The POI catalog is vast and includes entries for everything from gas (petrol) stations and restaurants to camping grounds and amusement parks. Also, with the Nokia N800 being such a Wi-Fi-reliant device, there's also a listing for Wi-Fi hot spots. You can choose which POI to have displayed on your map under the Settings > POI, but you may want to limit what is shown, as having too many POI can really clutter the map screen.
Maps are presented in 2D or 3D view with daytime and nighttime colors. You can zoom in and out, but you can't easily move around the map. For example, you can't simply sweep your finger on the touch screen to see other parts of the map; you'll have to use the four-way navigation toggle to pan right, left, up, or down. The main driving view will give your current street, the direction and distance to your next turn, and estimated time of arrival. However, if you're in 3D mode, you can't see all the surrounding street names, and disappointingly, there's no way to view a list of turn-by-turn directions. And though the Navicore Navigation Kit for the Nokia N800 has voice-guided directions, it does not feature text-to-speech functionality, which speaks actual street names.
We tried the Navigation Kit for the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet in San Francisco, and we had no problems pairing the device with the included Bluetooth receiver. From a cold start, it took about four minutes to get a satellite fix under cloudy skies, while subsequent starts took less than two minutes. Overall, the receiver did a good job of tracking our location, although there were times when the signal would get weak even if we had a clear view of the sky. Maps looked great on the Nokia N800's sharp screen. That is, as long as we were inside; but once in the car and in direct sunlight, colors became a bit washed out even when we readjusted the positioning of the N800 in our car.
Route calculations were quick, taking just a few seconds. However, since we couldn't look over a detailed list of turn-by-turn directions, it's hard to say whether the prescribed route was the most efficient. That said, it accurately got us from the Marina district of San Francisco to CNET's downtown headquarters. We also took several wrong turns to test the route recalculation rate, which was quick and always got us back on track, but unlike other portable navigation systems we've tested, there's no voice prompt to let you know it's creating a new itinerary. There is a visual cue, but the first couple of times, we weren't looking at the screen, so we weren't 100 percent sure whether the system realized we had gotten off track or not. The GPS receiver is rated for up to 15 hours of battery life and 7 days standby time.
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Where to buy
Nokia N800 Navigation Kit:
$167.26 - $175.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$167.26 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$175.00 | Yes |
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