NOTHING COSTS MORE....:

Cheaper GPS navigation system gets you around town for less: In a comparison test, the no-frills Goodyear GY135 worked just as well as -- and in some ways better than -- the more expensive Magellan Maestro 4250. Its main drawback is its smaller screen size. (David Colker, November 30, 2008, LA Times)

Just how good is a cheapie GPS unit? To find out, I took several trips around town guided by the Goodyear GY135 GPS, which can be found for about $135.

This is the same Goodyear famed for tires and blimps, but the company hasn't suddenly gone into the consumer electronics business. The name was licensed by NCC NY, a Brooklyn-based firm that develops and merchandises a variety of electronic products.

One of the Goodyear GPS units that NCC brought out has a case design influenced by tires, complete with tread. It's the kind of thing that would look good adjacent to fuzzy dice and a tree-shaped air freshener.

The GY135 is, thankfully, more modest in design and not bad looking.

And it does just fine navigating from point A to point B -- in fact, better in a few ways than some more expensive units.