Customer Reviews

Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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?

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.

The unit operates as good as any other GPS system available, plus it has a great big screen of 5 inches. I am very impressed with the GPS, but the mount used to attach the unit to the window or dash is very poorly designed. The unit falls off the window and from the dash, plus the power cord comes out too easily. The unit deserves a five star rating, but because of the mounting system and power cord coming out too easily a four star rating was provided.

I bought this but I have found several flaws. First let me mention that the unit that made me decide I needed GPS was an option in the 2006 Honda Odyssey that happens to be made by alpine.

My first problem with it was the altimeter; although most won't use it, it was a feature that I liked. Unfortunately it was completely worthless, my parking space in front of my house ranged from 120Ft one day to 0 feet 2 days later. I know my house or parking space did not move so that fault is on the unit. Also when driving the unit would claim you climbed 200 feet when you drove less than 50 feet forward sometimes.

My next problem was direction; it would take me on back roads rather than highways even though I said I prefer highways. And as you drove the screen did not flow, instead it would reload taking a second or two to reload the map and the icons. Both the Honda and my friends G35 flowed without this, and the graphics between the 3 the cobra clearly loses out. The graphics are substandard. Also the unit only calls out numbers for roads, if the road is not a road with numbers (IE a highway) it just says turn left or right, which when driving in the city can be frustrating as you cannot be looking at it constantly. Finally the house number portion was off quite a bit (1/10 of a mile or so).

Next was traffic, this was rarely right, not sure if any other GPS units are right, but this would say there was an accident at one place and it would end up being off 1 or 2 miles (This was in the Baltimore/Washington area), I ended up using the radio traffic people more times than not.

Next was the Points of interest function. On the Honda it showed signs for an Exxon, or BP. The Cobra does not, it shows an icon for Gas or Food, and while trying to drive you have to touch the area on the screen you are looking at, than press the screen at the top to get a listing of what was there. While driving in the city, and looking for a McDonalds this is not an option.

Last was the suction cup mounting bracket, for a unit of this weight it is under engineered to hold it. The first 5 minutes I drove with it, it fell. Agreeable it was right after I cleaned the windshield so it was not completely dry. The next time was the last time I did not take it off before leaving my vehicle. It was after a snow storm came through and the condensation that occurred between the windshield and the suction cup was enough to make it lose contact and fall again. For a unit that costs 800+ bucks this is unacceptable, if it were to break it would be on me due to a poor design. And I am not the only one who had problems like this, I have read of others with the same issue.

Needless to say I took it back, it's not a horrible unit but for the price there are better answers.

I got this unit after upgrading from a Garmin c320. On first impression, the unit is large, and heavy. I takes up a good bit of real estate on the windshield, and has included a foam pad to rest on the dash so as not to scratch the dash. The unit does not have an internal battery, nor does it come with a house adapter, so all programing etc. needs to be done in the car. This is a huge drawback as the unit has so many options, it would be nice to sit in the comfort of your home to play with and customize it. The manual is very vague, but the interface is pretty easy to get around without the manual.

The spoken instructions are clear and in a pleasant voice. The unit annouces numbered highways, but not street names. Another nice touch is that the unit anounces when you cross a state border, whether or not you are in guidance mode. It says "You are now entering New York" etc.

The screen is large, clear and bright. Easily read in direct sun. The screen also automatically dims in three different modes. Full brightness and daylight colors for daytime, half brightness and daylight colors for twilight, and 25% brightness and night colors for night time. Each of these are customizeable to the brightness level and color you prefer. There is also a 3D mode, which I found poor. Compared to the Garmin, the graphics rendering was horrible. I kept it in the track up mode. With the large screen, you get to see a lot. Cobra claims that this unit locates sattelites quiker than any other unit. Yawn. On some occasions, I was actually driving for ten minuted before it locked into a sattelite.

This unit came with a traffic antenna with free traffic for 90 days. I live in the New York Metro Area, 1 hour North of NYC. The reports did not come into the unit until about 1/2 hour out of the city, sometimes while already in the traffic. The reporting was pretty good in northern and central NJ, so if you live in those areas, as well as the city itself it will work for you.

