Customer Reviews

Clarion MiND 4.8-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (White)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

6/3/2009 Update
I've been using the device for a few weeks now. It has a lot of potential and things can be done, but many applications/features lack the quality of a mature product: inconsistent and unfriendly interface, missing features etc.

Major issues:
1. Small POI database. Only 2 mln POIs, and so far, no way to buy or import additional POIs. Big problem for me, and no easy way around. Finding missing POIs using Google at home takes longer than on a regular GPS unit with built-in POIs. You cannot use Google on the road (or it is much more difficult). Some GPS devices have 6 or more millions of POIs; you can really appreciate it after using the limited 2mln Clarion's database.

2. POI search speed can be from 10 seconds to 3 minutes!!! depending on user's entry. 3 minutes - it is just an absurd number. It must be fixed.

3. No Bluetooth hands-free calling. (The GPS is supposed to work with a phone. Why not hands-free calling? I need a BT headset? How many more electronics should I carry?)

4. Bluetooth dial-up network (DUN) doesn't work with my phone. I was surprised because it was one of the major selling points. Clarion provides only a list of compatible networks and my network is on that list. No list of compatible/supported phones.(My phone's DUN works with my other devices)

My hope is that Clarion will keep releasing updates and improving its functionality.



Written before 6/3/2009
The great:
1. Integration with the Internet:
a) You can send POIs from the Internet to ClarionMiND. Even with good GPS units finding POIs may be difficult: you either don't find it or you find too many. ClarionMiND lets you plan your trip on your computer at home using Google Maps, and send POIs to the device. Great feature!!!
b) Great desktop-class Internet browser. You will be able to do everything you can do on your desktop at home, including Flash videos.
c) Google search, and it is integrated with navigation.
2. Navigation (I will update this review on route quality after I use the unit more):
a) So far routes look good.
b) Lane assist. It shows which lane on a multi-lane road you should take.
c) Nice job with voice directions. For example, it tells you something like, "go to the right side of the road" in order to prepare you for right turn.
d) All info needed for navigation is on the screen: compass heading (N, NE, E...), arrival time, distance, next and current street.
e) auto-zoom.
3. POI
a) Very fast search
b) You can preview POIs on the map. This is something nice and unique. You can select a single or a group of POIs and see them on a temporary map.
4. Address entry
a) Very fast.
b) QWERTY keyboard
c) Predictable entry. Only valid keys are active. As you keep entering data, it shows what was found at the top of the screen.
d) It remembers previous entry, and lets you re-start search from any level: state, city, street.
5. Hardware:
a) Gorgeous, high-resolution, large screen
b) Touchscreen works well. It is responsive.
c) Dedicated hardware buttons for Home, Top Menu, Music/Sound.
d) Great to hold in hands
6. Free Internet traffic. So far, I didn't find if it is integrated with navigation. There will be an option for radio traffic which, most likely, will be integrated.
7. Internet weather, news, email etc
8. Fast GPS lock. Less than 30 seconds.

The bad:
1.POI database is small. I couldn't find retail stores like, Walmart, Target, Costco etc
2.The car mount is awful. It is a few 100s dollars device with a "$1" mount. Very difficult to mount/dismount.
3.After you mount the device, it automatically limits its Internet functionality. Result: you cannot use the Internet in your garage when the device is mounted. You have to dismount it 1st, check the Internet, mount it again. AWFUL!!! If they wanted to make it safe, they should detect vehicle speed from the GPS.
4.Addresses are not displayed in the American format (number street, city zip), but as zip city street number.
5.Keyboard
a) Inconsistent keys. Sometimes, it is character-only; sometimes, characters and digits.
b) Inconsistent behavior: to accept, sometimes you have to click "Back", sometimes "Enter"; sometimes something else.
6.Too many keystrokes needed to see the route overview.
7.Current time is not displayed during navigation.
8.The device gets very hot.
9. Video player doesn't accept many video formats.

The bottom line:
It is a great navigation device: very fast, detailed spoken commands, plenty of details on the screen, great map, good routes. The device could be a perfect GPS but they have to add more POIs, BT hands-free calling, and polish the interface. ClarionMiND works very well with the Internet: it will have more or less of a practical meaning for different people.

