Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

by Cobra

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 2 x 4 inches ; 1.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000ATU8M6
• Item model number: GPSM 4500
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Enjoy traffic relief while commuting to work or taking a road trip with the Cobra Nav One 4500, the first fully integrated portable navigation system with real-time traffic updates. The plug-and-play GPS navigator features a matchbook-sized traffic receiver that offers up-to-the-minute information on traffic accidents, congested roads, and construction zones in 48 major metropolitan areas across the U.S. As the unit receives the traffic data--which transmits via an FM radio feed from Tele Atlas N.V. and Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network--it processes the information and automatically suggests alternate routes, letting the driver detour around the worst snarls and enjoy a stress-free commute. It's the perfect unit for frustrated commuters and other folks who spend much of their day in the car.

The Nav One 4500 offers more than just traffic updates, however. It also comes preloaded with searchable North American street-level detail maps and more than 7.6 million points of interest--more than any other portable device. The points of interest are organized into nine general categories, including amusement, automotive, medical, and travel, and then further sorted into approximately 200 subcategories. Drivers can also customize the route preferences to make traveling easier. Don't want to deal with stoplight-heavy streets or particularly curvy roadways? Simply program the Nav One 4500 to meet your criteria and it'll find the best route for your needs.

Once you've chosen the destination, the Nav One 4500 provides turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance on its 5-inch color touch-screen display. The screen produces up to twice the brightness of other units in daylight mode, making it easy to read even in the mid-day sun. It also offers 3-D views for easier navigation, along with 14 levels of map zoom and exclusive terrain display, making it simple for the directionally challenged to find their way.

Additional features include an address book that holds up to 1,000 addresses in 20 customizable folders; multi-stop routing for drivers with complex itineraries; proprietary iASAP technology that provides for faster satellite acquisition and uninterrupted navigation in urban canyons and dense foliage; and a traffic antenna that attaches easily to the Nav One 4500 mount and moves with the unit from vehicle to vehicle. The Nav One 4500, which mounts conveniently on your dash, comes with a free three-month subscription for the traffic service, which afterward costs $59.95 per year.

What's in the Box
Nav One 4500 receiver and display, traffic receiver, mount, traffic antenna, user's manual.

Product Description

*Note - The 4500 is the 4000 with additional traffic antenna and three free months of traffic service.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Looking With Great Screen Resolution, but....., January 12, 2006

By 

Eric Morelli "Eric" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

My wife bought me a Cobra 4500 for Christmas. It's a very attractive vehicle GPS with a big screen, crisp resolution and looks/feels sturdy. However, I have some complaints about the software design that I'd like to share. First, the routing software makes some directional mistakes when on freeways. For instance at freeway interchanges, sometimes it will tell me to get onto the upcoming freeway in the wrong direction (i.e. "keep to the left onto I-10 West" when it should say "keep to the left onto I-10 East"). It will always correct itself at the last second, but the correction usually ends up being just before the ramp. In an unfamiliar city, that would not give me time to make a safe lane change. Also, the 3-D graphics are so poor that I've had to select the traditional map view to navigate. As for traffic, it's hit and miss. Sometimes I get the traffic icon on the map as soon as the radio announces the accident, but sometimes I get it 20 or more minutes later, or not at all! Also, for some unknown reason the software developers decided to program the unit so that the user is unable to get a traffic warning notification pop-up unless a speed reduction was posted with the accident. I've encountered several major accidents where traffic has been at a near standstill, yet the pop-up that allows you to select auto re-route did not come up on the screen (probably because speed reductions are not being posted by the traffic provider, Clear Channel Radio). If the pop-up doesn't activate (which it has yet to do for me), you're forced to use the normal detour function to get around the accident. This process is very cumbersome because you have to zoom in on the icon, look at where the accident is located, and then get to the detour screen so you can select your detour -- not something you want to do in heavy traffic! Hey Cobra, why not let the user decide if he/she wants to be notified of all accidents instead of the unit deciding for us??? I've notified Cobra of all of this and I'm hoping they will come out with a software update to correct these problems. Until then, I'm only lukewarm about the unit.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising, but flawed, July 5, 2006

By 

Sam-I-am (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

We were in need of a navigation unit to guide us through our July 4th road trip. The route was Houston, to Corpus Christi, to San Antonio, Austin, and back to Houston. The 2000 Acura TL that we have has navigation but it's too small for a family trip. So we took the van and the Cobra Nav One with us. At first, it was love at first sight. The unit is gorgeous!! The bright touchscreen was big, bigger than any other competitors unit. And bright, oh boy, even during midday in Texas sun at the beach, being mounted on the dash, the unit was easily readable and legible. Best I have seen yet. The map data it has was incredible. Even the tiniest nooks and cranes in the backroad is contained here. Even the slightest curves on the road is acknowleged. The bazillions of interest points it has came in real handy when you're in a strange town looking for a particular restaurant.

