Entered CNET Catalog: 06/03/2004
SKU: 0805931012739
Manufacturer: Palm
Manufacturer description
GPS Navigator by palmOne can display detailed street and highway maps for the entire United States and Canada. 2D or 3D real-time animated navigational views support Tungsten T3 full-screen 320x480 display in portrait or landscape. GPS Navigator can customize directions using door-to-door navigation, give voice-guided turn-by-turn instructions, automatically recalculate the route after a wrong turn, instantly re-route to avoid a roadblock or congestion, and highlight millions of points of interest, including gas stations, airports, shops and other destinations.Product summary
The good: Compact; accurate driving directions; lots of customization options; includes windshield and dash mount for your PDA.
The bad: Expensive; works with only the Tungsten T3 and Zire 72; POI database not as comprehensive as others; can't navigate from Contacts list.
The bottom line: Though it's expensive, GPS Navigator by PalmOne provides accurate driving directions for Zire 72 and Tungsten T3 handheld owners.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/25/2005
Cloaked in a stylish black exterior, GPS Navigator by PalmOne is compact (3.0 by 2.0 by 0.75 inches; 2.6 ounces) and travel-friendly. Even better, the company includes a dashboard/windshield mount and cradle for your Tungsten T3 or Zire 72. There are three LEDs on the front, one of which flashes orange for satellite reception, another that glows blue for Bluetooth, and one that blinks green when the battery is charging or red when power is low. On the right side, there's a port if you want to attach an optional antenna for better reception, while the charging connector and the power switch are on the bottom of the receiver. There are two rubber grips on the back, but they don't prevent the device from taking a tumble on bumpy roads or sharp turns. Other goodies packaged with the device include a car charger, an AC charger and cables, cable adapters, user guides, and installation CDs.
The TomTom software included with GPS Navigator offers most of the features you'd find in other navigation systems. You can access maps of North America, and we recommend you invest in a SD/MMC expansion card of at least 64MB minimum for carrying them. You can create routes by entering addresses from the points of interest (POI) database or via your Favorite or Recent Destinations list. Unfortunately, you can't navigate to your contacts list or get driving directions that way. GPS Navigator automatically plots the quickest route to your destination, but if you happen to run into traffic or any construction zones, just click the Find Alternative icon and you'll be presented with a new route; in addition, the device recalculates your course if you wander off track. Though the POI database includes gas stations, airports, and recreational sights, it's not as comprehensive as those with the Dell and HP options. However, there are plenty of customization preferences. You can change the display icons; choose among 2D, 3D, and night views; and select different voices for the spoken driving directions, including American English, British English, French, Spanish, and Italian.
We paired GPS Navigator with the Tungsten T3 and encountered no problems. We test-drove the PalmOne in San Francisco, and the 12-channel receiver locked onto the required satellites in 45 seconds from a cold start, and acquisition was faster on subsequent tries. As expected, the receiver lost the signal when we drove under a tunnel and between tall buildings, but it immediately locked back on once we were in the open. Turn-by-turn directions were accurate, and the voice-guided prompts were clear. In addition, the PalmOne Navigator displays your current driving speed. The receiver's battery is rated for eight hours.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13out of 12 user reviews
Horrible Customer Service/Bad Product
Pros: Has Offices Based in US
Cons: Nav 6 TomTom Does Not Navigate
out of 12 user reviews
Great GPS Solution
Pros: GPS, Palm Pilot, MP3 Player, Camera etc etc.
Cons: Need quicker and more accurate updates from Tom Tom
out of 12 user reviews
tomtom for treo is pathetic
Pros: It looks and sounds wonderful
Cons: I can't get bluetooth or gps to work, and can't get any kind of meaningful support; you leave message and they call you baci in two or three days
out of 12 user reviews
Too many problems
Pros: Different voice options like John Cleese
Cons: Won't work most of the time
When I finally got the unit to work, it didn't start directions right away and then lost track of where I was even though I had 4 satelites. The treo crashed then.
