Features
The Pharos Drive GPS 140 is equipped with a 20-channel SiRFstarIII and uses Ostia maps of the United States and Canada, which are preloaded on the included 2GB SD card. Like the Pharos EZ Road, you choose your region first, then you can start planning your trip by entering a specific address, intersection, point of interest, or waypoint (favorites or recent destinations). You have the power to determine how the system provides directions, whether by fastest or shortest route, with or without highways or toll roads. Text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions are provided, but sadly, there's no text-to-speech functionality. The GPS 140 supports 2D and 3D views, day and night map modes, automatic route recalculation if you veer off track, route demos, and multistop trips. Speaking of which, the system has a substantial POI database that includes all the major attractions and more specific categories, such as cultural centers, golf centers, and embassies.
The Pharos Drive GPS 140 also offers a Smart Navigator feature (found under the Power User menu), which is a subscription-based service that provides traffic updates, new maps, a POI finder, and a Follow Me for tracking other members in your group--all wirelessly. Pharos is offering a free one-month trial of the Smart Navigator service; after that, it costs $18 for three months or $66 for a one-year subscription. Of course, to take advantage of these services you need some way to get onto the Web, so how do you exactly do that with the GPS 140? Glad you asked. The Pharos Drive GPS 140 has integrated Bluetooth so that you can connect to the Web with your Bluetooth-enabled phone as well as make hands-free calls.
Finally, the versatile Pharos Drive GPS 140 comes equipped with a video and music player for those times when you want to entertain the little rug rats in the backseat or need a little diversion yourself (of course, no video while you're driving). The GPS 140 can play MP3, WMA, WAV, MPEG, and MIDI files. The media players are pretty rudimentary in their functionality. For example, you can shuffle and repeat songs, but there's no way to manage or create playlists, and there's no equalizer for tweaking the sound. Also, the full-screen mode on the video player still leaves about one-fourth of the screen unused.
Performance
We tested the Pharos Drive GPS 140 in San Francisco, and it took only a couple of minutes for the unit to get a GPS fix from a cold start. Subsequent starts were faster, and the device was even able to pick up a signal indoors, which was impressive. Even better, the GPS 140 accurately pinpointed our location as we drove around the city. Unfortunately, things hit a snag when we started planning a specific trip, as the system had a hard time keeping up with our demands. There was a noticeable lag as we entered addresses, and it took a while for the device to compile the POI list. That said, the GPS 140 did offer accurate driving directions and quick route recalculation.
We had no problems pairing the unit with the Cingular 8525 and were able to make hands-free calls, with relatively good call quality. Music playback through the unit's speakers sounded a bit blown out, and video quality wasn't the greatest. The picture was really pixelated, though if you're in a pinch, it will serve its purpose. Also, this isn't a unique problem to the Pharos device. We have yet to see a portable nav system that does multimedia well. The Pharos Drive GPS 140's battery is rated for 4.5 hours.
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Where to buy
Pharos Drive GPS 140:
$323.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$323.99 | See Site |
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