The unit offered two sets of directions to chose from, which was nice. However, it takes way too long to calculate a route. The longer the route, the longer the time it takes to calculate. It took 1 minute and 45 seconds to calculate a 70 mile trip. It also takes forever to recalculate a route if you miss a turn. I was driving along a highway and could not get off of the directed exit because of a truck. I kept going and after I passed the next exit two miles down the road, it told me to get off that exit. It took another two miles of driving to recalculate, and told me to get off the next exit after I passed it. Eventually I had to pull over on the shoulder to let the thing have time to recalculate.

This unit works with a hard drive, versus a flash drive, so it works a little slower. This I expected, but the wait time is unbearable. Also, because it has a hard drive, the thing kept freezing. The unit froze up three seperate times, and lost ALL of the data I entered. Luckily, it happened in areas that I knew where I was. The unit also buzzes and you can hear the hard drive crunching. Very annoying if you are driving a pretty quiet car with the radio off.

The maps are very outdated! The unit was telling me to turn on streets that no longer existed, and did not have some srteets that have been existance for years. There are two streets in my neighborhood that have been closed off for over 30 years, but the unit kept directing me to use these streets. The routing is also very whacky. Many times it would tell you to pass your destination and make a uturn. I was on a divided highway once, and my destination was on left. I approached an intersection with a left turn light, where I could have made a left turn directly into the destination. Instead, the unit directed me to continue 1/2 mile up the road and make a uturn at a point where there was no where to turn. It also on very many occasions would tell me the destination was on left when it was on right and vice versa.

The mounting of the unit is cumbersome, difficult to get on and off, and due to the size, it is very difficult to hide this monster away. I unexpectedly had to valet park once, and did not want to leave the unit in the car. I had to lug this monster with me, which was very inconvenient with the size.

This unit has lots of bells and whistles. But in the long run, the unit is bought primarily for guidance. And it fails miserably here. I was so nervouse that the unit would crash or send me to hell instead of where I wanted to go in an unknown area, that I would take along my Garmin as backup. I eventually returned the item, and after testing four other brands of GPS, I returned to Garmin and bought a Nuvi 350. A beautiful small unit, that gives great directions, anoounces street names, has a choice of voices, many of the features of the Cobra, as well as a MP3 player, audio book player and tons of other useful items. And the garmin literally fits in a shirt pocket AND comes with it's own case. I seriously would not recommend this Cobra unit to anyone. It's great for the first week with all the bells and the screen, but in the field, it does not perform.

My original purchase was a Cobra 3000. After just over a year - during which I used it on the average of once a month - it stopped working. The screen turned pink and it shut itself off for the last time. I was always very careful with the Cobra 3000. I kept it in a case padded with air pillows when I wasn't using it so it wouldn't get damaged. It stopped working while I was driving down a major highway at 60mph- no idea where I was.

I liked the large screen of the Cobra and the 4500 was a touch screen (the Cobra 3000 was not) so I chose that as the replacement for the 3000.

The only experience I had with a GPS was the 3000 so I had nothing else to compare the 4500 to. The five inch screen is easy to read. I like the turn by turn directions. It becomes a problem when it switches back to the map view automatically while you are driving and you can't tell what the next turn will be without touching the screen and getting the turn by turn view back....dangerous to do when driving. The voice prompt doesn't always tell you about turns in time to switch lanes on a busy highway.

The mounting bracket is terrible.....It is awkward to put on the GPS device and hard to keep on the window once you get the unit together. I tried to take the unit off the mounting backet when I stopped - to keep it from being stolen. It became such a major task that I finally just threw my coat over the entire unit attached to the windshield and left it there..hoping for the best.

Another review mentioned the fact that the Cobra 4500 refuses to re-route you when you change directions. It will continue to try to get you to go back to the original route for 50 miles or more and won't adapt. You have to turn it off and start again if you decide to go a different way.

