[gary]

Hi Mike,

As you have probably noticed, the car navigation market is evolving
rapidly with a proliferation of brand names and new models nearly
every year.

When you look at the hardware specs, often the various models
of a specific brand might use the same GPS chip (or perhaps one of a
couple of GSP chips) across the whole range. Sometimes there will
also be little difference in the CPU speed spec across the range.
So then one starts looking for the differences as the price spread
is quite large.

Screen size is one attribute. The cheaper units will have something like
3.5" screens whereas the top of the range models will have 4.3" screens
with 16:9 aspect ratios. May not seem like much difference, but, after
all, you are driving a motor car at the same time in often unfamiliar
locations, so the ability to glance up at the screen in a split second
like one would do when checking a speedometer is important. Bright
screens with anti-glare coatings are important when there is sun light
on the screen. Keep in mind that the screens are touch screens and
are thus also the keyboard. The larger they are, the more convenient
it is to type on, particularly when entering addresses. People with
larger hands should definitely think about the models with the larger screens.

There is usually a difference in the amount of FLASH memory each model has.
With memory, comes features. For example, the lowest end models may
only have sufficient FLASH to hold maps for Australia, which may be all
you are interested in. The higher end models have sufficient memory
to hold several maps at a time, for example, all of Australia plus all
of Western and Eastern Europe plus all of North America combined.

The manufacturers also tend to leverage all that memory with features.
Just as one can go and buy a laptop but find it is of little utility unless
you buy some additional applications software for it, the navigators
are usually more differentiated by their software features. For example,
though nearly all models will have speech output (e.g. turn left in
200 meters), the high-end models will have spoken street names
(e.g. turn left in 200 meters, Pittwater Road). Most units will also have
a POI (Point of Interest) database. The high end models will have larger
databases.

Other features, such as in-built MP3 players, hands-free BlueTooth connections
to your phone, FM output to the car car radio and more recently voice input
and driving lane assistance also differentiate the high end from the low end.

The mapping data for Australia tends to come from only one or two sources,
so most units have similar information in that regard.

So, what to look for?

Firstly, when comparing brands, quickly check the basics first. Try and
find out from the specs what GPS chipset is employed (typically something
like a SIRF III) and what type of processor it has (typically something like
a 400MHz ARM). For the "no name" brands I wouldn't be surprised if they
have cut costs by employing less expensive and lower performance chipsets.
Even some of the better known brands have switched to cheaper, lower
performance chipsets in their entry level models to compete with the generics.
For the better known brands, often it may only be the entry level model that
acts as a "lost leader" and then when you check the other models in the range
the CPU spec and GPS spec is the same across the board.
A couple of years back, I read a review of various brands in motoring
article and what can go wrong with the really cheap ones is that they do
not have sufficient performance to be effective. When you start the car
and the unit switches on, you want a quick time to fix the GPS signal.
You then want real-time computing performance so that when the voice
says "turn left in 200 meters", you were warned 200 meters before you got to
the turn, not 200 meters after you passed the turn.

Similarly, when you compute a route, you want it to happen quickly. A top
of the range unit can, say, compute a route from an arbitrary street in inner
Sydney to Cable Beach in Broome in under ten seconds. Where the processing
speed becomes really important is when you need to re-route in real time.
For example, you are driving in a busy city with lots of traffic and are
about to make the suggested turn but the road is blocked by roadworks,
so you keep driving past the turn. The ability for the unit to recompute a new
course in just a couple of seconds without any intervention will then allow
you to gracefully recover.

At first when most of us buy these devices, we think in terms of "I just
need something with some maps that I can enter an address into and
it will show me on a screen how to get there".

Upon using them for a while, you begin to appreciate other features above
and beyond these basic requirements.

For example, the device must have some form of spoken output (most do).
Many provide multiple natural voices and the ones with spoken street names
multiple synthesized voices. A good unit should be able to get you there
with minimal reference to the screen. For example, many will give other
cues, such as "go left on the roundabout, second exit" or "stay in the
right lane" that are invaluable in the real world.

