Garmin makes excellent GPS units, but the maps were getting a little moldy and were years older than the maps Magellan and TomTom were shipping on their GPS units. Thankfully, Garmin has started shipping new units with the new maps (City Navigator North America 2008) installed, and is also selling the map updates via Garmin's online store for $70.

Looks like you'll need to use a PC or Mac to actually upgrade the maps if you already own a Garmin GPS, along with a DVD drive, and USB cable.

So just what's included in the new maps?

• more than 6 million miles of road coverage
• 47 updated cities
• new street developments
• over 6 million updated points of interest, including gas stations, parking garages, restaurants, hotels and ATM locations
• postal code support for Canada

Over the next few days I'll be testing the new maps and comparing Garmin's updated maps and routing engine to the old maps, as well as the current offerings from Magellan, TomTom, and LG. Stay tuned...