With the growth of GPS technology in the recent years, more and more people are buying themselves a GPS device. The problem they face is that the market today is full of so many varieties of GPS. The customer is thus confused as to which is the right one for them. Before buying a GPS, you should keep certain points in your mind.

The most important thing that you should have in your mind while buying the GPS is its purpose. If you are buying it for your car, then it must have addresses, points of interest, and details of the road for the given region. You can install your GPS under the dashboard; they can also be a part of your cars entertainment system. Their drawback is that they are fixed and can't be moved to any other vehicle. To overcome this problem, you can go for the portable GPS. The problem with portable GPS is that they have a very limited road database. Their voice commands are also lost in the music played by the car's system. You can also go for a PDA with a GPS antenna. They are able to provide useful information.

If your purpose is to use the GPS in hiking expeditions, you should go for GPS mobile phones and watches. These devices will make sure that you are not lost during your expedition. These watches and mobile will radiate signals and using the GPS technology it will become easy to locate you.

If GPS is required for maritime work, then look for waterproofing features. There are maps which give information about channel navigation and undersea elevations. For locating large number of fishes, you can go for devices such as 'fish finders'. You can also obtain information on nautical charts for maritime work.

Before buying a GPS, you should check the screen size, display facilities, capabilities for route recording, screen size and route planning. These features make the GPS easy to use and hence should not be missed.

Updating is one of the very important features which you should look out while buying the GPS. Some units update information via a CD, others like handheld devices or PDA update information via a PC. You should choose the one which updates economically and easily.

To make sure that you GPS device last for a longer time, check for the waterproof and shockproof features of the unit. These points will help you in making the right choice.