March 2003
Based on a network of 24 satellites -- 21 primaries, and 3 spares -- launched by the U.S. government, the Global Positioning System makes it possible for anyone with a few bucks to spend on a receiver to know (at the very least) exactly where he or she is, anywhere on earth. Depending on the capabilities of the receiver, that information might be provided in simple latitude and longitude figures, or as a point on a map display. The receiver must "see" three satellites to deliver this data. If it can see a fourth, altitude can be reported as well.
Knowing where you are and where you've been can go a long way towards keeping you from being lost, but today's GPS devices can do considerably more than simply report your current position and point you back towards your starting point. The features and capabilities vary from type to type and model to model. If you plan to walk around in the woods, or participate in the "sport" of geocaching (finding hidden objects identified only by their latitude and longitude, even the simplest hand-held models are likely to be adequate. The different navigational needs of sailors are met by more application-specific models, which can contain vast nautical databases and features such as an anchor drag alarm and a man-overboard mode. Drivers, too, are well-served by models specific to they're needs. They can provide spoken turn-by-turn instructions, recalculate the route if a detour is needed, and even provide information about points of interest along the way.
When GPS first hit the market as a consumer product, the signals available to civilian GPS systems are degraded in such a way as to create a "fudge factor" of around 100 meters. That inaccuracy --called "selective availability" -- was removed a while back, and today's systems can position you within ten feet. This is especially true in the case of models that can receive WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) signals. Beyond that, some automotive systems augment GPS data with gyroscope-assisted dead reckoning and map data comparisons.
For the purpose of this roundup, we limited our scope to hand-held, in-vehicle, and Pocket PC-based products. Omitted were systems that combine an external antenna with a laptop-based mapping application. We've reported on these several times in recent years, and if that's the configuration you're interested in we can sum up the results in few words: TravRoute and DeLorme are the key players in this segment, and both companies do an excellent job.
What's On the Horizon
The rigors of a publication schedule prevented us from reviewing a few new models that were announced but not available for testing. These include Garmin's Palm OS-based iQue 3600 hand-held, Navman's iCN 630 self-contained automotive unit, and the same company's GPS 440, a BluetoothT-enabled wireless GPS antenna. We also expect to see a new in-dash navigation system from Blaupunkt.
DeLorme, too, is introducing a new product. The latest version of its highly- regarded EarthMate is WAAS-enabled, and acquires satellite signals in under 45 seconds, three times faster than the previous model. It connects tot he host laptop via the USB port, which also provides power, and its design allows for future add-ons such as Bluetooth and HPC adapters. The new EarthMate is NMEA compliant, which means that it can be used with any mapping software. (That being said, our experience with the various DeLorme Street Atlas versions has been overwhelmingly positive, and our inclination would be to buy the EarthMate/Street Atlas bundle.)
Garmin GPSMAP 76
Choosing a single model from Garmin's extensive line of hand-held GPS models
wasn't easy, but the GPSMAP 76 turned out to be an excellent choice. This is
especially the case for potential buyers who might take advantage of the
something-for-everyone feature set, and the 8MB of user memory that can be used
to augment the base maps and database. The basemap includes cities, coastlines,
lakes, rivers, interstate highways and exit data, many state and county road,
and a host of nautical navigation aids. Additional maps and databases are on CD
as part of Garmin's MapSource series; a serial cable is provided for data
transfer.
The GPSMAP 76's backlit screen only resolves four levels of grayscale, but that potential deficiency is offset somewhat by the display's 180 x 240 pixels resolution. It's easy to get the gist of the 76's basic functions, thanks to the menu-based navigation system. The unit comes with a handy quick reference guide and an excellent owner's manual that's spiral-bound for easy one-handed reading.
The GPSMAP 76 is designed to meet the needs of both land- and water-based navigators. Seafarers will find the traditional navigation aids--lights, buoys, sound signals and day beacons--along with tide tables for the entire U.S., audible proximity and anchor-drag alarms, and a dedicated man-overboard function. They'll also be interested to learn that the GPSMAP 76 can float.
