QUICKSTART^
THE BEGINNING OF THE MAGAZINE, WHERE ARTICLES ARE SMALL16 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|NOV 08 |www.maximumpc.com
DEATHMATCHDEATHMATCH
STAND-ALONE GPS
TomTom GO 930 T
$550, http://www.tomtom.comStand-alone GPS vs.
Cellphone-Based GPS
STAND-ALONE GPS
TomTom GO 930 T
$550, http://www.tomtom.comStand-alone GPS vs.
Cellphone-Based GPS
ROUND 2
FLEXIBILITY
Stand-alone GPS units work well in an automobile but tend to
have trouble tracking locations from within a more substan-
tial structure—say, a house or even a parking garage. That
was the case with the TomTom GO 930 T, which, in our experi-
ence, didn’t work correctly indoors—a frustrating situation
when you’re trying to plot a walking route. By contrast, our
cellular-based GPS service worked fl awlessly. We were able
to pull up the exact location of our building with VZ Navigator
and receive routing instructions without any problems. It’s
also a lot more convenient to use phone-based GPS than it is
to carry a GPS unit in addition to your cell.
WINNER: CELLPHONE-BASED GPSROUND 1
PRICE
Cellphone-based GPS services can vary in price. Apple’s iPhone
service is free; Verizon’s VZ Navigator costs $10 a month. Yes,
there’s also the monthly cost of your cellular service, but we’re
assuming your phone bill is a foregone expense.
With a stand-alone GPS, you buy the product outright and
then use it, free of charge, until the global positioning satel-
lites fall from the sky. The TomTom GO 930 T comes in at $550.
If you want the latest map updates each year, expect to shell
out approximately $100 annually.
WINNER: CELLPHONE-BASED GPSY
ou’re lost. But in this day and age, you aren’t going to turn to
a map to fi nd your way to your destination—at least, not the
kind of map that’s folded up in your glove box. You’re going to fi re
up your GPS and have it provide a set of turn-by-turn directions—
in the soothing accent of your choice.But with GPS services now available via both dedicated
devices and cellphones, which will you turn to? That’s the ques-
tion we’re answering this month as we pit a top-notch dashboard
device, TomTom’s GO 930 T, against a strong cellular competitor,
Verizon’s VZ Navigator service. – D A V? D M U R P H Y