GPS Tracklog

Navigon 5100 max clears FCC

2008-10-08T07:35:01-04:00

It looks like Navigon is taking a page from Garmin and Magellan's playbook, introducing a multitude of models with varying feature sets and at multiple price points. The next unit slated for roll-out appears to be the Navigon 5100 max, which just cleared the FCC. The feature set isn't entirely clear yet, but we expect to see Bluetooth, a 4.3" screen, text-to-speech, lifetime traffic and Zagat ratings (which we dearly love).

The 5100 max would be the fourth introduction for Navigion this fall. Hopefully, we'll hear an official announcement in the next few weeks.

Introducing GPS Deals

2008-10-07T06:00:00-04:00

I'm pleased to announce the rollout of GPS Deals, a companion site designed to bring you the best sales on GPS receivers from around the Web. Last year, during the holiday season, I was inundated with great deals from vendors like Amazon and TigerGPS. To keep GPS Tracklog from getting cluttered up with things that may or may not interest you, I've decided to roll out a separate site for the GPS deals I come across.

So please stop by and check it out. Here are some more details from the site:

"...Each deal we post will show the expiration date along with price comparisons, so you can tell how good the deal is...

...The best way to keep up with these deals is to subscribe to our RSS feed. In case you're new to RSS, check out our guide to RSS feeds. We're anticipating great deals as we approach the holiday season, especially around Black Friday, so subscribe today and don't miss a single deal."

Knight Rider GPS by Mio review

2008-10-06T06:00:00-04:00

The Mio Knight Rider has gotten a lot of coverage for its hip factor, though I assume its appeal is limited to fans of the 80's TV show Knight Rider. Mio may also attract a new generation of fans with this device, thanks to the new NBC series remake of the same name. But hey, we're not here to discuss TV, David Hasselhoff or muscle cars. So let's get straight to the GPS review...

With the exception of the flashing LED lights, and the voice of K.I.T.T., the Mio Knight Rider is somewhat similar to the Mio Moov 300. Both have a 4.3" wide touch screen.The chart below covers the major differences.

Features	Knight Rider	Moov 300
Maps	U.S. and Canada	U.S. only
Chipset	SiRFStar II	SiRFstar III
Text-to-speech	No	Yes
POIs	4 million+	3.5 million+

Compare prices on the Mio Knight Rider

As you can see, the Knight Rider doesn't include text-to-speech, so you'll hear "in one-quarter of a mile turn right," rather than "in one-quarter of a mile turn right on Oak Street." Also note that for some reason, Mio saddled the Knight Rider with the SiRFstar II GPS chipset instead of the superior SiRFstar III found on the Moov series. I didn't experience any problems maintaining satellite lock, but it could be problematic for those of you in urban canyons.

Knight Rider features

Of course, the things that really set this unit apart, and gives it appeal for a certain segment of the market, are the Knight Rider features.

There are two primary features here; the first is the voice and customized greeting.You can select your name from over 150 male and 150 female names. Rich wasn't on the list, so I chose Richard. When I power up the device, the original voice of K.I.T.T., courtesy of William Daniels says "Richard, where would you like to go today" or your name followed by "I am really looking forward to this," "tell me where I can take us," "so very good to see you," or "I'll power up all systems." Of course, there's no voice recognition, so you can't just answer back. Directions are given using the actor's voice as well.

The other feature is the LED light array on each side of the screen, that flash in sync with the voice of K.I.T.T. These can be disabled from the preferences menu, and probably should be at night, though it is a pain to do so.

Mio Knight Rider interface

The interface is nearly identical to that found on the Mio Moov, and it is much more intuitive than the old Mio DigiWalker interface, albeit a bit more limited in its capabilities. The map screen is shown below.

Let's run through the menu buttons:

Lower left - brings up the main menu
Upper left - calls out the next turn
Mid-screen right - The X lets you cancel your route; the magnifying glass controls zoom; the north arrow toggles between 2D view, route overview, turn by turn directions, and 3D view
Upper right - expands to reveal 5 buttons (estimated time of arrival, distance to go, time to go, current speed and time of day); you can select one these to remain displayed when the menu is collapsed
Lower right - expands to reveal four buttons (direction of travel, GPS signal strength, battery/charge status, and mute/unmute - hold the latter down to access volume controls); you can select one these to remain displayed when the menu is collapsed

I really like the flexibility of this interface, and the ability to access various options without having to leave the map screen.

Mio Knight Rider pros

A relatively intuitive interface
Options to customize map screen
Multi-destination routing
Announces which side of the street your destination is on
SiRFInstantFixII technology speeds satellite acquisition

Mio Knight Rider cons

You pay a premium for Knight Rider features
No text-to-speech
Routing is not as good as that found on some other brands of GPS receivers
Touch screen can be slow to respond to input
Screen washes out in bright sunlight
There is no "current location" option for setting your home address
When you save POIs, the name reverts to the street address rather than the business name
SiRFstar II chipset, rather than SiRFstar III

Conclusions and recommendation

The feature set is a little light for this price range for a Mio GPS; the Knight Rider features command a premium. While I like the interface, as with the Mio Moov 310, I still noticed occasional problems with routing choices made by the device. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of the TV series, the Mio Knight Rider is a good basic GPS that will generally satisfy. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else though.

