Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Review
Nov 2, 2006 gps navigation, gps phones, gps reviews, tomtom
If you want a inexpensive way of adding GPS capability to your Palm Treo this is the way to go. You even get voice prompts with this package. The best thing about Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone is that it uses the Navigator 6 software which will give your Treo the same functionality as a full-featured TomTom navigator. One negative point we have to mention is that if you need make or take a call you’ll need to get out of Navigator application and start where you left off once you’re done speaking on the phone.
Included in the box is a 1-gigabyte SD card preloaded with TeleAtlas maps and POIs (points of interest) for the U.S. and Canada, a Bluetooth GPS receiver, a suction-cup windshield/dashboard mount (with adhesive disc for the dashboard), an automobile power adapter, and the GPS receiver. Also inside are a USB SD card reader and a DVD containing additional software, a user guide, and extra maps. To equip your Treo with GPS capability, there’s a small, rechargeable Bluetooth receiver that measures just 0.7 by 2.5 by 1.6 inches and contains the laudable SiRFstarIII GPS receiver chipset. Like other SiRFstarIII-based devices I’ve tested, this Bluetooth receiver is extremely sensitive, and satellite-acquisition time is swift.
Reviewer is not happy about the lack of text-to-speech function and the fact that you can’t dial the phone number of a POI directly from the navigator. The rest of the review is very positive.
Overall, TomTom has done a good job of converting its popular TomTom interface and software to run on the Palm platform. Whether it’s the right solution for you depends on how you use navigation software and whether you can live with the display limitations of the Treo. The least expensive TomTom dedicated GPS device is the TomTom ONE, which sells for $499. It has a 3.5-inch display, much easier to read than the 2.5-inch, 240- by 240-pixel screen on the Palm 700P I tested.
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