6-30-03
- Contributing Editor
NOTE: Keep in mind this review covers
not only the Pocket Map Store GPS Device, but also the Pocket
Navigator software.
 I
have been curious about GPS devices for the Pocket PC. There are
several types of devices out on the market these days. However, I
feel the more compact, the better. After doing some research, I
found the
Pocket Map Store and they offer a Compact Flash version of the
GPS Receiver. Depending on the kit, the prices range anywhere from
$149 and up. To use a device like this with an iPAQ, you will need a
CF Expansion Pack. I highly recommend the Plus version of those
packs to get the extra battery power.
Pocket Map Store offers the device as well as Pocket Navigator
software. It comes on two CD’s and contains the entire United States
on a street level basis. The maps are compact and fit fairly easy
onto your memory card. Due to the fact that the data can be quite
large, I highly recommend a PDA that has a lot of memory or a SD
card to store that data. The Dell Axim units would be great since
they have both slots built in. I installed the Jefferson County area
as well as the surrounding area on my iPAQ, it took a little over 6
Meg of space. Compared to other map programs, that is rather large,
however these files do contain more data and information. The best
thing about this software is the way maps are installed. For
example… say we are taking a trip from Louisville or Orlando. Rather
than installing everything from point A to point B, we just need to
install the route. This gives us the information about the highways
and other interesting spots along the way. We can also install the
Orlando area or any other areas near our destination. This type of
install would normally save memory. This type of selection
(Louisville to Orlando) took about 8 Meg of RAM plus the highway
data (which was 16 Meg for the East Coast!).
Keep in mind, the shortest route may not
be the best. Most GPS Software will only map the shortest routes.
This program can include ‘Waypoints’ into the route. This gives you
the ability to jump off the main drag and take a scenic drive
through the country. You can easily change ‘waypoints’ as you go.
This software can handle up to 5 waypoints.
The GPS Device can be purchased for $149 and the software costs
$79.95 for a total cost of $229. They offer additional kits that
contain both plus external antenna, cigarette lighter adapters for
your PDA plus wireless audio devices. Those kits cost $299 to $329.
They do offer windshield mounts for a variety of devices. The cost
is $59.95 each. One nice feature of those units is the powered built
in speaker. You can hear the directions without buying additional
hardware. If they only made something like that for my motorcycle!
Okay, its out of the box and ready for setup. Insert the first CD
and install the map software on the computer. The PDA version will
be installed at the same time. After that is done, you click START,
PROGRAMS and find the PocketMap Desktop Manager. From there you can
select to download the street maps, highway maps or selected routes.
For the sake of the demo, we’ll install the local area. It’s very
easy, all you do is select the town and area you wish to download.
It shows the amount of RAM each area will take. Once you have
selected the areas, it gets moved into the PDA RAM. I highly
recommend storing to a Storage Card to save main program space.
Now we are ready. Plug in the GPS Device into the CF Slot and step
outside.
 The
satellites can’t transmit through a solid building or metal. You
need to have open skies for the GPS to work properly. The package
said it can take 5 to 15 minutes for it to locate the 12 satellites
in the sky. However, it took less than 5 minutes for it to begin
working. The configure screen looks cool. It shows all 12 satellites
and the power strength from each. It also shows the altitude,
longitude and latitude of your position.
Setting up a route was extremely simple. Grab the PDA and select
EXPLORE MAP. Click FIND and you can select any address,
intersection, or city.
 One
nice feature is “Where Am I?”. It will pinpoint you on the map from
the GPS information. After you’ve found where you want to go, just
click GO and it will create the route from your current position.
The voice prompts will tell you where to turn. The computer
simulated voice isn’t too difficult to understand, however it could
be a little clearer. During the route, you will hear directions
along with a ‘ding’ indicating when to turn or that you have
arrived. Another nice feature is the MPH display as well as the
estimated time of arrival. There are so many features of the
software, it’s impossible to go over them all right here. You don’t
even have to own a GPS to use this program. It’s so much better than
Pocket Streets. For a comprehensive list of features, check out
their website: http://www.pocketmap.com/navigator/features.html
What if you don’t own a PDA with a CF slot? They have other
solutions. Pocket Map Store also has Bluetooth GPS Receivers and
Mouse Type Receivers. The Bluetooth device is a stand-alone device
that talks to your iPAQ 5400 series or any other device with
Bluetooth. The mouse type units can plug directly into your laptop’s
USB port. The perfect solution for the surveyors out in the field.
