The answer lies in how much you want to pay for your device.

Garmin’s newer line is called the “nuvi”. Their other car GPS line is called StreetPilot. Nuvis are the ones with European maps. There are four possible models, the nuvi 270, nuvi 370, nuvi 670, and the nuvi 770. Let’s look at each of these.

Garmin nuvi 270

Garmin’s nuvi 200s are sleek, quality basic navigation devices. The 270 comes preloaded with maps of the United States, Canada, and Europe. It has what’s called “text-to-speech”, which means it actually tells you when to turn. It comes with a huge Points of Interest database (locations of Starbucks, hospitals, and gas stations, for instance) and doubles as a digital picture viewer. It has a 3.5-inch (on the diagonal) touch screen. The nuvi 270 will set you back a little over $300.

Garmin nuvi 370

The Garmin nuvi 370 does all the 270 does and adds actually saying the names of street names (as opposed to only saying, “turn right here”), real-time traffic capability, mp3 player, and Bluetooth technology for hands-free use. It currently sells for about $450 at Amazon.

Garmin nuvi 670

If you want a wide screen, 4.3-inches on the diagonal, you’ll have to bump up to the Garmin nuvi 670. It does all the 370 does, but with the larger screen. The 670 will set you back about $600. That’s a fair amount of money, but then you’re buying a quality system.

Garmin nuvi 770

The 770 is Garmin’s top of the line. It does everything the 670 does, but adds multiple routing. That means you can put several destinations in and it will route you to all of them on one trip. Now, that’s really cool! Of course, it costs a cool $700.

Garmin nuvis are truly portable, especially the ones with the 3.5-inch screens. Just think, you’ll never have to ask directions in Paris again!