Entered CNET Catalog: 07/21/2004
SKU: 0941977756029
Manufacturer: Navman USA Inc.
Manufacturer description
The Navman PiN (Personal Interactive Navigation) combines the latest GPS technology with elegant design to deliver the ultimate cable-free navigation solution. Navigation on-the-move, the compact and stylish Navman PiN sets a new standard for handheld GPS technology. Navman PiN enables you to accurately navigate from door-to-door across 16 European countries with full turn-by-turn voice guidance. Navman's SmartST Version 2 professional mapping software means you can effortlessly enter your destination, set your route and begin your journey with confidence whether in a car or walking city streets. Whichever you choose, the quickest route or the shortest, you'll benefit from full 3D color map views, enhanced street level detail, automatic 'Back-on-track' re-routing and 'Avoid Areas' function. In addition to knowing how to get to your destination, you will also know where you are with an accuracy of 5 meters 95% of the time with Navman's leading integrated GPS Antenna. Delivering all the benefits of a top of the range Pocket PC, the Navman PiN is cable free and totally portable. The unit runs on Windows Mobile 2003 OS and is packed with many key features including the leading Navman SmartST 3D Mapping Software, discreet GPS Antenna, 3.5" Color Transflective LCD Display, MP3 Playback, User Voice Recording (Mono), Touch Panel Screen, Memory Card Expansion Slot, Lithium Ion Battery and USB port. This powerful combination of NAVMAN GPS technology and SmartST Professional mapping software means you can have complete state-of-the-art navigation in the palm of your hand.Product summary
The good: Compact; includes car mount and charger; excellent 3D-navigation view.
The bad: Some setup wrinkles; destination selection can be frustrating; half the internal RAM is unavailable; bundled memory card too small for some maps; wobbly windshield mount; battery not removable; no Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
The bottom line: Though powerful and practical, the Navman PiN's doppelgänger, the Mitac Mio 168, is the better of the two navigators.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/09/2004
The $499.95 PiN incorporates Navman's SmartST II mapping and navigation software, which differs in some important ways from Mitac's Mio Map--and not always to its benefit. While the PiN itself is just as compact and versatile as the Mitac Mio 168, we found its navigation software somewhat inferior. It'll steer you from point A to point B, but the frustration is often not worth the trouble.
In terms of design, the main difference between the Navman PiN and the Mio 168 is the case coloring (charcoal gray vs. silver); otherwise, the PiN has practically the same compact dimensions (4.4 by 2.7 by 0.9 inches, 4.2 ounces) for which we lauded the Mio. The GPS antenna sits on the back and adds a bit of bulk, but it's solidly constructed and feels like it can withstand a reasonable amount of punishment. Its 3.5-inch TFT screen displays 65,000 colors and a 240x320-pixel resolution; four shortcut keys and a five-way navigation joystick sit just below it. Rounding out the chassis are an SD/MMC expansion slot, a front-side speaker, a 2.5mm headphone jack, and an infrared port. Under the hood of the PiN, you'll also find the same components as on the Mio 168, including an Intel 300MHz PXA255 processor, 64MB of RAM, and Windows Mobile 2003. Unfortunately, there's no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
To get started, the PiN comes with a simple desktop program that lets you load maps one state or province at a time for all of North America. Unfortunately, only 30MB of the PiN's 64MB of RAM is user accessible--not enough to hold map data for some states. Likewise, many states are too large to fit on the included 32MB SD card. (The Mio 168, for its part, has about 50MB of user-accessible memory--enough to hold nearly any state.) Also, you can't split maps to create smaller files, nor can you divide a map's data between main memory and a memory card. It took about 11 minutes to download the state of Michigan--a 40MB file--to one of our own SD cards.
Once you transfer the maps to your PDA, the SmartST II PiN application lets you navigate to an address (entered manually or lifted from your contact database), an intersection, or a point of interest (POI). It keeps a list of recent destinations and lets you create a list of favorites. We particularly liked the Quick Nav option, which provides one-tap access to three user-selected favorites and includes a handy return-trip option. But it's not all smooth sailing. We had difficulty getting the software to recognize the GPS antenna, which should have happened automatically. It took a trip to the manual, which is excellent, and Navman's Web site to discover the correct COM-port settings.
