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?