Overall as a GPS I pretty much agree with "Stan Matofu's" review of the device above. However, I purchased this device in December primarily as a portable media player for my car. Everything else that this device offers was extra, especially considering that I purchased this device for a shade over $100. After having it for a couple of weeks and hacking on it for a while, I would say that I am pretty pleased with the device. Firstly, the device has an Intel Atom Z530, Intel GMA500 (Poulsbo) integrated graphics and 4GB SSD, which is pretty "standard" netbook/UMPC class hardware. With the standard USB port that is built in, one can attach a thumbdrive of practically any size for an infinite amount of music on the go. Additionally, by plugging in a USB keyboard, and switching to virtual console 3 (Ctrl-Alt-F3), you can login as the root user and hack the device to your pleasure (default password is '1234'). Wifi support is pretty rock-solid. DUN support over Bluetooth works well with my Blackberry Storm, which is great because I can use this device as a quasi-internet tablet while in the car(parked of course :) ) The device itself is based on Asianux Midinux Linux which is a offshoot of Fedora. Ubuntu's netbook remix also runs on the device. Installing whichever OS you want on the device is pretty simple, as the USB ports are 1st in the boot order of the device. Heck, even Windows XP runs like a champ on this device. The hardware, according to its specifications, supports up to a 4GB microSD card. I've happily been using a Transcend 8GB microSDHC card with this device to store my music. At its original price of ~$600, there would be no way that I would have bought it. As a ~$100 GPS unit, it is quite serviceable. It has its quirks as all devices do, yet it has some pretty nice features, especially if you can connect it via PPP over Bluetooth so that it gets Internet in-vehicle. Finally, as a portable Linux based computer, it is very much worth the cost alone. I am purchasing a second one, just because it is so hackable.

I have used this unit for a few weeks. The navigation part is excellent. Google search is useless without Wifi. POI is a joke...it cannot even find Walmart down the street. In order to get any usefulness in searches, I had to setup Wifi in my car. Traffic integration is awful. The traffic applet cannot zoom. You have to switch screens to see traffic. This cannot be done if you mount the unit. Mounting the unit switches it to car mode. The traffic receiver NK1U works okay if you get a signal. See my review. Overall, the unit is still very rough. I am hopeful that with software updates, traffic can be updated via Wifi instead of the Docking station. I had a Dash Express prior to this unit, but it got stolen. The Dash Express had better traffic information...I miss my now stolen and dead (company is on skeleton crew) Dash Express.

1st off, I use this device primarily as a "MID not a MIND"; can do without the GPS navigation, I know my directions well nuff and can still actually read a map.

1. What I find are its outstanding qualities:
- Amazon price for this product for what's basically a miniature surfing computer spells out as a nice little cheap toy!
- Wi Fi connection, this machine seems to instantaneously hook up faster than my laptop or hard rive.
- Browser, surfing, e-mails, etc. as described; works just like a larger laptop or desktop. I understand you can surf with most smart phones now, but their screens are still way to small for my taste.
- File manager and RealPlayer software for storing some important pics, those good enough that you can use for your Clarion wallpaper choices, other so-so pics can stay in the flash drive.
- Good enough size LCD screen, clean picture resolution, vibrant colors. Audio good enough for this small device.
- Real Player software good enough to use for watching MP4 movies while sitting around in a plane plus opening your picture files.

2. Good: 4 GB internal memory only, however, I am always using USB 2.0 flash drives. One of my 8 GB flash drive hold ups to 6-7 full length DVD movies, MP4 files that is.

3. Sucks: Battery life, charged and re-charged this a few times and I feel like I'm only getting 30-45 minutes life out of it. This in mind, I usually keep it plugged in while monkeying around with it in the sofa. I am getting a Duracell 100 watt mobile power source to use, see if this'll get me an extended 2-3 hours more when I can't find an outlet.

Bottom line, for a $129 mobile internet device with Free Amazon Shipping, what's not to like about this?! Gave this a 5-Star, discounting battery performance which I believe is totally independent of this device's useful capabilities.

It is a great device. It would be much better if it was able to hook up to any available wireless or Wi-Fi connection automatically. Also the GPS is not as accurate as my Navigon unit. Maybe with a few firmware updates it can be an excellent all around GPS and internet device. It is a great device for the new price.

