Rightway Spotter, Dale Jr. Edition is fun, flawed

When we first saw the Rightway Spotter, Dale Jr. Edition GPS navigator, we thought we'd have a bit of fun testing it and, at first, we did.

The unit comes preloaded with the voice of NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr. giving turn-by-turn directions and, if you're headed to the right place, offering colorful commentary about landmarks. There are also pictures and videos of Dale, Jr. that we could view directly from the device with its multimedia playback functions. Even the menu icons and the vehicle position marker have been replaced with Dale's #88 regalia.

We were having a blast, until we needed to get somewhere. When we tested the Spotter in downtown San Francisco, we ran into issues with slow start up times and inaccurate satellite reception amongst the tall buildings. Hardware and software interface issues also frustrated us.

If the GPS navigator was both fun and useful, we'd have no problem recommending the Spotter to fans of Dale, Jr. Perhaps users in the North Carolina area--where many of the Dale's Favorites points of interest are located--or those who do a good deal of freeway driving will have better luck with the satellite reception, but the rest of us should probably look elsewhere.

Check out the full review of the Rightway Spotter, Dale Jr. Edition.