The early handheld or portable GPS units were designed for military personnel. They tended to be bulkier and somewhat cumbersome to use. Now that GPS technology has been made available to civilians, the GPS units themselves have improved in one essential area of design: portability. The new portable GPS units allow consumers to have as much GPS power as soldiers have and in some cases have more features. This article will discuss the three types of portable GPS units available on the market: GPS units used exclusively for tracking purposes, GPS units designed for navigation and portable GPS units which can be used for both.
Portable GPS units designed for tracking are available in a variety of forms. The first are known as GPS auto trackers. The portable version of GPS auto trackers are usually battery-operated and can be conveniently put in the car’s glove compartment. The next type of portable GPS unit with tracking capabilities are personal GPS systems. They can be a small device that looks like a cell-phone, (which can be placed in one’s pocket, purse or backpack), built in special GPS watches or even in tennis shoes. These systems can be used to track...