Portable car GPS Navigator?
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PostPosted: Tue, Jun 24 2008, 9:43 pm EDT    Post subject: Portable car GPS Navigator? Reply with quote

I plan to buy a portable car GPS navigator for my summer road trips. My budget is about $300. Recommendations please. Thanks!
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PostPosted: Thu, Jun 26 2008, 8:54 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Portable car GPS Navigator? Reply with quote

We have had several Garmin GPS systems. I just purchased the Nuvi 760 off of Costco.com. It was $350.00. Which is a good price. It is bluetooth capable which is a nice feature with the new cell phone laws in effect. It copied my phonebook from my cell phone automatically when I linked it to my cell. I find it very user friendly. Good Luck.
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PostPosted: Sat, Jun 28 2008, 8:04 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Portable car GPS Navigator? Reply with quote

Amazon has a cheap one for $99.99. It's Pharos 150 Drive 3.5-Inch Touchscreen TTS Portable GPS.

http://www.amazon.com/Pharos-Drive-3-5-Inch-Touchscreen-Portable/dp/B000XX4M26/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1214654306&sr=8-1

This is the cheapest one with Text-To-Speach (TTS) feature ("turn-by-turn spoken instructions that include name of the street or highway").

It runs Windows CE 4.2 and can be "unlocked" to run other CE applications. See the link below for more info:

http://www.gpspassion.com/FORUMSEN/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=104778
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PostPosted: Thu, Jul 3 2008, 7:41 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Portable car GPS Navigator? Reply with quote

I bought and received the Pharos 150 from Amazon recently. For the price ($99.99, no tax and free shipping), I think it's a good buy. The device is good at getting me from A to B. The user interface is not as well designed as top brand like Garmin Nuvi. The pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Text-To-Speech feature.
2. A long lasting battery: "1200 mAh rechargeable lithium-polymer batter with 5 to 7 hours of continuous operation."
3. Hackable: for tech-savvy folks
4. It comes with a nice set of accessories, given the price: USB cable, car mount, car charger, AC charger/adapter, travel bag.
5. Fast route recalculation.
6. Has a "walking mode": you can jog with it to see your GPS location and speed.

Cons:

1. User interface is not as good as name brand.
2. Cannot save screen brightness setting.
3. Takes practice to get the unit out of the car mount (don't leave your unit in plain view when in an unsafe neighborhood).
4. If pressing the "on" button for a few seconds does not turn on the unit, press the "reset" button.
5. Cannot enter GPS location directly.

In summary, this is a good budget unit for folks who are a bit tech savvy.

BTW, I recommend getting the "Bracketron UFM-100BL Nav-Mat GPS Friction Dash Pad ($11.38)" with this unit.
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PostPosted: Fri, Jul 4 2008, 1:15 am EDT    Post subject: Re: Portable car GPS Navigator? Reply with quote

Done with hacking my Pharos 150 GPS using the instructions on this page:

http://www.gpspassion.com/FORUMSEN/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=104778

Two changes are needed to make mine work:

1. Don't replace the original the NK.bin.

2. To use the provided Destinator software instead of TomTom, edit the "\for web\SystemInformation\Apps\Tools.ini" file.

Change

\SDMMC\TomTom Navigator.exe

to

\SDMMC\DestinatorApps\Destinator\Destin@tor.exe

Screen shots:

Main Screen:


Screen 2:


Original Destinator GPS navigation software:
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