Product Description

Navman PIN 100 PORTABLE GPS POCKET PC NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Product Details

• Brand: Navman
• Model: PiN 100
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60" h x 2.70" w x 4.30" l, .63 pounds
• Display size: 3.5

Features

• Portable GPS Pocket PC navigation system with SmartST V2 3D View
• Voice Navigation/Mapping and Route Guidance software
• 3.5" Color Transflective LCD display delivers a bright, crystal clear 3D street level view of each map
• Operates with Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 operating system
• If you leave your programmed route, PiN's intelligent SmartST software will automatically recalculate the best path to take you to your destination

Manufacturer
The Navman PiN (Personal Interactive Navigation) combines the latest GPS technology with elegant design to deliver the ultimate cable-free navigation solution.

Navigation on-the-move, the compact and stylish NEW Navman PiN, sets a new standard for handheld GPS technology. Navman PiN enables you to accurately navigate from door-to-door using the latest Map data for North America, including the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada with full turn-by-turn voice guidance. Navman's Smart mapping software means you can effortlessly enter your destination, set your route and begin your journey with confidence whether in a car or walking city streets.

Whichever you choose, the quickest route or the shortest, you'll benefit from full 3D colour map views, enhanced street level detail, automatic 'Back-on-track' re-routing and 'Avoid Areas' function. In addition to knowing how to get to your destination, you will also know where you are with an accuracy of 5 metres 95% of the time with Navman's leading integrated GPS.

Delivering all the benefits of a top of the range Pocket PC, the Navman PiN is cable free and totally portable. The unit runs on Windows Mobile 2003 OS and is packed with many key features including the leading Navman SmartST 3D Mapping Software, discreet GPS Antenna, 3.5" Color Transflective LCD Display, MP3 Playback, User voice Recording (Mono), Touch Panel Screen, Memory Card Expansion Slot, Lithium Ion Battery and USB port.

This powerful combination of the Navman GPS technology and SmartST mapping software nows means you can have complete state-of-the-art navigation in the palm of your hand.

Integrated GPS Patch Antenna PiN's integrated GPS antenna delivers excellent satellite pick-up at every angle. This key feature has been adopted from the Navman iCN 630 to ensure the best performance possible. The PiN's GPS Antenna is discreet, lightweight and removes any necessity for wires or any additional receiver. This means you have a complete all-in-one GPS unit.		3D Colour Map view The 3.5" Colour Transflective LCD Display compliments the SmartST™ software by delivering a bright, crystal clear 3D street level view of your journey in full colour. The PiN's display ensures you'll also benefit from on-screen Route Summary, Journey Instructions, clearly visible Points-of-Interest and SmartST user friendly interface.
Back-On-Track Technology The Back-On-Track technology in the Navman PiN is an integrated support feature. If you leave your programmed route, PiN's intelligent SmartST software will automatically recalculate the best path to take you to your destination. This feature can prove invaluable in the event of an accident ahead, wrong turn or diversion.		Windows Mobile 2003 OS Navman PiN operates with Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 operating system and comes with all standard applications. SmartST seamlessly integrates with Windows Mobile 2003 OS to ensure PiN provides an effortless experience for the user. Easy navigation around the menus allows you to programme your desired route in seconds.

Customer Reviews

Great value, some showstopper bugs in the software though
After seeing the terrible review at InfoSyncWorld, I became very worried that I was going to regret having just purchased the Navman PiN 100. There is very little in the way of reviews for this product so I will try to be as thorough as I can.

As a Pocket PC, I am completely satisfied with the Navman PiN 100. It is actually just a Mio DigiWalker (it even has the Mio DigiWalker logo on the back of it) so if you have seen reviews for that, then this is the same thing. It runs Windos Mobile 2003, has one expansion slot (an SDIO slot), and a suitably fast CPU and on-device storage & memory. I have used it as a Pocket PC for many things now and have not once felt the hardware specs to be lacking. Handwriting recognition is still awful but that is something to mention in a review of Windows Mobile 2003 operating system itself, not the Navman.