The depth and breadth of the POI data in a unit can transform its utility.
Once you learn how to use it, the navigator transforms into a Swiss Army
Knife. For example, I've been in rental cars driving back to airports in
several Australian cities and in the U.S and I want to know "when will
I get to the airport" (I don't want to miss the plane nor do I want to get
back absurdly early) and where is the closest petrol station to the airport
so I can refuel the car? The units with richer POI databases will not just have
the airport, they will have data for the car rental return car park. So you
firstly enter your destination as the car park. You then think, "I have to
refuel", so you then type a request "find alternative route, via POI,
near destination, category petrol station". Voila! It now computes a route
for you that will take you to a petrol station close to the airport. You then
look at your estimated arrival time and then think, "Hmmm, I am going
to be there hours early and waiting at the airport is boring. I'd rather have
a cup of coffee near the beach for an hour rather than sit in the airport cafe".
So you then request, "find POI, nearest to airport, category beach."
It routes you to the beach nearest where you will eventually want to be.
Looks good, so you select it as the new destination. You then enter a new
route as a "POI, category cafe, near destination" and it finds you a cafe at the
beach. Once at the cafe you can then request it again to send you to the
airport via the closet petrol station (might be a different petrol station this time).
You can even tell it when you want to be at the airport and it will show you when you
need to leave. If all this sounds contrived, it isn't and I have done exactly
this type of thing on several occasions.

I've been across town at a location and then find I need, say, a hardware strore.
A POI where you can find the nearest hardware store is then invaluable. Many units
allow you to also enter your own POI. If you have a family in the car on
holidays and want to know when the next rest stop or motel is, it can be invaluable.

I've been using a Tom Tom 910 for the past 19 months and driven with it
in NSW, Vic, SA and QLD and found it to be superb. I also make good use
of its 15GB hard disk by having loaded all my favourite MP3's for those long
trips.

One of the reasons I picked this brand was that they also provided good
optional purchase map coverage of North America and Europe and I would
definitely take it with me on the next trip to those continents. I used a Garmin
unit in California which was also very nice and had a live traffic feature that
was amazing. I haven't checked whether live traffic reporting is up and going
in Sydney yet (units such as the higher end Tom Tom's have the hooks
there). In California, the first time the unit warned me that there was roadwork
ahead and "did I want it to compute an alternative" really caught me by
surprise. At another point on an LA freeway, it reported and showed "heavy
traffic warnings" and all I can say is they must have a lot of people
monitoring a lot of traffic cameras and typing-in like crazy to broadcast the
telemetry, because it was spot-on.

My general advice. Look first for a unit that has good basic specs
on the GPS chipset and CPU used. Play with the interfaces in the store on
the display stands. I found this was a key point in my final decision. Though
you may not need bells and whistles such as MP3 players (you might already
have an iPod) and BlueTooth connect, think carefully about the utility of
good POI databases (updates for safety cameras and audio warnings of same
might save you some money one day!).

Having driven with paper maps between my knees in North
America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa and being a better than
average navigator with a reasonably good sense of direction most of the time,
I've got by a long time without needing GPS assistance. However, the traffic
in some parts of the world can be very unforgiving just from a driving
aspect so there can be little or no chance to pause and reference the
map or directory, particularly at night in a busy city. Though they will
not get it right every time, GPS navigators can take a lot of sting out
of navigating in these demanding and in some parts of the world, potentially
dangerous, conditions. The ability of the navigator to then allow you to
graciously recover from a missed turn, even through your own misjudgment,
can be a real relief. In fact, knowing that you can "drive at will" in some
unfamiliar city or town and that the unit will constantly vector you back
to where your final destination, can allow you to feel more reassured
and relaxed that it is impossible to get lost.

Knowing your estimated arrival time at a glance on the screen is also
something you really learn to appreciate. When combined with a POI
database that includes phone numbers and a BlueTooth connection, the
ability to quickly phone that destination motel ahead with just a few of touches
of the screen to tell them that you are running late and to tell them exactly
when you will arrive can make life just that little more convenient and it
is at that point you learn to appreciate that these devices can go beyond
one's initial minimal requirements of simply having some maps and the ability to
direct you to a destination.

Best Regards

Gary