Next, we experienced considerable frustration manually entering addresses. Instead of a field for city name, SmartST provides an entry called Area, which, true to its function, can be a state, a city, or a county. We tried Northville, Michigan, and were presented with a drop-down menu containing six choices, including Northville, MCD; Northville, Lyon MCD; Northville, Northville; and other confusingly worded entries. Regardless of which one we chose, SmartST II couldn't find the corresponding street or house number. We weren't sure if this was the result of incomplete map data or a problematic address, so we tried routing to a nearby intersection. Inexplicably, the software didn't seem to recognize the meeting of the two streets, even though we could find it by manually searching the map.
Finding points of interest also proved vexing at times. Gas stations are categorized as petrol stations, and POI listings don't include distance from your current location. Plus, you get only half a screen's worth of POIs; hiding the onscreen keyboard doesn't expand the list. You can tap a listing to get the address and the phone number or to show its location on the map, but the lack of distance information is irksome.
Once you've selected a destination, SmartST II routes you there with typical voice-guided, turn-by-turn instructions. The onscreen map display is commendable, with large street labels and an excellent 3D view. You're stuck, however, with a top-down 2D view while in moving-map mode--3D isn't available unless you select a destination.
Armed with a 300MHz Intel processor, the PiN garnered good performance results, holding its own among other midrange Pocket PCs. All applications responded fairly quickly, and it was a pleasant device to use overall. In CNET Labs' battery-drain tests, where we repeatedly played a video clip with the backlight set at medium, the PiN lasted 3.2 hours. Of course, you'll get more mileage out of the PDA with normal use since our tests are designed to zap power as quickly as possible. Plus, if you're really in a crunch, you can always use the included car charger to fuel up the PiN.
Perfomance analysis written by CNET Labs project leader Dong Van Ngo.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33out of 33 user reviews
No support for internal battery failure
Pros: None at all
Cons: No way to contact support
out of 33 user reviews
The Sat Nav Take's Like 5 Min's to load
Pros: The Pda is good
Cons: The Sat Nav Take's Like 5 Min's to load
out of 33 user reviews
Software Sucks, Slow to Aquire GPS Signal
Pros: No pros, it's all bad
Cons: Software simply does not do what it is supposed to
I tried to map my house in the San Francisco bay area. The street is over 35 years old and is not a small rural road. The bottom line is that the software couldn't find it.
I was Niagra Falls a few weeks ago, it couldn't find the falls. Nww that's pathetic.
I'll limit my comments to the USA version of the software, but other region versions are just as bad.
There are quite a few bugs with the software too. One is not able to install maps to an SD card without using a spearate SD CARD usb drive. The software says it supports writing to an installed card on your PIN but it does not work. Even the product managers could not explain this. His comments were frankly, "dedicated devices are better."
Suport:
It's non existant. I posted several email, even to the corporate headquarters and executive ofices. No response from anyone but am bot. "Navman thanks you for your inquiry, we wil be in touch with in two bsiness day," no reposnse - - ever!!
So if you read the scoop on business wires, the CEO of Brunswick, the parent company, says, "Navman does not fit in our long term business strategy, thus the division is for sale." That sums it up.
Don't buy Navman!
out of 33 user reviews
Definately hasn't received the credit that is due..
Pros: PDA & GPS in one small unit, Inexpensive, Software Updates, Map Updates, Ease of use
Cons: Doesn't always provide the best route, small on-device storage.
For me, the GPS finds it's location typically within 1-2 minutes. Definately not the 10-15 minutes others have stated.
The software can be a little difficult to find an address at times. I start with a zip code, then the street. If the street can't be found, I use the City for the search instead of the zip code. It will auto-populate the street names with just a few letters. Keep in mind, if the street is misspelled in the software (has happened several times) you may only want to put in the first few letters to see if it comes up with a close address.
Another factor to consider is the date of the maps. There have been at least 2 map updates since this product was released. There have also been 2 major software updates since release. SmartST v3 and SmartST 2005. 2005 being the latest. It runs $99.95 from the navman store. I'm still using v2, and will be upgrading to 2005 this week.
I've found this GPS/PDA to be the best purchase I have made in a very long time, not only because I find it very easy to use (I am however an experienced technophile) but also because it was very cheap considering it's competition.
I also suggest looking into the updated software. One of the many new features is the ability to plan a route, going from point A to B, To C, To D without having to stop and put in a new address at each location.
