Among the various GPS receivers available, the Bluetooth GPS receiver has gained popularity among the techno savvy young generation. It's being used for steering and driving instructions. It provides color screens, color maps and voice directions of high quality. This receiver doesn't have a display device so in order to display the maps and routes it requires a display device like PDA or laptop which has the required software. It can work with any computer which has a Bluetooth. However, it's not good for cross- country hiking.

With the introduction of GPS chipsets by Mitac, Garmin and Holux, you can use your Pocket PC as a GPS receiver. The Pocket PC will double up as a GPS receiver and a personal diary.

GPS expansion cards were once widely used as GPS receivers but with the introduction of Bluetooth receiver, their popularity has gone down. Their main advantages were that they were cost- effective, worked well with PDA, and could be plugged easily into the Compact Flash card slots on the notebook computers and handhelds. Their only drawback was that they could work only with those devices which had a Compact Flash slot and hence their use was restricted. The drawbacks lead to the introduction of the Bluetooth receivers.

If you want to use GPS receiver during hiking or when you are involved in some water sport like sailing, then you should go for Standalone GPS receiver. They are designed to work in all sorts of tough conditions. They have several advantages. They are water resistant. If you want to keep yourself fit then Standalone receiver are a good option because they are also used to monitor heart rate, time, distance. These receivers range from monochrome screen types to full color handheld. They come in various shapes and sizes but before buying them, its memory should be kept in mind. Always go for receivers which have memory of more than 4 MB as most of the maps take up from 2 MB to 5 MB of space.

So, before buying, sit back and think as to which is the right GPS receiver for you!