Buying a GPS is easy but if you are not familiar with its terminology, you can land up in trouble. To avoid any confusion, one must get familiar with the terminology used by the GPS users before buying the GPS.

Waypoints: they are some landmarks on your route which help you in reaching your desired destination. They have to be stored by taking the coordinate from a map. The coordinate of a waypoint can also be entered directly on the GPS unit. To remember them, you can give these waypoints some unique names. The waypoints become your navigation tool. The waypoints can either be some major landmark or any other minor references which you come across on your route like a jutting rock or a broken tree etc.

Route: waypoints are entered in a sequence so that it becomes easy for you to remember as to which one you have to cross first and which one later. So route is a sequence of waypoints in a specific order.

8 and 12 channel receiver: these are the two types of receivers which are used. The 8 channel receiver receives information from eight satellites whereas the 12 channel receiver receives signals from twelve satellites. So you should opt for the 12 channel receiver as it receives more information and hence will function in a better way.

The route that takes you to your desired location is called "Bearing" whereas the route on which you are really on is called "Heading". Both these are not fixed. They may differ depending on the various obstacles in the path like fallen trees, broken bridges, rocks, fences etc.

Wide Area Augmentation System or WAAS: it's a system of satellites and ground stations that works best in open land and marine application. WAAS provides accurate signals only in North America. The signals provided are not accurate in South America as technology is not fully developed there. 25 ground stations across the USA are used to give position accuracy above three meters 95 percent of the time.

Time To First Fix: of TTFF as it is called is the time taken to fix or triangulate your position by using three or four satellites.

Once you get familiar with the GPS terminology, using the GPS will become much easier for you.