GPS Devices Life

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Great screen & portability, need better maps - Navman iCN 510 Car GPS Receiver It's easy to tell this gps is based on PDA hardware. In that it has a really good color touch screen, light weight...

I was very reluctant before purchasing this GPS, since it is a “PDA-based” unit, and My Toshiba 740 is notoriously unreliable and prone to lose data. I ended up buying one used on EBay for $300 and have been *mostly* happy with it since.

Even though this review might sound negative, please be assured that I DO like my ICN-510 and would recommend it to others. I wanted a GPS because I get lost all the time and – just like any other man – never think in advance to get driving directions.

THE PROS:

- IT LOOKS GOOD: Both hardware and software. The main reason I bought the Navman - besides its price – was because I liked the look-and-feel of the maps and touch-screen. Compare it to some of the TOM-TOM models, which have cheap-looking plastic casings and a horrible looking software interface.

- Great battery life: I mostly operate it on battery mode, only in a couple of instances I had to plug it in with the car adapter during long trips, but that was not a big deal at all. You can continue using it while it charges, if you don’t mind the cable connecting it to the cigarette-lighter.

- It is VERY affordable: at around $300, I think it was a good investment. Since this is my first car GPS, I was not ready to spend seven hundred dollars on it, “just to see if it would be useful”. Maybe next time.

Additionally, it is very easy to move it from one car to the other. It has a windshield attachment that works really well.

THE CONS:

- OUTDATED MAPPING: I live in Orlando, which is always growing, and some of the newly developed areas have huge holes in coverage.

As of jan 2006 I have tried to find updates for North America and have not seen any available. Mapping is provided by TeleAtlas.com, and their website really SUCKS…

Outdated mapping seems to be the most common complain amongst Navman users. Too bad…

- EXPENSIVE UPDATES: Even if TeleAtlas DID release an updated mapping base, I’m not sure if I would buy it. Why should you have to spend $100 bucks or more in mapping updates? It is a tough sell…

- YOU WILL NEED A MEMORY CARD. Not a big deal, since these things are so cheap nowadays. $30 or 40 dollars will solve your problem.

- ADDRESS-MATCHING COULD BE BETTER. Again, another problem related to poor mapping. Sometimes it is hard to find a certain address, even though you know it is there.

- POOR BUILT-IN SPEAKER: This is one of the few hardware-related flaws on this system. The voice guidance has a volume system that goes up to about 6 or 7 levels, but anything above the third level is above the capacity of the tiny PDA speaker, and it will become “crackly”. If you have a noisy car environment, it will be hard to hear the spoken directions.

- THIS IS A CAR NAVIGATION UNIT. This is an important point, since you can only navigate through the ROAD NETWORK. Why is this important? My sister-in-law lives in a new side of town - which happens not to be mapped - and therefore I cannot “bookmark” her home or get any routing directions. The software will show my position, but it will not let me add a “waypoint” since “there are no roads around”

- Also, don’t even think about it if you are trying to use it for things like geocaching or hiking. This is an automobile GPS only.

BUT HAVING SAID ALL THAT, I’m actually quite happy with the unit. I use it mostly for driving and finding alternate routes to bypass traffic, and for that it works great! The re-routing tool is very nice, and it helps me a lot when I do get lost, which happens very often.

So I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS UNIT:

- If you only want to spend about 300 to 400 dollars.

- If you are getting it for driving directions and quick re-routing.

- If you have no problem with the mapping coverage gaps in newly developed suburban areas.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Marcos Bastian

BSTN.NET

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