One of the benefits of portable navigation devices, as we've written more than twice, is that they're great to take along while vacationing in unfamiliar territory. And places don't come much more alien than Death Valley, where my wife and I recently spent most of a dusty week.

Beautiful, desolate, and appropriately named, Death Valley's three million acres of rock and sand wilderness make it the largest National Park in the continental United States. One of the driest and hottest places on earth, Death Valley once held the record for the hottest recorded air temperature on the planet: 134 degrees Fahrenheit. Elevations range from Badwater Valley, 282 feet below sea level, to soaring, rocky mountain ranges. With 600 miles of paved and dirt roads, several hundred miles of unimproved 4x4 trails, and only two gas stations, you don't want to get lost. And let's not even start on the rattlesnakes.

This is definitely a place where you can appreciate a navigation system, both for convenience and for safety.

Portable navigation in no man's land
Although we crossed the valley of death, we feared no evil. Partly because of our Garmin nuvi 660 test unit, partly thanks to the Magellan Neverlost system that came with our Hertz rental car, and partly because daily temperatures averaged in the mid 60s during our December visit.

Out in the surreal world, we were impressed with both the Garmin and the Magellan, and it definitely added a measure of security having them along. It was also interesting using both and comparing features. They were each remarkably good at identifying remote dirt roads by name and even showed us the way to the ghost town of Rhyolite. They guided us to and through Titus Canyon, a 28-mile, one-way 4x4 trail that was a highlight of the trip. The nuvi even let us know when we had officially entered the park because the entire background turned green—an odd color choice here given that there isn't a green field for many, many miles. Both devices always told us how far it was to the next turn and how far from our destination. While this is always nice to know, it is especially appreciated in a desolate landscape where you can be very difficult to judge distances.

When it was time to consult a point-of-interest (POI) menu to choose a restaurant for dinner, we preferred the nuvi because we could take it into our hotel room and browse our options on battery power. From a comfortable chair, we were able to choose from foods by category, and get a phone number for reservations. Neverlost stays with the car.

One odd glitch we experienced with the nuvi was a screen freeze in the middle of the desert, when it insisted we needed to make a sharp right on a nonexistent road and double back the way we had come. This can happen with any portable device. Simply shutting it off and restarting it cured the problem.

In the end, each device had its benefits, but both ultimately guided us where we wanted to go. Having two units on the trip did seem like overkill, though the constant comparison proved interesting.

One key take-away lesson: don't go to Death Valley without at least one GPS device. The other conclusion, made en route back to civilization, is that the best part of renting a car with Neverlost is being able to push one little button to guide you back to the rental car return when it's time to go home. That can take some stress out of any trip. 

Next time, perhaps we'll take a handheld device for more adventurous hiking...

—Jim Travers

For more information on portable GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.