Ever been late for a place you've never been to before, make a wrong turn (or worry you did), and get stuck in a highway traffic back up? You can't look at a map while you're driving, and you don't know where on the map you are anyway. It's worse at night. Or in heavy rain or snow, or with upset kids in the car.

You've been there. And you know a GPS can help.

How about a reliable, full-service GPS you can use while driving your car and thin enough that you can slip in your pocket for a hike or train ride? The Garmin 1390LMT comes pre-loaded with street maps for all of North America. Maps of Europe can be uploaded. The 4.3 inch, bright color touch screen GPS device requires no subscription, no update fees, and has no expiration for the life of the product. Free map updates can be uploaded up to four times a year, although this service cannot be transferred for a different owner or to a different Garmin product.

I. Navigation Power

What can it do? Check it out.

1. User input starts with either "Where To?" or "View Map." Simple.

2. Highway signs visible on screen

3. Audible and clear voice and map guides the driver, notably even including at intersections regarding which lanes to be in.

4. Hook up to constant traffic updates to enable re-routing around traffic backup areas.

5. Quick recalculation of route when you make a turn that deviates from what was suggested.

6. Green-friendly ability to calculate the most fuel-efficient route. It can track fuel usage.

7. Lost? Easily get latitude/longitude and nearby intersections, police, gas station, and so on.

8. Has a "find parked car" feature

9. Shaded elevation contours where appropriate

10. Optional feature for navigating city mass transit, with arrival time estimates

11. Ability to download pictures and then navigate to them

II. Miscellaneous Bonuses

1. Built-in Bluetooth with microphone and speaker enables phone calls with minimal hand use along with Bluetooth-compatible cell phones. Answer calls by tapping the screen. Note that the on-screen phone keypad has to be navigated to in the menu for dialing.

2. Anti-theft features such as voice recognition.

III. Possible Downsides

1. Advertisements pop up when the car stops.

2. There may not be an indicator for low or full battery charge.

3. The lane change feature for intersections may not be available in all areas.

4. On long trips when the unit is in full sunlight, there have been problems keeping the battery charged even while the unit is plugged into a cigarette lighter. The battery does not charge when the temperature gets too high or low also.

5. In practice, problems have sometimes appeared with the traffic updater and re-router. Perhaps traffic and traffic information is too fickle for perfection.

IV. Your Destination

All in all, despite quibbles and imperfections, the Garmin 1390LMT (as related models) serves a number of helpful purposes reliably. In the future, will such GPS devices become merged with smartphones, phones with internet access? Perhaps in time for some human applications or models (that is more than at present). And remember that there is a difference between receiving data via cell phone towers and receving data via satellite. Time will tell where we head. Meanwhile, the 1380LMT has great multiple uses.