The Axion Geo-632 is another of those GPS bargains that you can buy new for under $100. This device is designed to be used in a car or in “pedestrian mode.”

Like the Nextar P3 GPS, the Geo has a 3.5-inch screen. It also comes with the now-typical GPS features, such as 3D map view, a built-in MP3 player, a touchscreen, pre-loaded maps, automatic rerouting, and turn-by-turn directions. It also provides a picture viewer, so that your passengers can entertain themselves during long stretches of straightaway by viewing a slideshow of your most recent vacation.

The problem with an inexpensive device is that those typical features may not work in standard ways. For example, a reviewer on Amazon says that you can’t listen to MP3 tunes on this at the same time you’re using it as a GPS. There’s no jack for headphones either. You can’t adjust the volume control of the unit without exiting the GPS program first. And you can’t switch between night and day automatically. In other words, the interface for the Axion needs some redesign and you can expect a slightly painful learning curve.

Another Amazon reviewer complains that you can’t pick up satellites immediately when you turn the device on — that sometimes you’ll have to wait several minutes for synching to take place. She’s found a way around it, by plugging in her home address and clicking some buttons a few times, which speeds up the process.

Finally, that touchscreen actually requires you to use a stylus. (Evidence: See Figure 1.) Lose that and suddenly it becomes less useful at getting you around.

On the other hand, if you’re a walker like me, having a device that’s small enough to stuff in a pocket yet functional enough to work in the car means you don’t have to buy multiple products to find your way through the world. So, screwball interface, sorta-good features, and decent directions — you’ll have to decide for yourself whether it’s worth the hassle to save yourself some green. Sometimes it is.

When you go ultra-cheap on a GPS, what do you lose? That’s the question I’m going to tackle today and for the next few days. PriceGrabber includes 10 global positioning systems for vehicular use under $100 that are new (vs. resold).

The Nextar P3 GPS is one of these, and it actually gets a ranking of five stars from three reviewers. (No, that’s not exactly overwhelming, but it sure beats another product to which a lone reviewer gave a single star.)

This $99.99 device has one major difference from the other models I’ve written about recently. It has a smaller display — only 3.5 inches vs. seven. That means your eyesight better be up to snuff or you’ll need to adjust yourself to seeing less of the area you’re navigating through.

However, you will get the absolute basics, including a built-in speaker with voice-guided directions and turn-by-turn voice prompts; a pre-loaded state map for the United States; a database with 1.6 million points of interest; an address book that can store up to 300 addresses; a feature that will recalculate the route; a slot for plugging in an SD card; and 2D and 3D map viewing modes.

Review gnxtut from TN likes the “nice female voice” and the speed warning feature. Quince123 found it to be an “excellent product” with a very visible screen and “excellent text to voice,” which worked well even on the streets of Chicago, which anybody who has ever been there knows will be full of detours, construction sites and Oprah lovers.

Face it, in the arena of GPSs, if it finds you a signal and tells you where you are, then tells you how to get where you’re going next, who cares that it won’t show your photo collection?

Besides Garmin and HP, a few other companies sell GPS devices. Nextar offers a model that’s under $300. And the bonus with this model is that it includes a back-up camera. If you suffer Prius envy, maybe buying this would grant you some little consolation.

Here’s what the Nextar I4-BC offers:

• A 4.3-inch color display, just like the other units I wrote about.
• A built-in speaker.
• Voice-guided directions and text-to-speech.
• Built-in maps for the United States and Canada.
• 1.6 million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, airports and the like.
• An address book that stores up to 300 addresses.
• Automatic recalculation of the route, for when you just plain change your mind.
• A speed alert.
• An SD card slot for additional memory.
• An MP3 player and picture viewer.
• 2D and 3D map viewing modes.
• A rechargeable battery.

And then there’s that back-up camera, which provides a view of what’s behind your vehicle, with a viewing range of up to seven feet. You’ll have to work some installation magic to get it attached to your license plate holder, involving cutting holes in metal and doing a bit of wiring work.

What you won’t get with the I4-BC is Bluetooth, which would allow you to handle calls through the GPS working in cooperation with some Bluetooth cellphones. Nor does it have a built-in FM transmitter or live traffic information. If that’s important, then pay the extra $100 or $200 for one of the other units.

