Navigating doorbuster sales - The best GPS deals for Black Friday

To help you navigate Black Friday sales on portable GPS devices, we have scoured sales flyers from major retailers, identifying the best prices for the deal-crazed shopping weekend.

The deals we found all feature navigators from the three major brands: Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom. Most other brands have withdrawn from the GPS market, enabling consumers to focus on products from navigation-focused companies.

As seen with past shopping weekends, there are just a handful of models designated as doorbusters, offered by numerous retailers. This strategy focuses on price above all else and typically spotlights older models, or at least not the latest, great addition to the product line. While this can be a boon for price-sensitive gift buying, commuters and long-distance travelers looking for a full-featured device will need to extend their search beyond sales flyers. It also means that older devices may be in need of a map update.

It is common for major retailers to have discounts online over the shopping weekend and indeed through the end of the year. Do beware that some eye-catching deals online may be for refurbished GPS devices. Rest assured, if a deal appears too good to be true, it is.

What to choose
For basic guidance, the popular Garmin Nuvi 40 or Nuvi 50 both will suffice. These are entry-level units that provide an easy-to-use interface but lack handy features, such as multi-destination routing, traffic capability, and a pedestrian mode. They are commonly offered with lifetime maps (listed as "LM"), ensuring that they can be kept up to date with computer synching.

The TomTom Start 50 and Start 55 featured in our chart again are basic navigators. While they do have some appealing features, they rank at the bottom of our current GPS ratings. They will get you from Point A to Point B, but they lack multi-destination routing and have a frustrating ring-style mount.

We have also included some handheld-hiking units. These devices are well-suited to trail adventures, hunting, and geocaching—GPS-based treasure hunting.

As you look through the offers, and our online ratings, it is key to determine your must-have attributes, such as screen size, Bluetooth connectivity, and traffic services. In scanning the ads, we see that models often offer lifetime maps, lifetime traffic, and sometimes even both. It is far more cost effective to purchase these features upfront than to add them later. The real pitfall here is that some units without those options are likely to get the real head-turning prices. It is your choice if you think the way you use the device will favor these services (we find them worthwhile), but the important thing is to know what you're buying.