The PDA functions are what can be expected from Windows Mobile 2003. I have watched movies I ripped from DVD while on a plane or waiting at the airport. I've listened to MP3's, played games, and of course managed my contacts and calendar all while on the road.
If I go out of town, I load a new map into my PiN and plug it into my rental car to get me around. It's familiar and I know how to use it. No need to pay the extra fee from the rental company, I've got my own.
There is only 1 problem that I have had in my 2 years of use. My car adapter has failed me this week. It's broken and needs to be replaced. I just ordered a replacement online for $20, delivered.
I paid $399 for my Navman 2 years ago during a promotion. It's by far the best $400 I've spent in years! When it finally does break down, I'll be replacing it with the exact same model.
out of 33 user reviews
Adequate as a GPS / PDA, there are better on the market.
Pros: Reasonabaly Priced. Map coverage supplied with the UK version excellent.
Cons: Software loading problems. Had to purchase the additional aerial, for it to function properly.Tech support useless.
Navman Tech support was totally useless at solving the map and speed camera database (V3.0) download issue's I had. They kept giving stupid responses to my emails that I sent them. They have still not resolved the speed camera database problem, but it's only been 9 months. Now given up, will try to work it out myself. WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER.
out of 33 user reviews
decent hardware but software and tech support suck
Pros: decent hardware
Cons: tiny SD card, old version of their SmartST software, bad tech support, no upgrades
One of the problems is that you cannot back up your data files. That means when the battery dies, you loose everything. You need to enter all you destinations again. The only thing worse than that fact is the attitude of their tech support. Their answer was: "Unfortunately this is not a feature offered on the PDA version of SmartST .. sorry for the inconvenience. Keep that PDA charged!".
Another thing that sucks is that they don't offer any upgrade to version 3, which fixes most problems. If you want it, you have to pay full prize. I don't understand why they still sell the PIN100 with such a low-capacity SD card and their old crappy SmartST V2 software.
out of 33 user reviews
You Get What You Pay For
Pros: PDA/GPS a good hybrid concept
Cons: Effective GPS function will not work on 300Mhz
If you are already stuck with this unit, here are some suggestions to provide some pain relief:
1. Make sure you activate GPS the minute you enter your car to provide sufficient time for system to get fix. Believe it or not, there are major differences in getting a fix while stationary and when vehicle is already moving
2. Make sure all other programs/applications are shut down e.g. Contact (if you are retrieving address from this application)
3. Always advisable to keep mental note of cross-street as unit tends to "change its mind" when announcing destinations !!!
4. Note: "Turn Left" carries the same meaning as "Keep Left but "Left Turn" means make a left turn.
5. Unit takes more than 10 seconds to re-route when missing turns unless you really slow down for system to catch up.
I paid $345 for this unit at FRYS and I know what to expect. Since NAVMAN is first a GPS company than a pocketpc manufacturer, it should have done a better job overall in perfecting the GPS feature of this unit. I can accept some imperfections which comes with the territory of low price, but the above flaws simply render the GPS function meaningless and totally frustrating at times.
out of 33 user reviews
Slow Processer
Pros: NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good paper weight.
Cons: Waste of money!
out of 33 user reviews
Great Deal. Works Fine
Pros: Price. Attractive design.
Cons: Akward button placement
No, it's not a Garmin. And no, it's not a Blackberry. Did you expect a miracle for sub $400? Plain and simple, it gets the job done.
out of 33 user reviews
Navman - decent hardware - poor install software
Pros: Price - $329 at Frys
Cons: terrible install software for SmartST
Instead I installed the maps to my SD card while the SD card was installed in a multicard read/write USB device connected to my desktop PC. This worked fine and I got all the Western USA plus BC Canada installed on my 512 MB SD card. This method worked fine and the SmartST software recognized the states fine.
Entering destinations into SmartST is a big pain if you try via the destination input menu. It often fails to recognize major intersections or any intersections. Calling the the City "area" is confusing but you can enter area names other than cities. A workaround if you know where you want to go and just want routing is to open the map view, navigate on the map (zoom out then drag the map so that the area you want to go to is on the screen, touch the syylus to the ara, zoom back in to get details on where you want to go and then touch and hold the stylus on the destination - up pops a menu to set that as the destination for the software. None of this is in the terrible SmartST quick install guide and the help file is nearly useless.
