to limit your list to just the MouseSavers categories.

8. You can do any kind of POI search on the TomTom and you'll see the MouseSavers POIs mixed in with the built-in ones. This is a nice feature, and one I wish Garmin would adopt. You'll know the MouseSavers POIs because they have different icons with the MouseSavers colors (red and cream).

1. Attach the GPS to the computer using the USB cable or charge cradle as per the instructions given above for adding the POI files.

2. Shut down TomTom Home if it starts up automatically.

3. Open the GPS drive.

4. Open the "USA_and_Canada" or "North_America" folder, depending on which one you have on your unit.

5. Delete any OV2 and BMP files that contain the word "MouseSavers" in them. You may want to sort the folder by type to make all the OV2 and BMP files cluster together.

6. Remove the USB cable or remove the unit from its cradle and let it reboot.

Different Kinds of GPS Receivers

The big distinction in GPS units is between auto navigation units and hiking units. Auto navigation units are designed for driving, and have features like spoken directions and 3D map views. They generally are sold with complete USA (or European) road maps. They come with an auto power adapter and a windshield mount. Hiking GPSes are designed for walking around in the wild. They don't come with driving maps, they don't speak directions, and they don't come with any mounting equipment. Usually you buy topographic maps of local regions for them, and use them for things like geocaching.

It is possible to use some auto GPSes in a "walking around" mode, and some hiking GPSes will calculate driving directions, but each isn't really optimal at doing the tasks of the other. As of this writing, no one has created a crossover GPS that is both an excellent hiking GPS and an excellent auto GPS.

A hiking GPS could in theory be used to navigate around inside the Disney World parks, and in fact there is a company called StoneMaps that makes detailed maps of the big Florida and California amusement parks to load on your hiking GPS for use in the parks. I've tried these maps, and they're not bad, but they're missing quite a few of the locations I'd like to be able to find, like restaurants and major shops. Also, the locations they do list are not searchable by name (at least on my Vista HCx). On the plus side, being able to find the nearest bathroom with a few clicks is a very handy feature. Certainly if you are comfortable with handheld GPS navigation, the StoneMaps are reasonably priced and a big enhancement over the maps built into most GPS basemaps (in the case of the Florida maps, this is usually nothing at all).

However, navigating inside the Disney parks is easy: you can pick up a park map at the front of the park or at any shop, or ask any Cast Member for directions and they'll gladly point you in the right direction.

Where GPSes really shine in the Walt Disney World area is for driving navigation.

Buying a GPS Unit

If you don't already have a GPS unit, the two biggest contenders for automotive use are Garmin and TomTom. My preference is the Garmin units because they seem to be more polished overall and do a better job of the basic function of navigating to the destination, but the TomToms have lots of features for the money and are worth considering. There are quirks with both units, and both will occasionally produce routes that seem eccentric. Overall, though, my Garmin units have been more reliable and less complicated to use.

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Garmin is the current leader in the US, and their nüvi series units are solid and dependable. Their earlier StreetPilot units are also good, but somewhat larger, heavier, and less feature-rich. Garmin uses map data from NavTeq, a Chicago-based map company that is generally considered to have the best road data for North America. All of Garmin's recent automotive units share essentially the same maps and navigation algorithms, so any of their nüvi series will give you good results.

There is a massive and confusing variety of Garmin models. I'll go over what I think are the best values in various categories, but you may want to check out Garmin's comparison page, which shows all of their units and allows you to compare their feature sets. Check the box next to several units and hit the "compare" button to see what the differences are.

The StreetPilot c3xx and c5xx units are older units that are heavier and have fewer features than the nüvi units. Often you can get an equivalent or better nüvi for about the same amount of money, but if you see a screaming deal on one, they're worth considering.

The nüvi 2xx series are basic units, but have the full US map set and can speak simple directions. They don't have any of the fancier features like Bluetooth and speaking street names.

The Garmin nüvi 3xx series have a text-to-speech feature that allows the unit to speak the names of the roads and destinations, so instead of saying "Turn left in 200 feet," it will say, "Turn left on Quaker Lane in 200 feet," This is more useful than it may sound, as when you have several streets close together it's useful to hear the name of the street rather than just "in 200 feet."

