Load 'n' lock
Getting started is relatively painless. We installed the necessary components from the MAP and NAV Companion CD using HotSync, loaded all of New York City's and Long Island's street maps (using only 1.4MB of memory, which is impressive) and the NAV program, and hit the highway. One downfall is that the GPS module takes about ten minutes to lock on to satellites on first use, but if you know your approximate coordinates, you can punch them in to reduce locking time significantly. We did this and obtained a 3D fix (four or more satellites locked in) within five minutes, with subsequent initializations taking less than a minute to achieve a fixed position.
We selected a destination from the drop-down list of street names in the Options menu (unfortunately, the GPS Companion will not locate addresses) and tracked our progress through the streets, with our positioning icon always pointing toward our destination. The GPS functionality was very accurate, pinpointing our location on the map right down to our position in the middle of an intersection. At one point, the receiver was even able to hold satellite signals indoors, as long as we stayed close to a window. If you plan on using the GPS add-on mostly in a car, we recommend purchasing the vehicle-mounting bracket ($42) for the Visor, which provides hands-free operation and map viewing while driving.
Even though the Magellan GPS Companion for the Handspring Visor lacks the ability to locate street addresses, this is a minor flaw in an otherwise fine and affordable ($149.99) product. As a matter of fact, we think this is one of the better GPS add-ons for a Palm OS device we have seen to date.