To use this device — or any of the GPSs, I assume — you need to have a computer, from which to load the device with its maps and databases of Starbucks locations.

The Nextar offering packs a lot of functionality into a small package. Road trip, anybody?

Garmin calls its nuvi series of global positioning systems “Personal Travel Assistants,” which sounds like a concierge. And who doesn’t want a concierge — especially one you don’t have to tip?

The nuvi 760 GPS, which is fairly equivalently priced to the HP iPAQ 310, also includes a lot of the same functionality: pre-loaded maps, text-to-voice, an MP3 music player, Bluetooth and route planning. The screen is 4.3 inches diagonally, the same as with the HP model. It has a backlit display, a compass, speedometer, an odometer, a 3D map view, and a touchscreen.

It also has a few unique features that users really love or kinda hate.

The 760 lets you make hands-free calls through a built-in mic and speaker by pairing it with your compatible Bluetooth phone. You dial the number on the nuvi touchscreen keypad (always a tricky business while maneuvering through city traffic). To answer calls, you tap the screen and speak directly into the GPS unit.

An integrated FM TMC traffic receiver sends alerts about traffic delays and road construction to keep you nimble during commute. (Yes, this requires a separate subscription, but compared to the price of gas and the probable value of your time, it’s a bargain.)

You can buy optional SD cards to plug in that include language translations and additional travel guides.

Let’s find out what reviewers say.

stathis finds the software “fast and the touch-screen responsive. Very easy to configure. The display is bright and very visible. The Bluetooth works perfectly and instantly saw my cellphone.” But, the traffic report is slow to download — 10-plus minutes in Los Angeles. As this customer explains, “There are only two traffic colors: red and yellow. There is no green, hence you do not really know if no color means no data or no traffic. Still, some times you have no color, and think traffic must be OK, only to realize in a few miles that the color is now yellow.” That, says stathis, makes the traffic service sub-par.

fchange777 from CA bought the device for his wife and gives it five stars. But he also says that he’s experienced an echo trying to speak to somebody else through the GPS. For that reason, he’s also picked up an external mic from Garmin, which has addressed that problem.

login4k from VA wishes the map update included with the unit lasted more than two months. login advises patience when downloading and installing a new map, which was about two gigabytes in size. He or she also suggests buying a Garmin portable friction mount, which will be easier to remove than the windshield or fixed dash mounts, which are included in the package.

Gman757 from TX would prefer that the GPS made it easier to find places, such as restaurants. As he writes, “You can search by name or by category, but not both. For instance, if you want to find a restaurant, you can specify the type of restaurant only. It will list the restaurants of the specified type, in distance order. If you want to find a specific restaurant, you have to search by name, but it will list every single thing (gas station, restaurant, store, etc.) with that name.”

On the other hand, Gman likes how his GPS remembers where he parked.

My brother just introduced me to Motion Based, a web-based application that translates global positioning system (GPS) data into useful information and lets you share it with others. Only problem is, I need a GPS to record my various hikes and bike rides in the first place.

There are only about a thousand GPS systems available right now, so my options are somewhat limited. But, hey, I’ll see what I can do about whittling the list down to something manageable.

Today, I’m going to look at the HP iPAQ 310, which pegs itself as a “Travel Companion.” I like that. Makes it seem dog-like. You can customize your trip on your PC then download it to the iPAQ to keep you going in the right direction. (I’ve needed that more than once during my jaunts around California by bicycle.)

Maps are shown in 3D on a display that’s 4.3 inches diagonally. There are “millions” of preloaded points of interest, including restaurants and museums. The touch screen lets you slide the map around with your finger. Directions are supplied in spoken and on-screen formats. It’ll show you the geographic way to your Outlook contacts. There’s a handy world clock, for scheduling those US-Brazil-India phone meetings while on vacation. And you get a compass, a useful addition to a GPS, by all means.

Best, it’s more than just a GPS. This one provides you with entertainment too, including music, videos, games and photos.

Let’s see what the reviewers say about this one.

The overall consensus appears to be it’s a great value for the price ($265-$450), and the software that runs it is buggy.

As old_cotton from NY describes for its strengths, “Beautiful 800*480 high resolution LCD Screen; Built-in SDHC reader; MP3 Player; Bluetooth; WinCE 5.0 OS.”