I purchased the John Cleese voice and was able to get that on my phone, but everytime I tried to test the voice the treo would reboot. I was able to get his voice to work the one time I had navigation for a few minutes.
Half the time I can get signal to the palmone unit and then 1/2 not, doesn't matter where I am. Too much of a pain to work with when you need directions.
I had a kenwood navigation unit for 3 years so I'm not a gps newbie.
Seems like a good idea, but needs to work out some kinks and be more forgiving when other bluetooth units are around.
out of 12 user reviews
Perfect unit, so easy and accurate...
Pros: Easy to use... intuitive, very fast to get positioning, lots of different fitures that might get useful for extanded use
Cons: wouldn't install using my mac, had to use my stupid pc (which obviously comes handy sometimes). a nice PDA to run it might cost u a bit. Does not remember your last location. boots from Home location
It took 40 seconds for the unit to get the positioning when first started. 5 seconds to re-route. 10 seconds to get postioning on soft boot. I have to say it's fast and accurate.
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT if you already have a Palm PDA with Garnett 5.4 OS
out of 12 user reviews
Worst Customer Support EVER experienced
Pros: Never got it installed so don't know
Cons: Customer Support
out of 12 user reviews
I would be lost without it
Pros: 3d navigation , less expensive than the others , portable
Cons: Cant pick commercial routes
I use this almost daily to find jobsites in the tristate area (ny nj conn) It has been a huge help in directing me to hundreds of locations , very few times ....actually almost never has it not found and directed me to my destination. My only complaint is that it will direct you to take a commercial vehicle on a parkway (thats a very bad thing here in ny) however if you know this you can select to use alternate route and in a moment you have a new route bypassing the road you decide to avoid.
It has worked virtually flawlessly for almost a year now . I recommend it
out of 12 user reviews
Great GPS!!!
Pros: Nice Maps/Sounds/Directions
Cons: Customer Support
out of 12 user reviews
Inaccurate 50% of the time
Pros: Zire 72s features were great
Cons: PalmOne Navigator by Tom Tom very undependable
1. Suggested directions that were the very wrong direction.
2. Did not recognize addresses that were long established.
3. Suggested miles of surface streets right next to faster freeway route.
Buy something else.
out of 12 user reviews
Very nice, clear voice, sharp display, GPS is great
Pros: Clear voice, Sharp display, GPS works well
Cons: The navigation software by TomTom could be improved, data is sometimes inacurate, no data updates available on the net, the 1.2 megapixel camera is very bad
Before I bought the kit I did some shopping and the units available from Garmin where on "special" at 1,200.00$ can. with a smaller screen, no camera, and most of all no agenda.
So for 600.00$ can. I got a Bluetooth Palm with a 1.2 megapixels camera built in and a Bluetooth GPS receiver + software and accessories.
I would recommand buying this unit, to anyone who need's directions quick and easy.
out of 12 user reviews
Very Poor Customer Support
Pros: 3D Night View
Cons: Poor POI database,Map database Cant find common Streets
out of 12 user reviews
A great tool
Pros: ease of use with good customer support. I did have an issue when I switched the SD card (I am using a 512M card) to a audio card from Palm. This was quickly solved. With the updated version you can add your own POI's. I have found that It will take me
Cons: The time it takes for the GPS rec. to find your present local when first turned on. The psec says up to 45 sec. but I have found that it does take longer. Sometimes I have to reset the Palm because the bluetooth does not see the GPS.
out of 12 user reviews
Poor customer service, defect product
Pros: PDA users will pay less money for a GPS than others will. Unfortunatelly, I wasn;t a PDA user but I bought the Tungsten T3 just to have this GPS system ($299 for GPS, $329 for t3, $99 for 512SD) - close to $800.
Cons: But it didn't work out. The GPS only received signal from 1 or 2 satelittes at once (need 3 or 4 to triangulate), called the PalmOne Cust. Service, told me to call TomTom. Called TomTom and spoke with a foreigner who didn;t understand me. It disconnected
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