A longtime manufacturer of CB radios and other electronics devices, Cobra Electronics Corp. has entered the GPS field. Although the Cobra GPS 500 provides the basics in terms of interface design and function, it offers little more, besides a low price.

Most notably, the GPS 500 lacks the higher screen resolution found in products from Garmin, Lowrance, and Thales. Also, we were not impressed with the receiver's sensitivity: It took several minutes to get a cold fix with a pretty open 360 degrees of horizon.

Finally, we encountered problems with the device's ergonomics. Our thumb often covered a part of the screen when we were using the GPS 500's pointer stick. All in all, you can do better with a similar entry-level device, such as the Garmin Geko 101 or eTrex.