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HandyGPS Pro
Tue Oct 30, 2001 - 9:53 AM EST - By Scott Hanselman
Table of Contents
Introduction The Hardware Satellite Acquisitio... » Software Conclusion
Software
The UbiGo software, while continually improved, can only be thought of as "GPS Software Lite." The street-level maps are small (in comparison to StreetFinder) and available for download free with purchase directly from Nexian. If you have a Visor Prism you can enjoy UbiGo 1.5c in color, which, for me at least, is an almost must for GPS fans. Viewing street level maps in Grayscale is not fun, believe me.
In James' review of the original HandyGPS, he said, " If Nexian could improve the user interface and ditch UbiGo, this could be the GPS module to get." Well, they didn't ditch UbiGo, but you can.
StreetFinder
Now this is a snazy app. If you're going to spend $200 for
a GPS, spend $230 for the GPS with StreetFinder. It's an excellent Windows
application on it's own, including full street level maps for the entire nation.
Some of the
features of StreetFinder include
Address-to-address directions plotted in map and
text form
Search and find by address, hotel, restaurants,
Palm Address Book name
Zoom in and out for more detail
Place custom markers
CD contains U.S streets and over 1 million
business listings
Mobile Travel Guide ratings
I have to say
that I VERY MUCH prefer the interface to StreetFinder over UbiGo. There are 3 CDs included
with the Windows version of StreetFinder, and a separate CD
dedicated solely to PalmOS-specific maps.
It bears being
said that it is SO cool to be driving down the street and refer to your GPS.
(Even cooler when the GPS and map are
correct. To be in an unknown neighborhood and to already know the name of
the next street is a very powerful feeling. To find a undiscovered Taco
Bell in an unknown neighborhood is even more powerful.
The Restaurant
and Point of Interest features of Street Finder are very impressive as well.
Maps are created downloaded to your Palm from within the Windows Street Finder
application. During the map creation process you are given the option to
include various categories of Points of Interest. Adding each category
will increase the size of the resulting map. My map of Portland, OR with
all Points of Interest was about 2.5 megs. It was a challenge to make it
fit, but it was worth it. Now I can drive anywhere in Portland and find
the nearest restaurant.
One weird thing
- when in Navigation mode a small yellow star appears on the map each time a
reading is taken from the GPS. Sometimes this yellow star will not sit
exactly on the road, but instead appears parallel to it. What's
interesting is that it's usually consistently parallel, just offset by a few
meters (or pixels.) In my opinion, this seems to be a problem with the
accuracy of the tiny maps than the accuracy of the GPS.Conclusion >>
Product Info
Details
»
Name HandyGPS Pro
»
Company Nexian
»
Accuracy About 11m
»
Protocol NMEA V2.2 Navicom proprietary protocol
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Power Rechargeable Li-ion battery
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Hard Cover Compatible No
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Size 2.15" W X 3.07" H X 1.7" D
»
Acquisition time Hot start 8 seconds, Warm start 39 seconds, Cold start 66 seconds
»
Fact Sheet & User Opinions
Availability
Pricing
»
$229.99 (with Street Finder)
»
$199 (with UbiGo)
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