Here's a Father's Day gift idea for the dad who loves high-tech gear and hates asking for directions: A GPS navigator.

Handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices, once used only by the U.S. military, have become common consumer gadgets over the past decade as ease of use has improved and prices have nosedived. Research firm Gartner recently published data suggesting that annual sales of dedicated GPS devices will reach nearly 100 million units by 2010, and that half a billion mobile phones and PDAs will offer embedded navigation systems, as well.

Meanwhile, prices for GPS technology keep dropping. While evaluating the five GPS devices in this roundup, it was more helpful to check their list prices at major Canadian electronics stores than to rely on manufacturers' suggested retail prices, which in some cases were several hundred dollars higher than what they were actually selling for.

The bottom line for consumers is that people can now get advanced GPS functionality cheaper than ever before.

When shopping for a navigation device, the primary criterion is no longer the accuracy of a unit's maps, routes, and directions (all of our test models performed roughly equally in this respect), but rather the value of its options and bonus features:

In what ways can we customize our routes?

• Can it monitor traffic?
• How easy is it to enter destination addresses?
• Can it track position even when satellite signals are lost?
• Does it have any worthwhile peripheral features, such as an MP3 player or Bluetooth for pairing the GPS system with cellphones?

So you'll find that the evaluation below consists primarily of testing tangential features rather than comparing basic navigation functionality.

Garmin nüvi 680

Garmin nuvi 680 The only device we tested that supports the MSN Direct news and information service, the $499 Garmin nüvi 680 has access to traffic and weather updates, local gas prices and even movie show times right out of the box. The information is delivered through a one-year subscription to Microsoft's wireless service, which comes bundled with the unit (after the year is up, you'll have to start paying for MSN Direct if you want the information fed to your nüvi 680).

Of course, that's assuming you live in one of Canada's more densely populated areas — MSN Direct's service is powered through FM broadcast towers in major cities, but has yet to reach the likes of even Saskatoon or Halifax, let alone more remote areas.

However, even if you can't tap into MSN Direct, there are plenty of other good reasons to consider the nüvi 680, not least of which is its robust navigation functionality. Users can select the best routes from point A to point B based on their method of transportation (bike, bus, car, foot or emergency vehicle), and the device even permits the creation of routes for off-road treks.

Should you decide to abandon your car for a hike, you'll likely appreciate the seven hours of operating time you'll get on a single battery charge. It will come in particularly handy if you decide to explore some of the device's six million preloaded points of interest, which are constantly growing thanks to users' ability to create their own interest points and upload them to share with others.

Additional perks include Bluetooth pairing with your cellphone, which enables hands-free calling while in a car, and the ability to store and play back a range of media, including pictures, audiobooks and music. It also has an FM transmitter to broadcast music to your car's stereo.

Sony nav-u NV-U83T

Sony nav-u NV-U83T It's easy to be charmed by Sony's $449 nav-u NV-U83T. Its big, beautiful screen, which offers dual viewing capability so that you can zoom in on the details of the route you're following while keeping an eye on a larger map at the same time, was the best display among the devices we tested.

Position Plus, a locating system that uses accelerometers inside the device to monitor your position even when tunnels or mountains interfere with satellite line-of-sight, worked like a charm. It kept an accurate read on our car for long stretches when signals were lost.

We also liked the device's unparalleled car mounting system, which uses a tacky material to attach to the dashboard rather than the clumsy adhesives employed by competitors. It's so simple and elegant that we expect it soon to be mimicked by other manufacturers.

Unfortunately, the nav-u NV-U83T has a few shortcomings that keep it from going toe-to-toe with similarly priced GPS devices.

For starters, an inexplicable lack of predictive text entry makes tapping in the addresses of locations into a drawn-out drag.

Still, you may have time to type everything letter by letter, since there were instances when it took the NV-U83T up to a minute longer than other devices we tested to connect with satellites from a cold start and get a fix on our position.