But, says PGFan from CA, “The software hangs.”

Another common complaint is the low volume — especially a problem if you’re using text-to-speech and you want to hear directions. Says tableau from MA, “Even if you hear the instruction, you would not know what it is mumbling about.”

PGFan solved this problem, “by using an FM transmitter to listen to the music and directions through the car stereo.”

Next time, I’ll look at a system from the company everybody else wants to beat: Garmin.

The ultra-low-cost, ultra-mobile computer category has a few other players — Fourier Systems, Intel and One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) — that are sold through limited channels. All have the clamshell bodies, small displays, low weights and mobility features that make them marvels of value. And no doubt, we’ll be seeing new models coming out from other major players in the next few months.

As one person I spoke to recently explained, these are amazing computers that encourage you to experiment. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Windows and Microsoft Office productivity suite user, here’s your chance to spend a few hundred dollars to get a “disposable computer” that runs Linux and expects you to rely on open source and online offerings for your primary applications (though that’s hardly a requirement).

If most of your computer time is spent doing serious work, an ultra-portable could be your excuse to cut free from the tethers of a desktop and stash a lightweight machine into your rucksack for blogging, posting photos, and recording your summertime daydreams. Yes, these things can probably be done on your cellphone too, if you have the right kind; but that’s kind of like keeping your journal on a pad of sticky notes. It’ll do the job, but just not as well as another kind of tool. And trust me on this one: There’s a cool factor with these devices. You’ll have the device everybody else around you will want to hold for themselves.

Acer has a number of low-cost notebooks, but I’m going to look at the Aspire 3680-2682 because it’s under $500 and includes some nifty features. (That said, the company has some pretty unhappy customers out there, if the reviews on PriceGrabber are any indication. More on that shortly.)

This machine — not exactly ultra-portable with its 14.1″ display and 5.3 pound heft — includes both Ethernet and wireless (802.11 b/g) connectivity, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, a 1.86 GHz processor, and slots for any little thing you’d like to plug in — MMC, SD, xD and Type I and II PC cards. Although it holds up to 2Gb of RAM, it comes with 512Mb. Since it’s running Vista Home as the operating system, that’s sufficient, but not blazing.

Now for those reviews. MarkLawless from CA had a major difficulty in getting wireless to work. Even a replacement receiver was defective. Mark calls the device a “good basic laptop,” but he thinks the Atheros wireless card is “junk.”

funkmonk from CA bought an Acer at a retail clearance sale and finds his computer “very slow. More troubling, the unit goes into emergency hibernate after a couple of hours of life. “On the bright side,” he writes, “it’ll play or stream my music or videos without any issues.” Next time, he says, he’ll spend an extra $100 or $150 to get a bit more.

Finally, jd_e from OR was “expecting more from this laptop.” The system, according to jd, is “low and periodically does not respond or delays response for up to a minute, particularly when loading software or adding hardware.” Otherwise, the reviewer notes, “it works just fine.”

In a few months Acer will be launching its Aspire One, which comes in at 2.2 pounds and includes either Linux or Windows XP. Some of the performance issues may disappear with this new release. That won’t help those who have already bought units, but it’ll be worth some side-by-side comparisons for those of you who are simply in look-see mode right now and wouldn’t mind going either alternative or back to the past for your OS…

Let’s look at a fairly full-featured machine from Everex, the StepNote SA2053T Notebook.

This system has a 12.1″ 1280×800 screen, which is highly usable when compared to the seven or eight inch displays offered by other ultra-portable systems. The weight’s a bit heavier at just under four pounds, but you get more functionality for your money in some ways. For example, you get both wireless (802.11 b/g) as well as Ethernet connectivity. There’s a built-in DVD+/RW drive and microphone, and 100Gb worth of storage.

On the down side, this StepNote includes only a gigabyte of RAM. That meets the minimal requirements for running Vista Home, the operating system that’s included; but if you’re accustomed to fairly snappy computing operations, you may find it inadequate to the task. Worse, you can’t upgrade the memory without negating the one-year factory warranty.

Reviewers reference a short battery life, which is somewhat mitigated by the extra battery that comes with the unit.