More Mio Knight Rider reviews

The first consumer-authored Mio Knight Rider review has been posted at Amazon
PC Magazine gives a 3-1/2 out of 5 star rating in their Mio Knight Rider review
CNet gives the same rating in their Mio Knight Rider review
Boston.com reviews the Mio Knight Rider, comparing it to eight other units

I'll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some...

Other Mio Knight Rider resources

The Mio Knight Rider owners manual, in English, Spanish or French
A video demo of the Knight Rider GPS
There is a Mio message forum at GpsPasSion
There is also a Mio forum at yourNAV
And a Mio message forum at ILoveMyMio.com
A Mio tips blog
Hacking the Mio Moov series
MioMagic is a third-party Mio POI manager

Compare prices on the Mio Knight Rider at these merchants:

Check the current Mio Knight Rider price at Amazon
Find the Mio Knight Rider GPS at BestBuy.com
Get the Mio Knight Rider for an amazing price on eBay

From the official Mio Knight Rider web page:

In 1982, the world was introduced to the Knight Industries Two Thousand, or K.I.T.T. This incredible, intelligent automobile joined forces with Michael Knight to rid the world of evil and injustice. Now, the Knight Rider^TM GPS by Mio makes fantasy a reality as you turn every road trip into an adventure of epic proportions.

More on Best Buy Insignia GPS

2008-10-04T10:07:46-04:00

There isn't a lot of information to be had yet about the forthcoming connected GPS units from Best Buy, but I do have a couple of things for you, including the promo photo above. It shows multiple route options, ala the Dash Express. There's no indication that they'll use crowd-sourced, anonymized cell phone data for traffic though. Of course it's always possible that they've struck a deal with Dash or IntelliOne; I've been waiting awhile for someone to announce a partnership with the latter.

There's also this tidbit from First Glimpse...

"You can keep your maps updated with a little help from Geek Squad. In addition to subscribing to Geek Squad’s Map Update Service, which keeps your device flush with the latest updates, you can visit the Geek Squad counter in person for a free quarterly map update. The first year’s map service subscription is free when you purchase either unit."

That, along with the apparent thinness of the unit, make me think they haven't included a WiFi connection for over the air map updates.

I hope to have some more information on the Insignia PND series next week.

Via Engadget.

Garmin GPSMAP 640 - Hybrid marine and auto unit

2008-10-03T12:13:15-04:00

Garmin is announcing the GPSMAP 640 today, a new hybrid marine and auto navigator. The 600 series represents a completely new product line for Garmin. Nuvi-like in appearance, the 640 features a 5.2" touchscreen, the same size as that found on the nuvi 5000.

With a couple of extra-wide screen models out now, I'm betting we'll see some more 5.2" automotive nuvis announced early next year at CES. The other item of interest for non-boaters is the availability of XM WX Satellite Weather™, which I'd love to see on the nuvi series and Garmin handhelds. And as long as I'm wishing, if Garmin can put aerial imagery on this and other marine units, why not make it available for the rest of us too?

The 640 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2009. More about the GPSMAP 640 from the news release...

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the GPSMAP 640 – an ultra portable and rugged touchscreen navigator that comes preloaded with a comprehens

Garmin Lifetime Maps

2008-10-03T07:59:20-04:00

GpsPasSion is reporting that Garmin will begin offering "Lifetime Maps," effective October 15, at a cost of $119. According to the site, "subscribers will be able to download quarterly updates for their GPS system as long as they own it."

We'll report more when an official announcement is made.

UK to get raster maps for Garmin Oregon

2008-10-03T07:20:29-04:00

UPDATE: Garmin UK has a page up on the product, dubbed called Garmin GB Active^TM.

Garmin Oregon owners in the UK will soon be able to view Ordnance Survey raster maps on their units. Raster aerial imagery has been available on marine units since the release of the Garmin Colorado and Oregon 400c/i models, yet we landlubbers have had to make do with vector maps.

The OS maps, due to be released early next month, will reportedly overlay vector data on top of raster imagery, allowing for turn-by-turn navigation.

Hopefully, we'll see a similar Garmin product in the U.S. before too long, combining USGS topo maps and City Navigator highway routing, though it probably won't show up before Garmin finishes rolling out their 1:24,000 scale vector topo maps.

For now, if you want USGS topos on your GPS, the best bet is DeLorme, which is getting ready to introduce their next generation handheld, the PN-40, later this month.

Via Groundspeak and OutdoorsMagic.

Best Buy to produce connected GPS with Google local search

2008-10-02T16:54:34-04:00

Best Buy will launch their first house label GPS units on October 19, under their Insignia brand. But the big news is that these devices will sport a cellular connection and local Google search, as well as real-time traffic.

