GPS systems have slowly been making there way into cars and I have participated in that trend while I was in England and France. We had the opportunity to rent a GPS for the duration of our rental or get my mom secondary insurance. Guess what my dad chose.
We had the pleasure of using a TomTom and today, I have the pleasure of reviewing the newest addition to there lineup, the TomTom GO 720, a high end GPS that will rival any commerical GPS out there. Portable GPS systems have two major advantages over the in-car navigation system. In-car systems may have wicked multimedia centers but they are more expensive (up to 10x if you go for a cheap portable GPS) and they aren't portable. Since this is a high-end model offered by TomTom, it comes with a hefty price tag of $500US, but again, nothing compared to a base $2000 in-car system. It offers much of the basic features you'd find on a regular portable GPS that include text-to-speech and clear 3-D images. But it also comes with a large screen and it can play audio files through your car's speakers. The GO 720 gave accurate directions on screen despite being late with voice directions. When planning a route, they give you the fastest, but they also suggest other routes that are scenic, don't include tolls, avoid highways, etc. Another neat feature that wasn't on my model is a warning that lets you know you are going over the speed limit. This works in conjunction with another warning you can turn on, to notify you that your speed is above a preset level. This definitly comes in handy when you are going to new place as it makes the job much easier and puts your mind at ease. It saves you time and I can vouch for that many times as we didn't have to look at the map, print out directions, or scan through a portable map in the car. Go to TomTom to get the detailed specs or purchase it from Best Buy Canada for an extra $100 (ripoff!).
Personally, storage is not an issue in my world, but over the last few years, there has been an onslaught of websites dedicated to sending larger files and storing files online. There are two major services that are currently offering online storage and now Microsoft has introduced SkyDrive which is in beta and only available to users with Microsoft accounts (Live, Hotmail, Msn). It supports 500mb of storage but there is a limit of 5mb per file. Once the beta stage finishes it will be open to everybody where it then will truly be up there with the big boys, XDrive and MediaMax. Currently, XDrive and MediaMax are the frontrunners as they both offer key advantages over SkyDrive. XDrive though allows you to stream audio files and Streamload offers automated backup and synchronization between two computers. A plus though from SkyDrive is it allows you to upload files to a private, public, or shared folder on the network. Therefore it's perfect for sending Word files, images over to someone halfway across the world, where they can always access it. Anybody can view your public folders but only your invites can access your shared folders. Go to SkyDrive to sign up yourself.