The future is now

Twelve months ago, many who shelled out big bucks for an in-car, portable global positioning system (GPS) navigator may have been disappointed with their purchase. The systems were riddled with problems, the worst being ‘satellite lag’, which meant an audible instruction to turn at a certain street would often come a few seconds after you’d driven past it! But 12 months is a long time in the world of technology and now, it seems, the future of GPS navigation has arrived.

All systems tested for this story come pre-loaded with maps of the entire country, so switch them on, tell them to direct you from your house in Manly to your brother’s place in Broken Hill via your parents’ holiday retreat in Cairns, and they will happily do so.

Destinations are entered in numerous ways. Type the exact address on the colour touch-screens, or choose one of thousands of pre-programmed landmarks, such as a cafe, golf course, petrol station or cinema. Then press ‘go’ and almost instantly a route is mapped out and a voice directs you, turn by turn, to your destination. And you can list many locations, such as your home, in the ‘Favourites’ section.

It's the timing and clarity of the spoken instructions that make all the difference.

The units will only work once you’re outside or in a car, where it can ‘see’ the sky. This means they’ll lose satellite contact in tunnels, or even in heavily built-up areas. Having said that, as hard as we tried, none of the units tested lost connection in central Sydney. They will also only work via an external antenna in cars with heat-shielded windows.

The screens vary in size, but this is unimportant as soon as the car begins to move. It’s the timing and clarity of the spoken instructions that make all the difference between these units. Extra inclusions, such as digital cameras, remote controls and Bluetooth speakerphones, are fun and interesting, but come a distant second in importance compared to audible directions.

Driver beware

GPS navigators should never be a distraction to you as the driver. Ensure they are mounted in such a way that they don’t block your field of vision or impede the deployment of an airbag. Don’t place them anywhere where they might fall and thereby cause driver distraction.

Garmin nüvi 310
rrp: $1199

Just a little larger than a pack of cards, the nüvi 310 packs an impressive amount of technology into a small body. Rather than a ‘navigator’, the smart-looking nüvi is marketed instead as a ‘personal travel assistant’. At this size, it’s small enough to carry around as a pedestrian guide or a travel guide book, as well as a driving navigator. Navigation Right out of the box this system impresses. It’s fun to operate, and its ‘intelligence’ is surprising. Directions are concise and timely and, importantly, include spoken street names, rather than simple ‘turn left, turn right’ directions. The Garmin will tell you to “turn left in 50 metres at Smith Street”. It will also tell you which lane to turn into: “Turn left at Smith Street and stay left.”

The crystal-clear, 90mm screen shows your progress, with your route clearly marked in 2D or 3D. Don’t be distracted though – the voice guidance is by far the most useful aspect. If you ignore its advice, or suddenly decide to drop into a friend’s place, the unit will recalculate, within five–10 seconds, the new, shortest route to your original destination. So, whether you like it or not, the Garmin will always eventually get you where you’re going.

Frustration
Annoyingly, the nüvi doesn’t recognise certain specific addresses. For example, while it will guide you to Smith Street, or to 16 Smith Street, it may not recognise 105 Smith Street – even though the address existed for years. During six hours of onroad testing it gave a wrong direction just twice. Once the verbal advice said to turn onto an incorrect road, although the correct route was shown on screen. It also told us to make an illegal U-turn in order to reach our destination. Both times, though, it quickly re-calibrated and led us on our way.

Extras
Other pre-loaded surprises are an MP3 player, Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone, currency converter, world clock, JPEG picture viewer and audio book player. You can also buy or download digital maps of other countries, plus travel and foreign language guides. But they’re not cheap – a Europe map is $769 and Aussie map updates are $150.

The unit also has a leather protective case, an instruction manual, mounting equipment, a USB connector and a charger to fit the car cigarette lighter. Strangely, it doesn’t come with a charger to fit a wall plug. Battery life is three to eight hours. 