If you already own a Garvin GPS, they have adapter cables to connect
and utilize their software.
The Advanced CF Kits contains the High Precision GPS unit (PMG-270),
software, booster antenna, car charger and a vehicle vent mount. The
booster antenna can sit on your dashboard to fine tune the receiving
ability of the unit. The software is a visual 2D map display of the
area. It not only has a nice visual map display, but it can offer
additional information about your trip. It includes voice directions
for you to follow, so there is no need to keep looking at the PDA.
With over 7 million miles of maps, you should be able to go
anywhere!
The Ultimate Kit is quite impressive. It contains everything the
Advanced Kit has plus the wireless transmitter for your radio and a
case to carry everything. This little device plugs directly into the
PDA and sends FM signals to your car stereo. Just tune the radio to
an unused frequency at the low end of the band and you can hear it
giving you directions. Personally, I like the idea of this device as
way of listening to my music collection rather than using the
cassette adapter. A few times I’ve been in a truck without a tape
player.
With this device, you aren’t limited to
being stuck inside your car. It’s completely portable! The booster
antenna can be unplugged and off you go into the wild outdoors. Take
it with you on a motorcycle trip or a hiking expedition. It would
even come in handy while out on Cumberland Lake. Anyone who’s been
there knows it’s not too difficult to get lost on that big lake. You
can pinpoint the best fishing spots or set up a rendezvous with
friends at a particular point on the globe.
As you can tell, this company has the goods on navigation. They
offer a few different CF GPS devices. It looks like the kits they
offer have the best of the three units. The have an “Ultra Sensitive
Receiver” for $169 or the “High Precision” model for the same price.
They also have a “Rugged” version for $149. These prices are just
for the GPS unit only. The software and accessories are extra. The
external antenna can be purchased as a combo (unit and antenna) for
about $20 more.
So many options … It’s a tough decision. After a full week of
playing with the device and software, I’m hooked. I haven’t found
any major problems with the maps, however I’m sure the changes to
the one-way streets downtown haven’t been updated yet. Users can
download updates for the current edition of the software that they
purchase, without charge. The PocketMap team has made numerous
improvements to the software in the current edition in response to
user feedback. I have noticed the size of the maps are much larger
than most map programs. I was told that future editions of the
software will have smaller map sizes.
I did run into a few problems using the software. I plotted a route
from South Dixie Hwy to Frankfort Avenue near the water reservoir.
Every other map program I’ve used would have taken me onto the
highway to get there. This program routed me down 18th street and
through downtown. I didn’t see any options to prefer highway routes
or to select fastest route or shortest route. I also like to zoom
out and see the route plotted from one end to the other. The zoom
feature only goes out to 8 miles. There is no way to view the entire
route on the screen. Another drawback is when finding a destination,
you MUST enter a street address. It was able to find “DisneyLand MGM
Court, but it didn’t contain any house numbers, so you weren’t able
to select that address. I made a sample route from Louisville to
Atlanta to Orlando and it was about 15 meg. Once I added 1 mile of
data along the highway route, it jumped to an amazing 69 meg! That
was without any points of interest. It also seemed to create routes
that required me to make a U-Turn. I guess the software doesn’t know
U-Turns are illegal in Kentucky!
In summary:
Pros:
-
Nice detailed maps and
they do contain one way street information.
-
GPS Device is compact and
convenient and will work with a laptop with a CF adapter.
-
The ultimate kit comes
with a nice pouch to carry everything.
Cons:
Maps take a lot of space
Can’t select certain highways, you must
install all East or West coast highways (16 meg for East coast).
Can’t select a wide angle view of the
maps. 8 Miles appears to be the max outward zoom making it difficult
to maneuver with a large map area unless you are using the GPS.
The computer voice is sometimes tough to
understand.
In my opinion, the PocketMap Store
solution is a good GPS device and application. It has some nice,
detailed maps and accessories. If you are in need of a GPS system,
definitely look into this package. However, keep in mind you will
need a device with a SD card with plenty of space available.
The snapshots used in this review were
found on various websites. I was unable to capture pictures on my
iPAQ.
The device was tested using a Compaq iPAQ 3955 with the CF Expansion
Pack Plus and a 256 Meg SD chip (100 meg was free for testing).
A special thanks goes to Vera at SpaceMachine, Inc. for allowing me
to review the device and software.
|