While the GPSMAP 76 won't calculate a driving route between two points, its has much to offer the driver. You can create and save up to 50 routes, each with up to 50 waypoints. During the journey, you can switch on alarms that warn when you're approaching a waypoint or the final destination. While on the road, you can switch from a conventional map view to a 3D representation. Connecting the GPSMAP 76 to a laptop allows it to feed data to routing applications that are NMEA-aware.
The GPSMAP 76 is unusual in the world of hand-helds in that it has a connector for an optional external antenna. Its accuracy is augmented by its ability to use WAAS correction data. Our experience With Garmin's GPSMAP 76 was uniformly positive. While it wouldn't be our first choice purely for over-the-road navigation, its utility in a wide range of environment makes it ideal for those who need a hand-held model that is equally at home on land and at sea.
Harman Kardon TrafficPro
If you've ever had your bacon saved by one of the factory-installed in-car
navigation systems, we don't need to convince you of their seemingly magical
powers. Compared to those seamlessly-integrated systems, hand-held units in
suction-cupped to the windshield seem somehow wanting; somehow the GPS
equivalent to a boom-box on the back seat instead of a real car stereo. But what
if you happen to own a vehicle that isn't blessed with onboard navigation? Not a
problem: just hie on over to your local Harman Kardon store and pick up the
company's in-dash TrafficPro.
Combining a high quality radio/CD player with state-of-the-art navigation technology, the TrafficPro slides into a standard DIN dashboard slot. Because the package includes a separate GPS antenna, and requires signals from the backup lights (to know when the car is in reverse) and speed sensor, the installation is a bit more complex than that of a standard car stereo. Fortunately, the price includes installation.
The TrafficPro's navigation technology doesn't rely solely on the GPS signal, but also on data received from the speedometer, the internal gyroscope, and the map CD. There are two data CDs, one of which is needed during the destination selection process. Once that process is complete, the CD player is available for music discs. Should the trip be so long and/or complex that the data CD is needed again, the system prompts for it. The shorter the journey is, the wider the "corridor" of data available for calculating detours on either side of the route. The working memory of 8MB has enough space to hold a journey of roughly 620 miles without calling for more data from the CD.
Initiating the navigation process is wonderfully simple. You input the destination using the right-hand rotary control as a virtual keyboard. As the first few letters have been entered, the database is queried and can display a list of possible place names for selection. (The system stores the most recent 50 destinations selected, and offers that list as another selection option.) You can also input "vias" and stopovers as part of a route, select with/without ferries, tools, and limited access roads, and ask for either the shortest or the fastest route. Once the destination and any optional parameters have been selected, TrafficPro calculates the route in just a few seconds, and begins to tell you where to go. Overall, the TrafficPro's ease of programming is exemplary.
Because of TrafficPro's size, its display can't provide the sort of "you are here" information that's the hallmark of some of the factory systems. Instead, it guides you with voice prompts that are augmented by a display that shows the current road, next road, and a direction arrow. During our tests we found the voice prompts to be so accurate that there was no need to look at the display. The system automatically drops the volume of the music in order that the announcement may be heard clearly; if you miss one it can be repeated at the touch of a button. You can also call up the name of the current and next road and other information that's not part of the default announcement vocabulary. If you should take a wrong turn TrafficPro will calculate a new route almost instantly. It also has a traffic-jam mode that can route you around, well, traffic jams, and a points-of-interest database that includes gas stations, airports, hospitals, etc.
The price of the TrafficPro seems a little steep when compared with some portable GPS devices, but it's a bargain when compared with the cost of a factory navigation system, or of some of the more elaborate in-car models. Note, too, that the package comes with all of the mapping software, rather than requiring you to buy additional discs to augment a "base map." In sum, we can't imagine anyone buying the TrafficPro and not being absolutely delighted by every aspect of its operation.
Magellan Meridian Color
The hallmark of the Magellan Meridian Color is made clear in the model
designation. In place of the grayscale screen found on other hand-held GPS
units, it boasts a good-sized 120 x 160 pixel 16-color backlit display. As
anyone who's switched from, for example, an early-generation Palm to one of the
newer color models can attest, this makes a huge difference in readability.
Magellan uses color to differentiate a host of features -- roads, lakes, et
al -- from one another, and the results is a display whose contents can be
grasped in a glance, rather than one which requires some study. This is
especially useful when you select one of the higher levels of detail, which
really packs the screen with data.