Those are the good points

The downside comes, when you actually use the main feature of the unit, navigation and routing. The software is one of the dumbest I have used. It's routing capability is not nearly as flexible nor as dynamic as the navigation system that comes stock with the 2000 Acura TL. Once the route is set, the Nav One unit will STICK to it. If you change direction, it will keep nagging you to turn around, 70 miles turn around, to return to the original route, instead of making a new one. The only way to fix that, is to go back to Main menu, and choose the destination again. Only then it will reroute with the new direction. The Acura TL navigation does all that automatically. Much smarter than the Nav One... The routing itself is majorly flawed as well. We did not get lost in Corpus Christi, as it is a small city with simple laid out. That changed quickly as we got to San Antonio. The unit got us lost multiple of times. At one point, it tried to get us to drive into a 1-way street, the opposite direction... At another, we drove under a bridge and the Nav One lost signal and shuts itself off instead of staying on to reconnect o_0. Don't get me wrong, I love the Cobra Nav One. It is gorgeous and flashy, target for thieves no doubt. However, all the bells and whistles become meaningless if the navigation and routing do not work properly. The unit is going to be returned. Until next time, Cobra...

Pros:
1) BIG bright screen, one of the best in the market. Easy to read in daylight.
2) Jam packed interest points
3) It's sexy and gets you the ladies
4) Very very detailed mapping.

Cons:
1) Routing and rerouting are broken
2) The software is not very smart.
3) Signal loss = automatic shut down
4) Did I mention the routing and rerouting are broken?

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Like a Porsche... without wheels!, April 20, 2006

By 

NitroPress "tech wrangler" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

When realtime traffic monitoring came to my city, I immediately started looking at solutions to help my wife's daily business driving (2-500 miles weekly, crisscrossing a 50-mile area through major traffic routes). I quickly settled on an automotive GPS with realtime traffic monitoring. There are not yet many choices in this area, so the options boiled down to this unit and the Garmin 2720. (These use FM radio for the traffic info; the XM-radio units like the TomTom 700 and Garmin 2730 had unacceptably high monthly costs since I don't want XM radio.)

I chose the Cobra for its large screen and positive reviews in areas that were important to me. Its flawed routing ability was not a major issue as it was to be used in a well-known region. Address lookup and traffic monitoring were the primary needs.

In short, I don't know much about how the Cobra performs because I was only able to use it for a few short test trips. This is because the mounting hardware is one of the most deficient pieces of engineering I have ever encountered in higher-end electronics gear:

- The only mounting option is via suction cup, which in tests would adhere reliably only to nearly flat glass. A stick-on disc for attaching the suction cup is also provided, but I did not attempt to use it and would not trust it to be able to hold this heavy (1.25 pound) unit over the long run. If your vehicle does not have a flat section of windshield in a convenient location, you will have very few options for mounting this unit.

- California law prohibits attaching things to the windshield, meaning that California users either need to risk a minor ticket or find an acceptable alternate mounting point. (Good luck to you: I was unable to find one in three different vehicles!) Compounding the problem is that the mount has a very limited positioning range and easily runs out of adjustment room for most potential mounting alternatives.

- Cobra does not offer any other mounts or mounting accessories at all - no beanbag or friction mount, no clamp, no fixed-base mount, nothing. If there is any aftermarket option (RAM Mount, etc.) I was unable to find it. You are stuck with Cobra's proprietary mount unless you are willing to modify the unit or its mounting pieces and fabricate an adapter for a Garmin or RAM Mount base.

I was *almost* willing to go the extra mile to make this unit work in my vehicle, even though the best solution would have been very awkward to dismount and remount, making it a potential theft target.

The final straw was when I found that the traffic receiver was faulty and I was unable to get a reply from the manufacturer in a timely manner (two days now and counting...) Enough's enough; something was telling me that this unit wasn't the right choice.

So this unit is being returned and I've already ordered a Garmin 2720 with GTM11 traffic receiver in replacement. The prices for the units through Amazon are nearly the same (especially when factoring in the costs for 15 months of traffic monitoring - the Cobra comes with three months and gets $60 per year after that, while the Garmin comes with 15 months and has the same annual cost after that - so you have to add $60 to the Cobra to get a truly equivalent price). Garmin also has excellent mounts with a range of attachment options, some of the best map and routing tools, and a long track record with GPS units. It does have a smaller screen and some complaints about the user interface, but at least I can mount it properly and be able to tuck it away and remount it easily to prevent theft.

This unit gets two stars only because my brief experience with its function appears to live up to all the positive reviews - but overall, it's like a high-performance sports car with no wheels! I 100% recommend against it for California users and suggest that others try to lay hands on a sample unit to see if it can be properly mounted in your vehicle before laying out $750.