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19 MARCH 2005 |
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Navman GPS 4410 |
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Many people have heard of the
term GPS, or Global Position
System, but are not fully
informed in what it has to
offer. Many people have
the misconception that it
requires dishing out money to
use it, but in actuality, GPS is
a free service which requires no
subscription of any sort or any
extra money. GPS involves
communicating with the existing
satellites in orbit in order to
determine your exact position
wherever you are. By
knowing exactly where you are,
this immediately makes it a
suitable application when going
on those long hiking trips or
just exploring some place you've
never been to. When
combined with powerful software,
GPS can provide more uses such
as navigating from one place to
another.
Navman, one
of leading provider of GPS
solutions, has created a product
that brings GPS capabilities to
your Pocket PC. It is the
Navman GPS 4410. This is
an external GPS receiver that
uses Bluetooth technology to
connect with your Pocket PC.
This means you need a Pocket PC
that has Bluetooth as well.
If you are an avid Pocket PC
user, the Navman GPS 4410 seems
to be a good solution if you are
looking to use GPS technology
with your Pocket PC while taking
advantage of Bluetooth. |
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The front of the box clearly displays the
product. The main features listed include
a 3D map view, voice enabled directions,
automatic re-rerouting, and 30 hours of GPS
performance. The back of the box shows the
Pocket PC application in use. It shows the
3D map view as well as a variety of screens you
can expect to see when using it with the Pocket
PC.
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When opening the box, everything was neatly
packaged in a molded plastic container.
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The main GPS receiver unit is very small
slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes.
There is the power button right at the top.
Right next to the power button, you can plug in
an AC adapter. The bottom of the unit is covered
with a special material which prevents it from
sliding around. This makes it easy to
place it on the dashboard of your car without
the need for any adhesives. At the side,
of the device, there is an opening where you can
place an external antenna to increase the range
and reception.
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When opening the box, everything was neatly
packaged in a molded plastic container.
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Not only did I find the GPS receiver, but I
found an extensive set of accessories to allow
you to place the GPS receiver as well as your
Pocket PC near your dashboard in your car.
Everything has been provided so it encourages
you to use it in your car. If you do
intend on using it with your car, it does
require some assembling.
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Notice how some of these parts will mostly
likely be attached to the front window of your
car since two of the pieces have suction cups.
There is also a car adapter to allow the GPS
unit to have power if you do not want to rely on
battery power. The parts have been
designed to allow you to neatly route the wire
from the GPS holder to the cigarette outlet in
your car.
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Installation requires preparing both the
GPS unit and the Pocket PC. |
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Since the GPS unit is self-contained,
the only think you need to do hardware
wise is to insert the batteries into the
device. This is done by squeezing
the tight levers on both sides of the
device then pulling. This will
remove the cover and allow you to insert
the three AAA batteries that are needed
to power the device. The batteries
have also been included with the
package. |
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At the back of the
case, I noticed that there was a belt
clip already attached. What is
mainly noticed are the holes at the back
of the case which is used to help with
heat dissipation coming from the metal
back of the iPod.
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The next part involves the installation
of the software onto your computer and
Pocket PC with the given CD's. By
inserting the installation CD, you first
install the software onto your desktop
computer. By following the
installation screen, you will be able to
quickly install the software.
Then, with the use of my already
installed ActiveSync, it installed the
necessary files onto my Pocket PC.
Before I could use the software, I had
to activate the software by registering
the software with some information and
the provided CD keys. The
activation process took the longest out
of the entire installation for some
strange reason. It took at least
half an hour just to activate the
software because it seemed to
communicate with very slow servers.
When I finally activated the software, I
was ready to put the needed maps onto my
Pocket PC. By running the
software, I was shown a map of North
America as well as the divided sections.
I chose to put the map of California on
my Pocket PC. I noticed that
California was divided into three
sections: the Northern, Central, and
Southern California. By dragging a
region onto the 'Storage Card' section
of the screen, I was able to transfer it
directly to my storage card on my Pocket
PC. Transferring the maps of the
entire state of California required
100MB of my SD card. Therefore, it
is generally expected to have a decent
sized storage card if you wish to put
all the maps of your state onto your
Pocket PC.
In order to use the GPS unit with
your Pocket PC, you need to first turn
the unit on my holding down the power
button. The power button will
blink twice quickly every second or so
since it is not connected to your Pocket
PC. Next, you need to activate and
enable Bluetooth on your Pocket PC.
In the serial port settings in the
Bluetooth settings, you need to uncheck
the box that requires it to
authenticate. Once your Pocket PC
sees the GPS device in your Bluetooth
manager, you just hold your stylus on it
and click 'connect' when the menu pops
up. A double arrow will show up on
the icon once it is connected.
Next, you need to run the SmartST
program that was installed on your
Pocket PC. When you run it, it
will show a series of menus that is a
quick tutorial on how to navigate
through the maps. After the quick
menu tutorial, I was brought to a map.
At the bottom of the screen, the program
indicated that the GPS was closed.
In order to open it, I opened up the
menu by pressing the left directional
pad on my Pocket PC. Then, I
clicked on 'GPS Status'. The GPS
Status screen shows the longitude,
latitude, and other information
regarding the GPS device. I
noticed it currently did not display
anything since the GPS was still not
activated within the software even
though it was connected in the Bluetooth
manager. I checked the box at the
top to enable the GPS and you need to
selection the COM port that is used for
the GPS device. After selecting
the COM port, it immediately displayed
the correct information and status of
the GPS unit indicating that it was
working correctly with the software.
Keep in mind that I quickly explained
the setup and installation. Your
experience will also depend on the the
type of Pocket PC you have as well.
The provided manual included with the
product has very clear pictures and
instructions to guide you through the
process.
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Once everything is setup and working
properly, the fun now begins. You will be presented with a
map with a pointer showing your current location. From
here, the many possibilities and opportunities await.
I used the device while sitting in someone's car. The
Navman was placed at the front of the dashboard so that it had
line of sight with the sky. Then siting in the rear seat,
I was able to use my Pocket PC to connect to the device.
In the city of San Francisco, there are many immediate turns.
I was surprised at how accurate the GPS worked while displaying
the information actively on my Pocket PC. If you are
actually the driver, the software alerts you about half a block
ahead of time telling you when to turn as well as the
approximate distance when to to turn. When you are
right at the intersection, it will immediately again say "Turn
Left" or "Turn Right". It's as easy as that.
While sitting in the rear seat, we were taking the usual route
home. When telling the software your exact destination, it
will prescribe a route by using a red line to show its best
calcuated route according to your preferences. The
prescribed route was different than our usual route, but I was
amazed at how it only took about 5-10 seconds for it to
recalculate another route based on our current position.
In fact, the routes it recalculated began to match our actual
route as we got closer to our destination.
The Navman doesn't necessarily have to be used in the car, it
can also be used outdoors when you want to take a hike or some
other outdoor activity. I was also amazed at how it was
still able to track our position even when there were nothing
but hills around us. |
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If you have Bluetooth on your Pocket PC,
the Navman makes a great purchase if you are looking for GPS
capabilities. The advantage of having it with a Pocket PC
is that you might be able to take advantage of other Pocket PC
software that uses GPS. What's nice about the Navman is
that it is a separate unit and not internally attached with your
Pocket PC. If your Pocket PC were to break, you'd lose
your GPS functionality as well. The separate unit provides
future value to this investment because it can be used with a
new Pocket PC if your current one ever wears out or breaks.
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Reviewed by
ronald@digitalreviews.net |
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