04.Features plus what's new
Features they (almost) all have
- Colour LCD display in widescreen format and a touchscreen.
- Some units can communicate with Bluetooth-enabled phones, allowing you to make phone calls by selecting certain Points of Interest or POIs.
- Some units can show photo images, play certain video formats and even display text documents as an e-book.
- Most models project the full route display as a line on the map from your existing position to your destination.
- A Walking mode option allows you to plot a route for pedestrians, except the Garmin 265WT, nuvi 5000, Mios, Magellans, Navigon, and Navman S-Series Platinum S200 and S45.
- Text to Speech (TTS) allows you to get information on when to turn without having to glance at the screen with the unit saying the street name.
- Trip planning allows you to run through your driing route in virtual mode before you even get into the car.
- Trip recording takes note of your travels and saves the information as a set of positional points to post online into an application such as Google Earth.
- The Tom Tom and Garmin units were the only models to support the Mac OSX computer platform and only the Navigon and Navig8r models among the rest.
- SUNA support: for live traffic updates, may be available via an antenna attachment, or could be built into the latest models.
- English spoken instructions plus at least another two languages to chose from except the Mios, Navmans, Navigon and Navig8r M43 which only had English.
- Options to calculate fastest and shortest routes.
- Option of two or three-dimensional display of the map except the three Garmins which could only display in 3D.
- Exclude toll roads except for the two Magellans.
- Display of car speed, distance to destination, estimated time of arrival, street names and distance to the next turn.
- Day and night mode; in the latter, the screen changes colour and turns down the brightness so it won’t blind the driver when looking at it in the dark.
- Points of interest: Schools, police stations, car parks, petrol stations, airports and railway stations. ATMs and hospitals.
- SD or Micro SD memory card slot except the TomTom XL allow you to store images music and video files as well as the latest maps.
- USB connections for uploading data to a PC
What to look for
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Data entry: Keying in your favourite addresses and points of interest (POI) should be quick and easy. Also, check to see if it’s difficult to use your fingers to select points on the screen or whether you need to use a stylus.
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Memory cards: Memory cards (either SD or microSD) may contain the latest maps or can also store images, music and video files.
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Display: The screen should be large and glare-free, and show the information you want to see, such as distance to the next turn, current street name, time of arrival and distance to destination.
- Some car GPS devices offer the ability to show rendered versions of popular landmarks as 3D objects. However, don’t expect your car GPS to suddenly render your trip in 3D just yet, with only major landmarks rendered so far.
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Voice instructions: Make sure these are clear and loud enough to understand over car noise.
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Installation and portability: Check how easy the system is to install and how easy it is to remove and carry — thieves are more likely to target cars where they can see a shiny GPS system through the window.
- Check they allow you to store your home address and to select a location on the displayed map.
Traffic updates SUNA
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane drivers can save time by learning about traffic incidents before it’s too late. Many of the models we tested support SUNA live traffic updates (see www.sunatraffic.com.au) through the use of an external antenna and one-off subscription.
If your car GPS supports SUNA, information such as what’s causing a delay, where the incident is, the length of the delay if you stay on the original route and detour options are readily available. Some units have this support built into the unit, while other models need an optional attachment to receive the information. However, don’t expect your GPS to highlight any delays that would be expected during periods of high activity, such as peak hour traffic.
The outdoor GPS alternative
The Magellan Crossover GPS and Garmin nuvi 500 not only operate in the car but also as a handheld device for hiking or adventuring. Their features include much longer claimed battery life (up to eight hours) and a rugged casing with an IPX7 waterproof rating for the Garmin model, which means it can be immersed in water at a depth of up to one metre. The Magellan is IPX4 rated, which means splash-proof only . Look out for our upcoming test of handheld GPS to see how well these models perform against other hiking models.