There are two ways to regard this device. First, it is a great GPS with a big, beautiful screen. The maps are 2008 Navteq, and pretty good. If you can tether your phone, you have access to Google Maps' database of POIs along with 2 Million built in. If not, you still have the ability over wifi. If you find yourself on a road not in the GPS software, you could hop onto Google Maps [or Bing, Yahoo, Mapquest...] through the web browser. There's a feature I've yet to setup which allows you to basically email coordinates and routes from GMaps in any web browser to the GPS.
If you're tethering your phone, you likely can do all this from your phone, so why buy the MiND? Does your phone have a 4.8" screen? Didn't think so. How about the ability to run various flavors of Linux and Windows? Device startup is faster than my phone [E75], as is GPS lock. The original MSRP was around $700 and while I would never pay that much for a GPS, this thing is far better than any indash unit I've used. Indash units tend to be more expensive than $700, and at about $130, this thing is a great deal, for the GPS usage along.
Of course, the second way to look at this device is as a mini-netbook with a gorgeous touchscreen. I wish it were easier to add programs to the stock OS, but it will boot various other OSes from a USB stick. If I can get the GPS software from the stock OS into Ubuntu, then I'll go install it to the onboard flash. Until then, I need to find a tiny USB hub.
I used to bring my laptop on some trips just to be able to offload pics from my camera. Now I can use my GPS and a USB HDD. I can even recharge my phone through the USB and leave one more cord at home.
The MiND will not boot from the MicroSDHC slot, but it will boot from a thumb drive plugged into a hub with a keyboard. There is a great community for these now that the price has dropped. I would urge you to grab one before they're gone.

This piece of equipment is handy to have on a road trip. I love the USB connectivity to play music from my flash drive. I have it set up to work through the car stereo speakers and was surprised when the turn by turn directions were audible even though music was playing. We enjoy most of the features on the Mind and people who have seen it at my house all want one too. I would recommend the Clarion Mind over the Garmin anyday.

I had purchased this at the end of Dec and had used it for a few times.
I used the Navigation twice and the Web more often. Although it is a GPS/Computer Tablet I use the Computer side more often and so far it has been good and vivid on the screen side. Performance is lacking a bit-when watching the Youtube widget and trying to type something on the web browser the Video/Sound is lagging with every keystroke u punch in and also when the pages are loading the same happens-maybe they will come up with some fix for that in the new firmware update. The Videos are very clear on the screen and so are photos too-good job on that part. The Speaker is located on the back so hearing is a bit of a challenge-might as well use an earpiece. I dont really like the QWERTY keypad because it is difficult to scroll through if you want to input letters. numbers and symbols-they are all in different screens so youd have to tap twice to go and use numbers and twice more to go back to letters-just anoying not having them all at once. Battery life-naaahhhh, there is no battery life, i always have it plugged in when i use it because it drains so quick. The touch screen is very responsive and typing is very easy with the included stylus. I found it very difficult though to COPY a text-it wouldnt allow me to copy just a phrase (or maybe I need to play a bit more with it) only ALL was possible-strange but true. I wish they release a Bluetooth update so we can use the cellphone to dial numbers and receive calls as well as file sharing between the devices. The bottom docking connection gets HOT so be advised that you might accidentally touch that part and feel the burn :) . All in all the device is a no brainer good for the buck ( I paid $130 shipped) wouldnt even think about paying the full retail price cause its not worth that much. So with the Atom Z530 and 800mhz bus speed 4GB SSD, micro and full USB, you get a NETBOOK for a chunk of change-well done. I bought it for the Navigation but use it as a Netbook more often. If your clock is not correct and u try and use the Web browser u will get an Error message about Certificate expired-just make sure your clock is adjusted to the correct time and time zone.

This thing could have been awesome. I had to return the first one since it shocked me when i plugged it in and quit working. However, the second one was functional enough for me to realize this wasn't that great. It could be, and it's not Clarion's fault. This was mostly a Japanese market product, hence the lack of manual, butchered english support, and features that cannot be used in the US. Perfect example: bluetooth tethering. That would allow mobile internet browsing, live traffic, great stuff. But, that is disabled by US cell carriers. Lame.

It has an Intel Atom processor, which is great, and overkill. Then you realize this is really just a linux tablet with GPS in it. Unfortunately, the battery only lasts 45 minutes, so forget the portable tablet idea.

Browser is great, it's Firefox. Media player, eh, not good, not bad.

You can tell this is a few years old, since it has MySpace integration, not Facebook.

GPS, worked okay. Navteq not my favorite, but it gets the job done.

When the Mind works, it works well.
*The GPS antenna is pretty sensitive
*It plays most type of media files smoothly.
*The entire interface is fairly easy to use.

However, the unit often crashes when I try to start the navigation software. To restart, I need to remove the battery. Doing this while driving is very annoying. It could have been fixed with software update. But I think Clarion gave up on the product already.