The Meridian Color is designed to be equally at home on the road, in the field, and at sea. In that context, its internal database includes not only of cities, roads and highways, and airports, but topographic detail, waterways, buoys, and other fixed points of land-based and nautical interest. The preloaded data can be augmented, down to street-level, from one of Magellan's optional map CDs. Capacity for this data is provided by an SD slot which can accept cards ranging from 8 to 64MB.
In addition to the map, the Meridian Color can display a graphical compass and speedometer, or any of several text-based text readouts of heading, bearing, speed, direction, and ETA. It can store up to 20 routes, 500 waypoints, and 2,000 track-points, and has an enormously useful GoTo mode that vastly simplifies ad hoc navigation. Selecting GoTo destination from the database adds an "as-the-crow-flies" direction indicator to the map display. That, combined with the onboard road data, makes it easy to navigate to a destination even in the absence of turn-by-turn route directions. The GoTo feature is also useful in connection with the more commonly found "set current location as a waypoint" option. Similarly, Meridian Color can be set to automatically create waypoints during a journey, for use during a return trip. The resulting "track" can then be converted into a route, and transferred to a host PC.
Thanks to its well-designed interface, we were able to get up and running without recourse to the owner's manual (which, itself, is one of the best we've encountered). Computer-literate users will find that the Enter, ESC, and Menu buttons work very much as they do on a PC, while the in/out zoom buttons and directional rocker control the map view in exactly the way you'd expect.
The Meridian Color's accuracy in the U.S. is enhanced by its ability to use WAAS data. Other features worth noting include sun and moon position finders, and fish and game calculators. The device runs on a pair of AA batteries which, during our test, lasted roughly 12 hours. Magellan offers a power adapter for car use. In a word, the Magellan Meridian Color is terrific. One of the more costly hand-held GPS devices, it's worth every penny.
Magellan 750M
If you've had the occasion to rent a Hertz car, and decided to pop for the
company's "NeverLost" onboard navigation system, you're already familiar with
Magellan's 750M. The two systems are, in fact, one and the same. Having spent
some time with the 750M, we can understand why Hertz chose it. The 750M is, in
essence, a portable version of Magellan's 750NAV. Where the 750NAV is designed
for permanent installation in a single vehicle, the 750M comes in a small case
that allows the various components to be moved from one vehicle to another, and
set up for use in just a few seconds.
The 750M is made up of three components: a magnetized GPS antenna that's meant to be placed on the vehicle's roof (but the dashboard works pretty well in some locations); a navigation computer whose hard drive stores the map and points-of-interest database, and the software used to create routes and otherwise control the system. Power is provided by the car's lighter socket; a back-up battery is in line with the power cord. The maps are based on the same Nav-Tech data used by all of the OEM navigation systems.
Using the 750M couldn't be simpler: you place the case on the seat, floor, or console of the vehicle, and remote the antenna, control pod, and power plug from their compartment. With the antenna in place, the power plug in the lighter socket, and the pod in hand, you switch on the power and wait a few seconds for the system to boot up. The core function of the 750M is to create a turn-by-turn route to a destination, and to provide both visual and audible prompts to that destination. You enter a destination using the rocker pad, selecting one letter at a time. As each letter is highlighted, the 750M speaks it, so you don't even have to look at the display during this process.
Once you've selected two or three letters, it's likely that the destination city will be one of very few choices that can be displayed on a list. With the city selected, you can move on to pinpoint the street address, or select a destination from the Points of Interest database. You can choose the shortest or fastest route, and choose one that either favors or avoids freeways. Up to 100 destinations can be placed into the 750M's address book for quick recall. We were surprised to find that the map does not contain street-level information for every town and village; indeed, some of the more remote rural roads and towns are absent from the database. Given the low cost of hard drives, we wonder why Magellan doesn't up the size of the 750M's storage area and provide truly comprehensive coverage.
Within the limitations of its map data, which is to say in most places there are more than a few people, the 750M does a first-class job. It's quite adept at calculating routes, and is likely to surprise even long-time residents of an area with a better way to get in and out of town. Conversely, when you happen to know about a back road that wasn't in the calculated route, or if you need to divert from the plan for some other reason, the 750M calculates a new route almost instantly.