Navman support was totally useless at solving the map down load issue and kept giving idiot responses to emails to them. They never even suggested trying loading the maps to the SD card while SD card is connected to a desktop PC via a USB reader.
Once I finally got the software installed and played around enough to get it to help route me to a destination, it worked OK but sometimes picked strange routes around the town I live in. However, when you ignore it's bad directions, it does quickly recalculate the route from the street you actually took.
At the price, it is a decent value compared to other units but you must be willing to spend 2 or 3 days just to get it working and finding out how to get the routing software to do what you want.
Like others, I have had times when it fails to find the necessary satellites - especially while moving in a car. If you switch to the GPS status display and place the unit on your dash (clear view of the sky) then it seems to work after about 20 to 30 seconds. Once locked onto satellites, you can switch back to the map view and put the unit almost anywhere else in your car and it seems to keep working OK.
The nice thing about it being a Pocket PC, you can load anybody's Pocket PC GPS software and trash the quirky SmartST if you want to (Of course paying over $100 for other software). Some other software is Mapopolis, Destinator3, TripNav, PocketMap, Copilot, GPS Tuner, etc - do a web search for these or try http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/
out of 33 user reviews
A $600 piece of useless plastic
Pros: Fine address book/calendar
Cons: navigation system stinks
First, I tried calling Navman for support. They walked me through the same steps of reloading software a few times (ignoring my telling them the systems was not working properly). Then, I tried returning it to the store. The store would not take it back. I then tried returning it to Navman. They first "fixed" the unit. It got it back ... still did not work. I tried again and they insisted on more reloading of software. Finally, they replaced the unit. Still doesn't work. I'm so fed up, I just gave in and now pull a route map before I leave the house and use this $600 piece of plastic as my address/telephone book and calendar.
out of 33 user reviews
Good as a PDA. Not great as a GPS. Good Combo value.
Pros: Cost. At $349, this is a good value for a Pocket PC/GPS Combo. Good Display, 3D map feature is excellent.
Cons: Navigation software is bad. Not easy to enter addresses. Maps are OLD.
The quality of the GPS software (navigation software + maps) is less than desirable. I have been using this for a week now, but have not been able to navigate to any specific address so far. The area that I live was developed more than 7 years ago, but the maps dont have it. The PiN package comes with version 2 of their software, even though version 3 is available in the market for a few months now. I have emailed Navman support about a free upgrade to version 3, which according to reviews is better than what I have. It has been 4 days since and they havent replied so far. It also takes an awfully long time to obtain a satellite fix - sometimes close to 10 mins even when I am in the open.
out of 33 user reviews
Great results so far
Pros: Fairly accurate GPS
Cons: difficult to find address
out of 33 user reviews
BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY - IT'S BEING RETURED
Pros: COULDN'T FIND ANY
Cons: SEE BELOW FOR CONS
out of 33 user reviews
Excellent gps and pda
Pros: PocketMap Navigator gps works great
Cons: Very few, considering the cost and features
out of 33 user reviews
Not Great, but Good PDA/GPS
Pros: Great 3D Map and Turn-by-Turn Voice Directions (once you get it working). Good PDA functions.
Cons: Setup was complicated and a nusiance. It was like setting up the old 486 PC with software and configurations. I hated this part. Must buy an additional SD card. This will save you time from having to re-initialize the PDA and reload the map onto the SD c
out of 33 user reviews
Great door to door mapping, with great 3d features.
Pros: Light weight, very accurate. Good battery life, good OS for general sales reps needs.
Cons: Screen could be brighter. Larger memory card would be a must. wi-fi needed
out of 33 user reviews
Very good GPS/PDA
Pros: GPS redirected me every time i tried to throw it off track. Pda works great.
Cons: confusing set up for GPS install, then again i was trying to get it to work at 2am ;)
out of 33 user reviews
Versatile Tool
Pros: Compact and powerful all around tool. Good expansion capability.
Cons: Maps out of date causing missed directions. Must close programs or will exceed memory and require reset.
out of 33 user reviews
Extremely Confusing to get going
Pros: APPEARS to be the all in one PDA and GPS
Cons: The Smarts GPS software setup is the most non-intuitive piece of garbage I have ever used. Being a software coder, I am familiar with PCs and devices, and it is very clear that this product was not made very robust, nor was quality assurance excercised b
out of 33 user reviews
The mapping is very useful
Pros: 1 gig cards are well priced now.Very handy for notes and contacts.
