HP iPaq 310 Travel Companion

Pros: Best display ever, routing flexibility and 600 mHZ fast!

Cons: Sound level could be better but with the audio out...

Summary: I have been using this PND for a bit over a week now, and I'm impressed. Admittedly, the learning curve is a little steeper than with some other systems I've used. But there is so much routing flexibility built-in that I think this is a fair compromise. If you want things simple, with no itineraries, no multi-destination routing, no on-line trip planning, no 600Mhz CPU/GPS chip combo designed specifically for navigation... then look for another product, a simpler product.

Yes, the sound level is not one of the 310's strong points. But for fairness sake, I think one should look at the package as a whole, not just one aspect of the audio features of the 310. You can't look at the audio capabilities of the 310 WITHOUT taking into account the Audio-Out port which, by the way, is not a feature common to all GPS devices. Once you connect your 310 to AUX port on your car audio system, directions and videos come out LOUD and CLEAR, much better than any FM Transmitter type connection that some other devices offer.

But more importantly, the claim that the 310 is inept at route recalculation is not only incorrect but absurd. I have been using the 310 for over a week now, and never once experienced a problem with route recalculation. If the CNET reviewer got such poor results on this point, then I suspect that the unit they were using was defective; or else, which is the more likely cause, the 'Off-route recalculation' was NOT set to 'Automatic.' This is a setting that one will find under [Settings][Route]. Bonnie - even if you did set the route-recalc to Automatic, if subsquently you chose a start point on the map other than your current GPS location, did you know that in doing so, the off-route recalc is automatically turned off? That's another possible explanation the poor results you obtained.

No, this is a very good GPS system, one that certainly deserves better than a 6 rating. I deplore the fact that the CNET review is incomplete and flawed in many ways...but eventually, user ratings will speak themselves and prevail. I still think that CNET should make a correction here though.