The 750M's screen, while not huge, is big enough to be readable at a glance. It can be switched among several display modes, including standard 2D map, a "TrueView" mode that clarifies upcoming maneuvers, and text readouts of all sorts of useful data. When the display is in map mode, you (or, preferably, your passenger) can scroll the view in any direction to see what roads and towns are nearby, without having to zoom out and lose detail. The moving map can also display the name of the next road you'll be on, how far it is, and the direction of the next turn. As interesting and legible as the display is, we found ourselves relying almost solely on the 750M's voice prompts.
Despite the surprising limitations of its map database, we found the Magellan 750M to be a first-rate product. It provides virtually all of the functionality of a factory-installed navigation system, and is able to do so in any four-wheeled vehicle you own or rent.
Navman GPS 3420
The GPS 3420 is a sleeve-based antenna designed to work with Compaq iPAQ
Pocket PCs in the H3600, H3700, H3800 & H3900 series. In addition to the sleeve,
the box contains a 12-volt power plug, a suction cup mount for in-car use, and a
pair of CDs that contain the SmartST Professional mapping program and the
NAVTECH map data.
Installation of the software and map zones into the iPAQ is no different than installing any Pocket PC application. The first step is to install the routing software and register it. Registration--with mandatory phone number and e-mail address--is required before you're allowed to install map data. That data can be installed into either the iPAQ's core memory or a CompactFlash storage card. The GPS 3420 has its own slot for the CF card. Once the software is installed, and the iPAQ is slipped into the sleeve, the GPS 3420 is ready to navigate.
Choosing final and intermediate destinations is very simple: the program lets you select an existing already-used destination, enter the address or intersection (with partial entries bringing up a list of possible matches), or previously-chosen favorites. Once you've chosen among the routing options--shortest/quickest, avoid congested areas, avoid tolls--the software calculates the route and you're off. During our tests, the antenna found the satellites reasonably quickly on a cold start, and in just a few seconds each time thereafter. The map display is excellent, with plenty of detail and very fast redrawing. A night mode--invoked manually--switches the display's colors for better visibility in the dark.
While driving, the system's voice provides turn-by-turn directions. At the same time, the display can be switched between map and text views. The map view shows the progress of the vehicle in real time, along with text describing the next maneuver. We asked the program to create routes between some familiar locations, and it was right on the money each time. In fact, it pointed out a series of roads that we'd never before considered, and it turned out to be both quicker and more scenic than our normal route.
For in-car use, the Navman GPS 3420 works very well. Its potential for hand-held use is limited by the host iPAQ's battery life, but for short trips into the woods it should be fine. In all, the GPS 3420 is a good choice if you've already got the requisite iPAQ.
TravRoute Pocket CoPilot 3.0
Right out of the box, Pocket CoPilot distinguishes itself by the inclusion
of an external antenna in addition to the one that's built into the Pocket PC
sleeve. This feature means you don't have to attach the device to the windshield
in order for it to see the satellites. Moving the screen into a more shaded area
in the car makes it considerably easier to see it under some lighting
conditions.
Installation of the program is straightforward, as is the downloading of maps from the desktop to the Pocket PC. You get a choice of locations, including the CF slot on the CoPilot itself. The data download allows you to choose a central point and a radius around it, an chosen area, or a trip that you've set up in the desktop application. In all instances, the data download wizard lets you know how much memory is required and available; if you've selected a trip it also highlights the portion of the map that will be downloaded. Once the requisite data is in the system, Pocket CoPilot it will provide spoken and graphical instructions and recalculate the route if you take a wrong turn. It's worth mentioning, in this context, that Pocket Copilot is unique in its class in that it includes text-to-speech software. As a result, its spoken instructions are highly detailed, and include street names. The Pocket PC-based application has a planning mode, so--within the context of the onboard data--you can create and view trips while on the go.
Pocket CoPilot is chock full of useful and user-friendly features, and its control set is as intuitive as any we've seen in this class. For safety's sake, it offers a choice of driver or passenger display. The driver screen delivers concise navigation information, with the map appearing automatically as each turn is approached. The passenger screen presents both navigation and map data all the time. In all, Pocket CoPilot is a terrific product: fast, convenient, and reasonably priced, it never failed to impress us during the review process.