LIKES	DISLIKES
Very clear visuals and audio, including spoken street names Useful manual Compact and stylish appearance Useability in other countries Good performance in city Good battery life	No AC charger Purchase price and cost of updates and extras Lack of recognition of some street addresses A verbal instruction to make an illegal U-turn
Rating 8/10

Navman iCN720 rrp: $1099 By far the largest unit in this test, the iCN720 boasts a 102mm screen and is around the size of two cigarette boxes. While its size may work against it in the portability stakes, it’s big enough for large fingers to operate and, to make its use even safer, it ships with a remote control that attaches to the steering wheel. And, just for the fun of it, the iCN720 also contains a digital camera, so you can capture a memorable view, save it, and navigate back to that exact spot using the image’s co-ordinates as your guide.

Navigation
Like the nüvi, directions from the Navman are clear, correct and well-timed. It handles complicated driving areas, such as the multi-lane approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with ease, but it lacks street name verbalisation. Its directions are to “turn left in 800 metres” then, within 30 metres of the turn, to “turn left”. Street names are shown on the screen, but these are of little use to anyone but a passenger.

As you drive, the map automatically flags points of interest, such as petrol stations, ATMs, parking areas and hospitals. Take a wrong turn, or ignore its directions, and the unit recalculates a new, shorter route in seconds – the fastest recalculation of the test. In six hours of testing, the Navman did not give any incorrect verbal directions. The iCN720 accepts multiple waypoints, can be set to warn you when a certain speed is exceeded and can also be loaded with maps of other regions, such as Europe and the USA.

Frustration
Although it is supposed to be plugged into the car power socket when in use, the internal, re-chargeable battery lasts a surprisingly short time for such a large unit. The instruction manual claims up to three hours, but in normal usage it’s closer to two. Like the other units, the iCN720 has problems recognising certain specific addresses, but when this occurs it handles things well by offering to direct you to the centre point of the street, rather than to a house number.

Extras
We love the digital camera. There’s something magic about a gadget that can not only record your memories, but will also direct you back to where the memories were made. This is also the only unit on the test to come with an AC charger.

The Navman also ships with a useful, full user manual, a classy protective leather case, as well as in-car mounting equipment, in-car power cable and USB cable.

LIKES	DISLIKES
Clear, accurate and timely directions Wide screen Built-in digital camera Remote control Fast recalculation of route AC charger Useability in other countries Good performance in city	Low battery life Large size of unit Lack of recognition of some street addresses
Rating 7/10

tomtom ONE
rrp: $699

This is an entry-level cousin of the previous two navigators, cheaper in more ways than one. The ONE’s useability straight out of the box is brilliant, and the tomtom brand name packs an almighty punch in the world of GPS navigators. But the overall user experience, compared with the other two units, is disappointing and sometimes frustrating. Navigation Slightly larger than the Garmin but without the bulk of the Navman, the tomtom ONE comes in a stylish, solid black and silver package and has a bright and clear 85mm screen. While all of the items tested are relatively simple to use out of the box, this unit wins the user-friendliness award.

The tomtom’s large icons are very easily understood and its software is easily navigable – perfect for a first-time GPS user. Could that be why its manufacturers made the crazy decision not to include a full printed manual?

Frustration
Once on the move, the tomtom gives the user very little faith in its own navigational skills. On an approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where both other units had given correct directions, the tomtom simply went silent. Several choices of on-ramps and city exits were on offer, and we were left to fend for ourselves.

The exit instruction from the Harbour Bridge motorway was “take next exit, 800 metres on left”. There were, in fact, two exits on the left, both very close together, and the final instruction to “turn left” came so late that it wasn’t clear which exit it meant.

And that’s our biggest gripe with the tomtom – late instructions. Several times the unit told us to turn when we were within just a few metres of the corner, which meant we had to attempt a dangerously fast turn or simply drive on and hope the unit would tell us another route. When we did drive on, it spent so long telling us to do a U-turn and go back the way it originally intended that we were way off course before it decided the time was right to recalculate a new course.

All in all, the tomtom ONE created quite a stressful driving experience, and we were thankful the test was in an area with which we were familiar.

Extras
The tomtom ONE is shipped without an AC charger and has only a five-page Quick Start Guide on paper. If you’re after the full manual, you’ll need to slip the CD into your computer and print it out yourself! Also included is a mounting unit, a GPS connector, an in-car charger and system back-up software. 

LIKES	DISLIKES
User-friendly operation Solid build Relatively small size Useability in other countries Affordability	Late verbal directions Long time to recalculate a route Lack of written manual Lack of AC charger Low battery life
Rating 6/10