Priced at $499 for the 4.3" Insignia NS-CNV20 and $399 for the 3.5" NS-CNV10, the PNDs will carry no service fees for the first year.

Via TWICE.

DeLorme taking PN-40 pre-orders

2008-10-01T11:34:02-04:00

DeLorme is now taking pre-orders for their new handhelds, the PN-40 and PN-40 SE. The latter bumps the internal memory from 1 GB to 8 GB. Their site says that both models are expected to ship in late October. If you're interested in the SE model, note that it will only be available from DeLorme. Here are all the details.

GPS traffic coverage maps

2008-10-01T06:00:00-04:00

With NAVTEQ traffic coming to the Garmin nuvi 2x5T and 7x5 series, it's a good time to look at the coverage of the five major traffic providers in the U.S. Live traffic information is far from perfect, though it can save your bacon occasionally. But first you have to be in an area with reception. So let's look at their coverage maps, and then I'll turn it over to you, our readers, to hear about how accurate these maps are (or not!).

FM/TMC traffic

Going by two monikers, the Total Traffic Network from Clear Channel and the broader term TMC, this service is distributed via FM RDS. Currently coverage is offered in 85 metropolitan areas, but they haven't updated their map (shown below) to include the 15 newest cities. Detailed coverage maps of most metro areas can be found on Garmin's website.

MSN Direct traffic

Microsoft's MSN Direct service offers traffic coverage in 86 metro areas in the U.S. and three cities in Canada, with non-traffic coverage offered in 43 other North American cities. In my experience in multiple markets, their detailed coverage maps (one is shown at the top of this post) significantly overestimate their reach.

NAVTEQ traffic

The provider of Garmin's new ad-supported traffic service, NAVTEQ offers coverage in only 50 U.S. cities and Toronto, Ontario. Like FM/TMC, NAVTEQ Traffic is also delivered via RDS. Detailed coverage maps are available on the NAVTEQ website.

XM NavTraffic

I find XM NavTraffic to be interesting ,since they say that NAVTEQ is their traffic provider, but with 77 cities in the U.S. and three in Canada, they offer significantly more coverage than NAVTEQ Traffic (discussed above). Follow the link for detailed maps of each area.

TruTraffic (Dash Express)

Dash Navigation's TruTraffic is a special case. It uses INRIX data to provide coverage for 120 metro regions, but it also utilizes anonymized data from Dash owners.

Dash uses Jasper Wireless to transmit traffic data via cellular signal, but the coverage map below only indicates cellular signal reception, not availability of traffic data (I'm bolding that so as not to mislead anyone). Where Dash has an adequate user base, traffic data can be significantly better than that of the other services.

Your turn

Just how accurate are the traffic providers' detail maps for a given metro area? Who is overestimating coverage and who is understating it? Chime in and let us know what your experience has been.

Top 10 GPS for September 2008

2008-10-01T05:30:00-04:00

After a lot of changes last month, there were mostly minor shifts in our top ten list this time around. The biggest change was the TomTom GO 730 jumping from the 9th spot to 3rd, perhaps due to some good deals on a relatively high-end device. The trans-Atlantic Garmin nuvi 770 bumped the newer nuvi 205W out of the tenth spot on the list. On the sport/handheld GPS side, there were only minor shifts.

As always, the rankings are based on the number of times each review has been read here on GPS Tracklog, which is usually a pretty good indicator of the overall GPS market.

Top ten auto GPS

Top 10 sport / handheld GPS

New GPS reviews for September 2008

ads from Shopzilla

Garmin nuvi 265T and 265WT in stock

2008-09-26T15:31:45-04:00

I've just been informed that one of our favorite vendors, GPS Now, has received a shipment of the latest Garmin nuvi models -- the nuvi 265T and nuvi 265WT. As usual with new models, it appears that Garmin has saddled dealers with a minimum resale price, since they are being sold for the MSRP of $299.99 and $349.99, respectively. Nevertheless, these models pack some bang for the buck, with text-to-speech, Bluetooth for hands-free calling and free lifetime traffic. This is in addition to all the great new and advanced features that showed up on the first generation nuvi 2x5 series models, which I detailed in my hands on review of the nuvi 205W.

The 2x5T series traffic feature is ad supported (screen shot below). The ads appear to be subtle, but I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, so if you get one, add a comment and let us know what you think about the ads. The other caveat is that this is NAVTEQ traffic, and they cover less metropolitan areas than FM/TMC traffic or MSN Direct, so you may want to check out their coverage map before you buy.

The 265T has a 3.5" screen, while the 265WT bumps the screen size to 4.3". Otherwise these units are identical.

Get the nuvi 265T or nuvi 265WT at GPS Now. Orders placed by 5 p.m. Central Time ship today.

Read what consumers are saying about GPSNow.

Links to Garmin product pages: