By Ilya Tsymbal

Got this GPS a few days ago. First impressions overall positive. I am upgrading from a TomTom PDA, so comparisons in my mind are inevitable.

The good:
o - nice packaging, minimalist, not a huge box filled with junk. Good job.
o - GPS InstantFix works like a charm. Satellite fix was established very quickly, a matter of seconds rather than minutes. No complaints there.
o - Response times to screen input are quick. Previous versions generated complaints of slow response; that’s clearly been fixed. The only delays I noticed were when I updated settings.
o - Nice design, compact, frameless screen. Matte finish on screen and on the case, hides fingerprints well, unlike the previous version which was a fingerprint magnet.
o - Screen is large, bright, and has nice sensitivity to touch, both fingertips and fingernails.
o - Reality View of exists is certainly appreciated.
o - Free Traffic was a major selling feature. Keep in mind here, the traffic radio receiver is built in, but you still need an external antenna. The supplied Mini USB car charger cord doubles as an antenna, but I also found out that any old USB cable with a mini USB plug will work. Would have been nice to have an antenna built into the unit, but I don’t know if that’s possible.
o - Charges via a standard mini USB connector - a huge plus - can plug into a PC or a USB hub, or any mini USB cell phone charger. Very nice.
o - When you plug it into a PC, it becomes a Mass Storage Device, assigned a drive letter, you can just copy files to it if you want. No need for custom software
o - Text-to-speech is very good, accurate and easy to understand.
o - Speed limit display and alerts are good.
o - Speaker sound is plenty loud enough, easy to control from main screen.
o - Bluetooth speakerphone feature was easy to pair with my cell phone, and works flawlessly. It allows me to dial either from the phone and speak through the GPS unit or dial directly from the GPS when I look up Zagat reviews or any listed POI.
o - Automatic night/day display brightness switching worked great. It switched to night mode just as it started getting dark. I assume it calculates the sundown times based on exactly where you are.

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