If playing movies on the train ride home is important to you, this is a unit to consider because of its compact size and built-in DVD player. It’ll be easy to hoof around with and it’ll fit nicely into most carrying cases and knapsacks. Just make sure you remember that extra battery. And don’t plan any getting any serious AutoCAD work done between the good segments.

Next: Acer aspires to greatness

HP’s Mini-Note PC 2133 is intended for an education market (with a price that starts at $499), but it has enough going for it that the appeal stretches into the consumer and business user segments too.

First, the outside specs. The Mini-Note has an 8.9-inch display, which is scratch resistant. The keyboard is 92 percent the size of a normal keyboard, not small enough to give most people difficulty in using it, but still reduced to make it easier for younger users to reach the keys. It weighs in at 2.63 pounds.

Now for the inside specs. The display has 1280×768 resolution. The processor is a Via Technologies C7-M ULV processor, a chip in use in a number of mobile computing devices. The computer comes with a single gigabyte of DDR2 SDRAM, though the machine can hold up to two gigabytes. There’s a 120 gigabyte hard drive (vs. the solid state drives that other such devices include), wireless 802.11 a/b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0. If you suddenly jerk the machine, a 3-D DriveGuard utility locks the hard drive to protect it from “shock and distress.” In other words, it’s less likely, you’ll lose your data.

You’ll find two USB 2.0 ports, an RJ-11 Ethernet port, a VGA port, a docking connector, an ExpressCard slot and an SD memory card slot that accepts SD, SDHC and MMC media cards.

There’s a built-in microphone, webcam, integrated stereo speakers, a headphone jack, an external microphone jack and touch controls for volume control and mute.

The power source is a rechargeable 3-cell lithium-ion battery, which provides a bit over two hours of battery life.

On the operating system front, the PriceGrabber-offered edition runs Windows Vista, but you can also find versions that have SuSE Linux. It also includes Microsoft Office Ready 2007 — which isn’t the same as getting Office itself! You have to put out another $150 to $180 to get an activation key to turn on the applications.

Overall, this HP offering provides a lot of punch for the money. A sub-$600 computer running Windows Vista and weighing in under three pounds? This isn’t the kind of device that forces you to change your computing habits. When you have a 120 gigabytes of space, there’s no need to rely on online services to store your data or provide your applications. You may find performance sluggish with Vista running on a gigabyte of RAM, which means you may want to up that to two gigs. HP’s offering is a far cry from the “disposable” computer concept that Asus is dominating with its $250 Asus Eee PC, but if budget isn’t a concern, this model has a lot going for it.

Next: the Everex CloudBook.

While I wasn’t paying attention, ultra-low-cost, ultra-mobile computers have become serious competitors in the mobile device category. Over the next few days, I’m going to look at some of the contenders in this space available through PriceGrabber.

I’ve already written about the Asus Eee PC, which became quite popular after the One Laptop Per Child program was introduced for international consumption. The idea is to put a low-cost, low-power connected laptop into the hands of children in the world’s poorest areas. But the idea that you could have a computer that weighed in at three pounds or less and that cost under $600 was truly appealing to a lot of technology users, not just the people in developing nations. So other companies — including Asus — have arrived on the seen to fill the perceived need.

To keep the costs down, the companies involved in selling to this movement have often gone with legacy or open source operating systems, such as Windows XP or Linux, and kept hardware options to a minimum. Some computers include no CD or DVD drive; others have solid state drives, but no hard drives; the processor doesn’t have the fastest clock speed on the block. At each step the expense has been shaved in creative ways. Expectations from some companies are that you’ll do your computing “in the clouds,” relying on free services from Google and a hundred other dot-com companies to give you productivity applications and maintain your data.

Also, a lot of the devices include small displays (seven or eight inches in size) and smaller-than-usual keyboards, intended for the small hands of school kids. On the plus side, many of these units are built with extra durability. If you drop them, they may bounce but otherwise work fine. On the minus side, if you have sausage fingers or poor vision, you may find yourself struggling to type or read what’s on the screen.

Yet when you only spend $300 for a computer, you could almost call them “disposable.” Your expectations can be lower, because you don’t have as much invested.

So, coming up, rundowns on the HP Mini-Note PC, the Everex CloudBook, the Acer Aspire, the Lenova ThinkPad X300, and the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ210E/P notebook (not cheap by any means, but wonderfully small and packed).