The 360 and higher have Bluetooth functionality that lets you use the Garmin as a handsfree speakerphone if your cellphone is Bluetooth-compatible. It also allows you to dial the phone numbers of POI locations in its database just by tapping the "dial" button. This works with the MouseSavers POI file as well. The 370 has both maps of Europe and North America, which is useful if you either live in Europe or visit (and drive) there.

The nüvi 6xx series are largely identical to the 3xx series, but with a wider display which can show you more of the nearby map while driving. Having used both the "normal" and "wide" sized units, I can't say the wider models are worth the price premium.

The 7xx series are the latest and most expensive. They add some useful features like multi-point routing, but the price difference is very high.

For basic routing, the nüvi 200 is a very good deal. It's missing maps of Canada and Alaska, so if you live in those areas or need to travel there, you'll want to consider a higher-end unit.

If you want more features, I'd skip the other 2xx series units, as they're generally almost as expensive as the 3xx models, which have more features like an MP3 player, picture viewer, and text-to-speech. My recommendation for the best value is the Bluetooth-enabled nüvi 360, which often sells for a price within $30 of the Bluetooth-less nüvi 350, and in some cases is actually cheaper because of special sales. I find the Bluetooth features on the 360 quite useful, but if you really don't need the Bluetooth but want the text-to-speech and so forth, consider the 350.

If you want the latest and greatest, and especially if you want to be able to create complex routes with multiple destinations, the nüvi 760 is the best bet. Prepare for some sticker shock.

If you need to have both European and USA maps, all of the above units allow for loading extra maps onto an SD card, but you'll save some money buying a nüvi 370 or nüvi 770 with both sets of maps preloaded instead. In some cases, one can be had for just a few dollars more than the equivalent 360 or 760, which is a huge discount if you can use the European maps (or if you live in Europe but want the US maps for travelling).

TomTom is a top seller in Europe which has made a big push recently into the US. They usually offer more features on their units than on similarly-priced Garmin units, but in my experience their units generate somewhat less efficient routes. Their map data comes from TeleAtlas, a European company which has in the past had less comprehensive and up-to-date map data for North America.

However, as of this writing (January 2008) the TomTom map data is just a bit better for Walt Disney World and its surroundings than the Garmin data. When the new Garmin maps come out that may change, but certainly you can use a TomTom in the Disney World area with the latest maps (v7.10) and be confident that it will get you to the right place. The previous maps (v6.75) were not nearly as good, and were missing several important roads in and around Walt Disney World. Certainly a map update is a good idea if you're not using map version 7.10 or higher.

TomTom has a more straightforward range of products than Garmin's dozens of options. The TomTom One series is their entry-level product, with the Go series being the higher-end units.

The TomTom One, 3rd edition is the best bet for a basic unit with no text-to-speech or Bluetooth. The One XL adds a larger screen and Bluetooth, and the One XL-S adds text-to-speech.

The Go 720 adds TomTom's MapShare technology, which allows you to make certain kinds of corrections to the map data (like changing a street from two-way to one-way, or marking a street as blocked). You can then upload them to TomTom and download changes submitted by others. Some things can't be fixed, like adding new streets or moving streets that are in the wrong place. For that you need to wait for an official map update.

The Go 920 has MapShare, both US and European maps built in, and has a voice command feature. I haven't used it, but in theory being able to use voice commands to enter a destination would be a very useful feature.

Other Units

Magellan makes a variety of auto navigation units, but I have no personal experience with them. Their latest units have gotten good reviews and have some interesting features, but are too new to have had map updates, and I prefer not to buy GPS units until the manufacturer has demonstrated that they can produce regular map upgrades.

There are a wide variety of other units you can see advertised, often for very low prices. I wouldn't bite; Garmin and TomTom have units for under $200 that have updateable maps, and both Garmin and TomTom have demonstrated the ability to get new maps out for their existing units on a roughly annual basis. A GPS with old maps will get increasingly frustrating to use, so it's worth your while to go with one of the big companies with a significant history behind them.

Contact Information

If you have a GPS other than the Garmin and TomTom units mentioned above that allows custom POI uploads and would like me to make a version of the POI file for your unit, let me know. I'll add new formats if there are enough requests.

I'm also interested to hear about your experiences using the MouseSavers POI files.

To contact me, e-mail

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