GPS units have turned into information powerhouses. Besides displaying maps and directions, these popular gadgets have become Swiss Army knives for travelers, offering directions to pizza parlors, hospitals, hotels, tourist attractions, and - for an extra fee - critical information ranging from local traffic conditions to the location of speed cameras.
Now, with gasoline topping $4 a gallon, add local fuel prices to the list of extras your GPS receiver can show you. Or so the makers of TomTom GPS devices assert.
The company's new gas price service - available on TomTom Go 720/920 and newer models - will not only display gas stations in your vicinity, but also tell you how much each station is ostensibly charging for fuel, with prices updated every four hours over the Internet or by compatible cell phone.
The good news: TomTom may be able to help you find the cheapest gas. And that may be worth the $15 annual fee for the the service, especially if you put on lots of miles in unfamiliar places.
The bad news: There are times when TomTom's service doesn't have a clue what the actual price of gasoline is. I'm not talking about missing by a few cents per gallon here and there, but by 15 to 20 cents a gallon. At other times it's accurate to within a penny or two. So don't count on consistency.
If you're not familiar with the acronym, GPS stands for Global Positioning System, an array of 24 government navigation satellites that circle the Earth, broadcasting signals that enable folks with GPS receivers to determine their position within 100 feet or less.
The new TomTom Go 930 I tested is a great high-end GPS unit, with enough bells and whistles to please the most gadget-happy traveler. I'll do a full review down the road, but TomTom is pitching the fuel price feature, so that's what I tried first.
I connected the TomTom to my computer's USB port and then subscribed to the fuel service online through the company's Web site.
Fuel prices for 100,000 stations nationwide are provided by OPIS (the Oil Price Information Service) and IRIX, best known an aggregator of real-time, premium traffic data that owners of compatible GPS units can display with an add-on FM receiver.
Downloading fuel prices takes only a minute or two over a broadband connection. On the road, you can also use a compatible GSM cell phone with Bluetooth capability (most of these are available on T-Mobile and AT&T networks). My phone was not so blessed (you can look for your model on TomTom's Web site). So I couldn't test that feature.
