Feb 2012 If you wish to save yourself money there is the option of free GPS navigation software. There is a plethora of options available to you on the Internet. A simple search will enable you to find much of this free software and download it. A simple program available online such as Google maps will give you directions, as does the RAC route planner, which performs the same function. If you require turn by turn voice instructions whilst on the move again, this offer is available freely, however, you will need to download it onto your device in order to use it.
There are portable GPS units online, for example from an online auction site. These offer great value as they are very inexpensive and although they contain the hardware for receiving the satellite signal, they are lacking the software. You will need to know what the hardware is inside the unit in order to make sure the software is compatible, as it comes as a blank canvas. You can use trial and error and install some software you like the look of; if this doesn’t work you can try an alternative.
Alternatively, you could use your laptop as a portable GPS unit. Free GPS navigation software available on the internet can then be transferred either to your laptop or downloaded directly onto it. Although this is a less portable solution, if you need to take two devices with you on a regular basis this will consolidate the two into one. The reason you may wish to download free GPS navigation software is clearly to save yourself money, if you’re going to go out and buy a laptop purely for the purposes of downloading GPS navigation software onto it this is of course a false economy. You will be much better off buying an all in one GPS unit.
A major advantage of free GPS navigation software is that it is often open source, allowing any user to modify the code and take superfluous bits out and generally continue adjusting it to make it much better. This works very well, as can be seen from the Linux operating system used for desktop and laptop computers. By allowing the code to be open source it naturally involves being edited by users, and if you’re not too familiar with how to program the code yourself you can put in a simple request online, and whatever it is you want added into the code someone will no doubt be online and happy to do this for you.
Overall, free GPS navigation software has the benefit of costing you nothing. It really depends on how often you going to use the software and the associated hardware, and how to get the most out of it if you require it on a frequent basis. You can invest money by making a much better purchase, however if you are only going to be using it, for example, two to three times a year you may like to go for the free option.
To find out how to get free GPS Navigation Software in the UK, click here now!
