GPS Coupons:

• Boscovs - GPS WebBusters (Posted on 12/11/09 and Expires on 12/31/15)
• Budget Rent A Car - Free Day of where2 GPS Navigation w/ Weekly Rental (Posted on 4/15/09 and Expires on 12/31/15)

As I noted in an earlier entry, Ponzi is traveling this week. Both of us have GPS units installed in our cars, making it difficult to use rentals without some kind of navigational system on hand. Once you have it, you can't live without it – even in the most familiar of territories. Instead of renting a special device, I loaded Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 (with the GPS) on my laptop and showed her how to use it. If you've ever used an online mapping service – my current favorite being Yahoo! Maps – then you can easily figure out this sucker:

Whether you're planning a trip around town with multiple stops, trying to find a restaurant in a new city, or estimating fuel costs for a long-distance road trip, Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 helps you travel anywhere with confidence. This new version provides a comprehensive, customizable and current array of maps, driving directions, advanced routing options, road construction updates and points of interest to help you make the most of your local or long-distance trip.
In response to the growing popularity of Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, a special version of the software, Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator, is packaged with Microsoft Corporation's first-ever GPS hardware receiver, which turns your laptop into a comprehensive GPS device. You can also add GPS tracking functionality to your Pocket PC or Smartphone with an expansion pack that connects easily (sold separately).

There are few other products like this one on the market today, and I've been recommending it to folks for years. The addition of the GPS makes it an even better product. She's using it right now, I'd imagine – and will undoubtedly give us her thoughts when she returns. Oh, even if she doesn't write about it – I'll force her to say something into the mic.