Pharos Traveler GPS 525 Review from UberGizmo
Apr 24, 2006 gps navigation, gps phones, gps reviews, pharos
External GPS receivers have become common and cheap, but an increasing number of GPS navigation systems are based on a PDA and an integrated GPS receiver. There are obvious advantages, like reducing the size of the overall package, being able to use it outside the car (no cigarette plug required). This is nice, but the most important aspect of having an integrated GPS is to control the user experience. That’s exactly what Pharos is doing with the Pharos 525 all-in-one GPS navigation system.
Design
The Pharos GPS 525 is built on a PocketPC Platform. This means that it’s a full-fledged PDA with all the goodness such as integrated Wifi and Bluetooth. When I opened the box, I was surprised too see that the Pharos GPS 525 was much smaller than I thought (109.7mm x 59.4mm x 17.6mm). It’s a very elegant PDA that’s smaller and lighter than my Treo 700w. The only downside is quite obvious: the screen is rather small (2.8”) and depending on where on the dashboard the GPS is, reading the street names might be difficult.
Features
Like many recent GPS receiver, the Pharos uses the SiRFstarIII, which is considered by many as the best consumer-level GPS chipset. This new chip should do better in difficult GPS environments such as cities with tall buildings or forests with high trees. It also helps reducing the “time to first fix” (time to get a 3D position) compared to older models. The complete feature list is at the bottom of this page, but the highlights are WiFi+Bluetooth connectivity, 300Mhz CPU, 64MB of user memory, SDIO and a 320×240 screen.
The WiFi Connectivity lets user download maps on the internet, thanks to Pharos’ Smart Map Server. Pharos also has a real-time traffic service called Smart Traffic that could be accessed via a Bluetooth phone (by using the phone as a communication device). Our unit came also with a pre-loaded 512MB SD Card that contains all the maps for the U.S.A.
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