You WILL need a 256 or 512MB SD card to hold maps. The included 32MB card is basically worthless, I left it in the box and never used it. Many if not most states are over 30MB and that means you would not even be able to load them onto the card. I suggest getting one of those 256MB cards with wifi ability built-in, then you can kill two birds with one stone. Wifi is a neat thing to have.

As an in-car GPS solution, the Navman is hands-down absolutely the best value on the market. For under $500 (which is including the absolutely necessary additional purchase of a memory card) you get a Pocket PC, all necessary cables, an unobtrusive GPS receiver, a windshield mount, a car charger/adapter, and of course the Smart ST v2 GPS software. The Garmin iQue 3600 is its closest competitor -- I tried it too and decided the Navman PiN was both the better value and the superior product (bigger, brighter screen among many other things). Unfortunately the Navman PiN package feels exactly like what it is -- not one well-integrated product but a box of products sold as a bundle. When you open the box you are confronted with several envelopes, nearly a half dozen CD-ROMs, three different user manuals, and a confusing pile of cords and accessories. They burden you with actually loading the Smart ST v2 software on the Pocket PC, before you load it on your PC, register it and activate it, then install ActiveSync from another CD, and a bunch of other hassles like configuring the GPS COM port and baud rate -- TOO many hassles -- before you are finally ready to use the product. There was so much paperwork in the box that I spent several confused minutes wondering where the serial number was that the software wanted in order to install it. I would like to see the software pre-loaded on the handheld and all of the necessary stuff for your PC come on one single DVD ROM. I just plunked down 5 benjamins for a GPS toy, do you think I have not found myself a DVD drive for my computer yet? Get with the 21st century people.

Battery life is certainly better than the iQue 3600. It is at least 3 or 4 hours but I haven't done any real tests so I don't have an actual figure to give.

The GPS receiver takes some time to pick up satellites. Anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes on your first use, and 2 to 5 minutes from a cold start after that. It seems like definitely longer if you are moving. This is too long in my opinion, I don't know if other receivers are better, or not. As an in-car device I generally want to take it out of my pocket, put it on the dash, and have it ready to go. Instead I have to sort of sit there in the car for a few minutes or just wait until the first stoplight to check on where I am or where I am going.

The car charger is just that -- nothing to say about it. It gets the job done and is nice to have. The windshield mount is a suction cup mount and secures excellently to the windshield. I wish I could say the same for how well it secures the handheld. It barely does at all. It sort of just cradles it lightly. If you put your Navman in it without the utmost care, it is liable to fall right out. That is NOT good. I recommend angling it back some so that gravity holds it in a little. This seems to work for me. I would have rather it clipped in or snapped in, but no.

The rest of this review is going to sound pretty harsh because I don't really like the GPS software that the Navman PiN comes with (Smart ST v2 2.00.0036 SP2). It is promising, but fatally flawed. I want to say up front though, that I would not give up using this device just because I think the software sucks. I just deal with the frustrations and hope there will be an update to iron them out later.

First off, the map view. The map view is gorgeous, in full 16-bit color, with color coded roads to show your route, the current road you're on, roads that pass under/over your road, and little arrows indicating direction of traffic. Major and minor roads are different colors, and the roadnames are displayed very clearly and legibly. Geography like lakes and forest is marked with blue and green. The view switches to a 3D angled view whenever you are on a route to a destination, and rotates so that up is always your heading and you can see more in front of you than behind. The graphics are state-of-the-art for this market and nothing in its price range with the exception of TomTom Navigator can touch it. Your friends will be impressed.

The voice navigation is well-timed and intelligible, with the exception of "make a legal u-turn" which to most people sounds like "make illegal u-turn" (worth a few laughs). Voice only says when to turn and which direction, it doesn't say the street name or even highway number, which is too bad but that's typical for a PocketPC program.