Sadly, you won't be able to listen to music or view pictures while you wait; unlike other devices in its class, the NV-U83T doesn't offer any media playback functionality - a pity, considering its beautiful screen.

The NV-U83T is a capable GPS with some very worthwhile features — including optional traffic monitoring and cellphone pairing — but Sony's signature navigation system needs a little more polish to become a serious contender with units made by dedicated GPS vendors.

TomTom Go 920

TomTom Go 920 There is little anyone could reasonably expect from a GPS device that TomTom's flagship Go 920 navigator doesn't already do.

From its useful peripheral features, such as an elegant MP3 player and JPG picture viewer, to its advanced navigation functionality — it was the only device we tested with voice-command capability for hands-free address entry - the $449 TomTom Go 920 is about as deluxe a consumer GPS as you'll find.

It comes preloaded with an enormous amount of useful software, ranging from a roadside first-aid manual and a unique Help Me guide that can be used to locate and plot routes to nearby emergency facilities, to helpful traveller guides for dozens of countries that provide information about things such as local banking hours and the types of accommodation available.

Even more handy, it was the only unit in our evaluation pool that came with maps not only of North America, but also dozens of countries in Western and Central Europe — a valuable bonus for many travellers.

And the Go 920's navigation capabilities are second to none. Features include the Enhanced Positioning System, which (like Sony's Position Plus) tracks location when out of satellite range, and TomTom Plus Traffic, a subscription-based traffic monitoring service.

There's a reason TomTom is one of the top GPS device manufacturers in the world, and the Go 920 is it.

Mio Moov C200

Mio Moov C200 The least expensive unit in our test group was Mio's $199 Moov C200. The sole function of this gadget is to show users where they are and provide instructions on how they can get where they need to go. And, evaluated on these modest criteria, it scores excellent marks.

Like its more expensive competitors, the Moov C200 provides text-to-speech navigation, calling out names of streets and barking directions on cue and with precision in your choice of four English and two French voices.

It also offers several ways users can customize their routes, providing options to avoid or prefer ferries, freeways and toll roads, as well as choices between shorter routes and faster predicted travel times. The Moov C200 delivers a few nice extras, too, such as driving speed alerts and GPS data logging.

Its small and lightweight body (just 136 grams, by our scale) features a diminutive but satisfyingly bright and clear 3.5-inch display that provides good viewing from most angles. Unfortunately, the smaller-than-average screen results in, predictably, a smaller-than-average touch keyboard, upping one's chances of typos. However, its reliable predictive text system keeps tapping to a minimum by reducing the number of mistypes.

There's really not much more to the Moov C200 than that, but that's kind of the point - and the reason it costs so much less than other GPS devices.

LG LN735

LG LN735 Like Sony, LG is better known for its TVs than its navigation equipment, and the reasons are evident in the $329 LG LN735. It tries to be a stepping stone between bare-bones navigators and more feature-rich devices, but ultimately it's an overpriced, under-functioning misfire.

To be fair, the LG LN735 does a very capable job of finding good routes from one location to another. It generally picked the same roads as its competitors and provided text and spoken directions similar to what was offered by the other units tested (albeit in a somewhat gratingly artificial voice). It also provided a selection of route customization options that was comparable to those of other devices in its price class.

The problem is that it offers nothing of value beyond a budget navigator's features.

It does have an MP3 player; but, with no headphone output or FM transmitter to play through a car stereo, you can only listen to music through the device's lone, weak speaker. And the built-in JPG viewer loses its appeal once you realize that the smallish 3.5-inch screen, with its low resolution and poor viewing angles, doesn't exactly make for a pleasant picture-viewing experience.

Factor in that you can't listen to music or view images without first shutting down the navigation system, and the LN735's media functionality becomes all but useless.

In short, it will get you from point A to point B about as well as you'd expect, but if that's all you use it for, you'll be better off with a cheaper device that comes without the hollow extras.