Spooky... in a good way

Ok! This is my first GPS unit and I've wanted one for like ever, but they are pretty expensive as you're probably aware. I jumped all over this one because I saw it at an incredible price - $85. Well I actually asked my boyfriend to get it for me for Christmas. The only other GPS I had seen in action before was on someone's Nextel phone and it showed our poistion about 2 blocks away from where we actually were, so I was a bit worried.

I've been playing with it for about a week now and every day I figure out something new, but I am sure there's still tonnes of things I am not even aware of. What I know is that whenever I have it in my car it feels almost like someone's watching over me, most of the time it is accurate almost to the spot. I even drive with it when I know where I am going because it shows you in 3D the road ahead and what's coming up - turns, long stretches, etc.

Let's start at the beginning though. We bought it from Buy.com and got it 2 days after ordering it - great store by the way, highly recommended. The unit came in a package that to me resembled a radar detector, in those really annoying plastic boxes that are almost impossible to open without tearing everything inside them apart.

I didn't care for the installation process. There are 3 discs that come with it - one installation CD and 2 Maps, my problem came from the fact that the Map CDs are labeled CD1 and CD2, but the files on them are named Data2 and Data 3, so during installation the software asks you for Data2, which is actually on CD1. Whatever, bigger problem was that after I thought I installed everything, which took like an hour after the map generation, when I tried to start the software on my PDA it told me that the map data was corrupted. I have to redo everything over again, which took another hour. The software installation itself is not long, but the loading of the maps takes a while, depending on the size of the regions selected. I have a 2GB SD card and downloaded most of the South East region up to DC, this is the area I am actually likely to visit. Six states, including DC, took up about 350 MB, which I didn't think was that much. Out of curiosity I selected all regions (the entire US and Canada) to see how much space that would require, it was about 2.5 GB.

After the second install I finally got it working. Next chore was the bluetooth connection. I have to say I absolutely loath bluetooth. I have never been able to understand why is this standard so complicated and stupid? You have to understand tonnes of different things to be able to solve a problem if one occurs, which in my experience has always happened. There are different bluetooth profiles, pairing, ports, codes, it is a nightmare, I hate it with passion.

Supposedly the navigation software should discover the PDA automatically and not require any set up, but again mine has never done that - EVER! Every time I try to do the auto detect my PDA freezes up and I have to reset it and wait for it to restart. I found out the only thing that works for me is to pair the PDA with the IOGear GPS before I start the navigation software. Then it is important for me after I am done to exit the software through the File menu, and not just to turn off the PDA with the software still running. If I do that it never resumes the connection when I turn it back on, and it usually freezes up again. Might be my PDA, I don't know.

By the way I am using it with a relatively new - less than a year old - HP HX2495, with 520 Mhz processor, and Windows Mobile 5. The minimum requirements ask for at least a 200 Mhz processor, and Windows Mobile 2.0. Since my PDA pretty much exceeds these requirements more than double, I blame the stupid Bluetooth standard for my problems.

Once it gets going though, all my frustration simply melts away. I admit it - I am a dork, but GPS is super cool. Lucky for me I actually had to use it the very first day I got it. Unlucky for me the very first address I had to go to wasn't in its database. To its credit this was a brand new development and I checked on mapquest and Yahoo, and they didn't have it either. I tried to look by the nearest freeway exit, but it didn't find that either. Oh well. Finally I asked for a cross road that was near the place I was going, and finally the software found it. Off we went. The accuracy was so good I was stunned.

There are way too many options to even try to list them on here, but here are the ones I use the most.

Navigating to an address. There are several ways to input an address - by actual street address, by intersection, points of interest (restaurants, malls, etc), previosly visited addresses, or previously saved destinations.

After you input the address you can either hit navigate or play demo to preview the route first.

There are several different view options: 2d which is like looking at a map from the top, and three different levels of 3D views. They show you the street you're driving on as if you're on it with different things zooming into view as they approach. The difference between the different 3D views is the zoom level. I like the 3D one, which is the closest zoom, it gives you the details of only the immediate surroundings, but the labels are larger and easier to read.

The points of interest are great, but didn't seem too comprehensive. In my town I found the two main malls for instance, but I couldn't find separate stores like Best Buy or Walmart. Restaurants on the other hand were all there, even some brand new ones, which makes me think that the map CDs must be recently released.

After the initial GPS lock which took about 10 minutes, the receiver locks in the Satellites faster than I can figure out the stupid bluetooth connection.

Naviagation is very cool with maps and voice instructions. I found out that the voice tells you the name of the street you're supposed to turn onto only if it is a number - but number like Interstate, or a Highway, not like 5th Avenue. When the turn is onto a street the voice only says turn left or right, but it doesn't read the name of the street. It is, however, written out on the display. It gives you plenty of time to prepare for the turn. The first reminder is right after your first action: say you've just turned right, the voice guide immediately says: drive 2 miles, and then turn left. Then it reminds you again at different intervals, the last reminder is usualy around 500-800 feet. Right at your turn the GPS plays a loud ding, but usually if you haven't started turning when you hear the ding, you will miss your turn.

If that does happen the software recalculates your route, and does so very quicklky in 2-3 seconds.

I am probably jumping from feature to feature randomly, but I am writing them as I can remember. So I just remembered a few more. There are several options for the route calculations - you can tell it to choose the shortest route, the quickest route (not sure how it knows the difference), least turns, major roads, local roads, avoid toll roads, exclude or include ferries, or detour. There are also options for the display, there is a really cool auto adjust for day and night driving, the software checks the PDA's clock and chooses different collar schemes - light for the day with a dark cursor, or dark for night with a glowing cursor. There are also several different collar schemes to choose from manually. The buttons of the PDA could also be programmed to do different tasks with the software like enter address, zoom in/out, detour, etc. The system also calculates your speed, and the distance to your destination, but unfortunately only one or the other is displayed, if you have a destination set then it tells the remaining distance, and if you're just driving without it navigating it tells your the speed. You can also set it to keep nagging you if you exceed a preset speed limit.

Of course I have encountered plenty of problems with the software mostly. It doesn't seem to fit well on my PDA's screen and sometimes there are buttons that fall under the taks bars with no way to press them. It is also very finicky in the way it needs to be treated, if I do something the wrong way and my PDA freezes. As I already said my biggest frustration is with the bluetooth connection.

The package also inludes both a home and a car charger, but with a 25 hour rated battery, I don't see much need for the car charger, which is lucky for me, since my car's cigarrette lighter doesn't really work. I wish it did though, because the charger for the GPS fits perfectly with my PDA's charging plug, and this would've been a free car charger for my PDA, which only lasts about 5-6 hours on a charge, but that still is plenty of time for most trips.

And I will finish with one last note on the accuracy - when you look at the map it is almost unbelievable how close to your actual location it shows you, but when it comes to number addresses it is usually a few numbers off, it still much closer than the 2 blocks away I remember from the Nextel's phone, but it has yet to take me right to the exact street number I am looking for. It does however tell you which side of the street the destination is on.

There are many things I am still not sure of about this GPS and I hope to uncover. Most notably I would like to figure out if it can be programmed for trips with multiple stops, and if I can make it display both the speed and the remaining distance to the destination. Would be nice if it could calculate the approximate time of travel. I don't know maybe it can do those things, but I've yet to find out how. If anyone knows that please don't hesitate to post a comment. I would also like to have a compas on the screen, I think there is a little red cursor that probably points to North, but I am slow, I need to have all the directions written out.