It may not exactly be a timeless financial question, such as buying a home vs. renting a home, but deciding To either 1) Buy a iPhone together with a GPS App or a 2) Actually Buy a GPS device can be vexing nonetheless, particularly if you already own an iPhone. When you take a look at the price comparisons (you can check out an iPhone GPS dock here; it is approximately the same amount of money you would use to buy an inexpensive GPS device), you start to realize that this really is quite a pickle.
Even if you don't own an iPhone, it can be easy to see why choosing between simply using your iPhone as a GPS device and why using a dedicated GPS device itself can be such a conundrum. But in this article we'll try to make sense of the decision you face and see if we can't end up saving you money in the end. Let's take a look at this not-so-classic puzzler.
The Case for Buying a GPS Device
If you buy a GPS device, there were undoubtedly be certain advantages that you can't always have with the iPhone. For one, if you need to take your iPhone with you to make a call and someone else needs to drive the car, they'll suddenly find themselves without a GPS system. You can leave your iPhone with them, but that means you'll have to use someone else's phone to make the call. It's not the worst thing to happen in the history of the world, but it's the type of inconvenience that can be avoided with a simple investment in a GPS device.
Such logistical issues are at the heart of separating your devices. If, for example, you come to rely on your iPhone to handle everything for you, a broken battery could derail your entire day. If you rely on your GPS App to get you everywhere, and your entire iPhone isn't working, you'll be stuck without a phone and without navigation. If, however, you buy a dedicated GPS device that is built solely for GPS and GPS-related functions, if one of your products goes bad, the other one might be able to help.
Buying a GPS device outside of your iPhone can be a great idea; heck, you could even try using both. If you use your iPhone for golfing purposes, for example, then you can use the GPS feature while you golf without taking the only navigation device inside your car away. Having both devices gives you flexibility: you can take your iPhone with you without having to keep it in the car in case someone else needs to use it.
The Case for Using Your iPhone for GPS
There are some cases where using an iPhone for GPS might suffice. If you're driving a rental car, you can have a friend feed you directions from the iPhone while you're driving - you don't even need a dock provided you find some other way to keep the iPhone hands-free and don't need to take your eyes off the road. If you're driving solo, you can still pull over into a gas station and check the GPS for directions.
There's also the issue of cost. Many GPS Apps for the iPhone can be had for a discount over what a normal GPS device might cost you. It depends on what kind of hardware and software you're getting, but there might be a chance that a new GPS system would cost you as much as the hardware and software that upgrades your iPhone to a GPS system.
Our recommendation? If you can swing it, go for both devices. With a GPS device in the right place, you won't have to worry about safety as much - and you won't have to keep moving the GPS in and out of its position.