Cons: Glare makes it difficult to read the screen in the car particulary with sunnies on.
out of 33 user reviews
look around for other gps
Pros: Easy to use, bright screen clear turn by turn
Cons: Window mount is broken,This is the 2nd unit I have had first one would not pick up a signal.New one is a bit slow piking up signal,Some maps are out of date,Would not buy another one. I Have a marine gps that nocks spots off this one
out of 33 user reviews
Really Good Product!
Pros: In general, excellent product, the maps are amazing, the routes are the shortest, and if you make by mistake a wrong turn it recalculates the new shortest root automatically. So you don't have to worry about anything. Maps of Northern California that I us
Cons: Sometimes it takes a lot of time to initialise the GPS and you may have to restart the PDA. Maybe this a software bug. Needs extra SD memory for storing the maps.
out of 33 user reviews
Great tool for the busy person
Pros: After set up was completed the device is easy to use and gives the best of both worlds (PDA & GPS). the Pin usually gets the GPS signal within 1 minute. The directions will get you were you need to go but when it comes down to the specific address it
Cons: Setup was a hassle but once done everything is good to go. Entering a street address as a destination is hard. I usually find the cross streets and go there then I find the specific address.
out of 33 user reviews
Great price for great product!
Pros: Easy setup, easy to use, nice interface
Cons: Can take awhile to lock into the satellites, can not load maps without additional storage card
out of 33 user reviews
Software needs improvement
Pros: Low price ($350), dual function (pocket PC and GPS), compact, portable, clear screen
Cons: Often would not accept addresses (very very frustrating...), product hang, display turns off while driving (may be a setting to change this), Navman never responded to my emails requesting possibility to upgrade to v3. I traded this in and got the Navman
out of 33 user reviews
Destination searches inaccurate
Pros: Great mapping software
Cons: Destination searches are key feature - they don't always work. Cannot find a road in a serach but you can navigate to it on the map - Weird! Even more strange is that a smaller road off the main road can be found. My view is that if it doesn't know its ow
out of 33 user reviews
User UNfriendly
Pros: Small and complete USA national maps included.
Cons: Very frustrating to enter in a destination address. You have to avoid common abbreviations (St for Saint, for example) and you have to understand some very strange quirks. Additionally the maps are not very accurate. Battery life is poor, possibly enou
out of 33 user reviews
Very useful, but very fragile
Pros: Easy to use, saves driving around getting lost - it will pay for itself in saved fuel costs in a few years.
Cons: My Navman Pin was working great up to a few weeks ago when the windscreen mounting bracket seperated from the suction cup that sticks it to the windscreen making the pin smash on the floor of the car. The unit is now broken and the GPS aerial is hanging o
out of 33 user reviews
Great GPS. Sucky OS.
Pros: Great GPS & Software if that's all your going to use it for.
Cons: It has the wrong OS. If it were on the Palm OS I'd get it so I didn't have to recharge the battery every week.
out of 33 user reviews
Great All-In-One Product!
Pros: I'm always hesitant to purchase all-in-one products like this (mainly because they are set up for MANY things they hardly ever do ONE thing well). This is not the case with the Navman PiN. The GPS Software that comes with it (though sometimes wrong) is
Cons: GPS sometimes takes a while to recogize satelites. Bought a 256MB+WiFi card and can't use that and GPS at same time because of line of sight issues. Only 64MB of internal memory makes it a little hard to upgrade apps w/o always having a SD card in.
out of 33 user reviews
Great Gps and Pocket Pc works really well!
Pros: Gps software works well operating system is a "unbloated" suprise with great stability Heaps of 3rd party software
Cons: Gps needs editable POI's(points of interest) and won't work off road or off the the street maps Needs geocaching capability Screen could be brighter in sunny conditions. No built in Wi-Fi however Sandisk have a Wi-Fi 256 meg sd card
out of 33 user reviews
AWESOME GPS
Pros: The unit I've been waiting for. My wife has had a garmin street pilot III for 2 years. This little unit blows it awaaay. 3D mapping is excellent. Directions have been spot on and the mapping make it very hard to make a wrong turn. Plus address input or ma
Cons: Have to buy extra memory card. Very hard to setup with confusing instructions. Upon first day drive, I couldn't see the screen because of sun washout. However after adjusting brightness and turning off IR Beam receiver it was fine. Screen not as bright in