Sometimes it is hard to know what the Cobra calls the streets and towns you are looking for. If you don't put the name in exactly as it is in the GPS it won't find it. I have had to find cities that are near the one I'm looking for in order to get the GPS to take me to the area - and then try to reset it for my final destination. Mostly I travel in areas I'm familiar with so it's not a big problem. In an area I don't know it could mean I'd be lost unless I could figure out how to let it know where I wanted to go.

This weekend - After 9 months of very light use the audio/voice on my Cobra 4500 stopped working - this time in the middle of Pittsburgh, PA.
I took it back to the store and they said they could not repair it. It would have to be sent back to the company. I considered keeping it without the voice because the video still worked and I need the larger screen. I wasn't aware that there were other units out there with large screens.

But, that would mean trying to drive and watch the screen...not a good idea. Luckily, Garmin had just come out with a screen that is about a half inch smaller. I purchased the Garmin nuvi 660. I absolutely love it. It has more features than the Cobra 4500, a great light mounting bracket that is easy to use, and a screen that is just as easy to read. The Cobra is heavy and awkward to store out of sight. The Garmin 660 in its fitted case can be dropped in a purse or pocket. The Cobra 4500 has to be attached to the car to work. The Garmin 660 has a rechargable battery so you can use it away from the car or in the cars of friends & family.

The best thing about the Cobra 4500 is the size of the screen. I gave it three stars because it got me where I wanted to go mostly and it does have some good features. If you can get it for a good price and don't mind spending time trying to mount it on and take it off the windshield the Cobra 4500 would be ok.
If I hadn't found the Garmin 660 I might have tried another Cobra.
For those who need the larger screen it is better than the smaller units.

The Garmin 660 is more expensive, but worth it. The ease of use alone is worth the price. For me this was a bonus - You can change the color and type of the car that appears on the Garmin map. I have a yellow car, so as I go down the road my yellow car appears on the map, driving along the route.....not important for function, but little things like that make the trip a little more fun.

I have used GPS units from Cobra, Garmin, and Lowrance. I consider this Cobra unit to be one of the best. I started with the Cobra but it was stolen after a month. Then I bought the Lowrance but it was too heavy and the mount was a sgood as the Cobra. I returned the Lowrance and bought the Garmin 340.

Advantages of the Cobra is that it has a large screen and a solid mount (despite its size). The interface isn't quite as intuitive as Garmin but once you learn it it is actually better. The traffic service is also nice (costs more with the Garmin). The Cobra is the most capable of the GPS units I mentioned but overall I am happier with the Garmin because of it's smaller size and lower price.

The Cobra Nav One has got everything that I could want in a Car Navigation System! It has a big, beautiful screen that doesn't ever block my vision, and it is by far the easiest electronic device I have ever used. Right out of the package, just plug it in and about three button presses later you are ready to go wherever you want. Some people knock it for not having an internal battery, but who really needs to carry their bulky navigation system around with them in their pocket (with their, wallet, cell phone, organizer, etc.) and have it barking out directions from their pants?!?!

The displays are so easy to read, and everything is customizable. There are a LOT of little preferences that you can play with to make it just right for you. Probably the best feature about this nav system is the 7.6 MILLION POINTS OF INTEREST! It may seem excessive for some, but trust me you will love it and need it, especially if you have to be in a small town for a while. I moved to a small town in NC, and within the first two days my Cobra found a Wal-Mart, dry-cleaners, mechanics, elementary schools, malls, banks, churches, and much more. I don't even make my own decisions anymore. I just ask "Cobra" what restaurants are nearby, and I have my pick from about 50 in a 10 mile radius. Plus there are SO MANY CATEGORIES! It's not just where are all the restaurants nearby. It gives you options for American, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, (the list goes on...) and then gives you the PHONE NUMBER of every single POI. I regularly call the place to see if they're open before I go, or to make a reservation. And there is a Go Home button that gets you back home from anywhere with the touch of a button.

I haven't even started on the sturdy (yet easily removable) mounting hardware, traffic receiver, multiple routes, or 3D and Terrain maps yet, but trust me it's got all that and more. The only negative point that I can make is that sometimes it tells me that my destination is on the left side of the street when it is actually on the right. Also, I left it in my car outside on a frosty night in January and when I came out in the morning it told me that its temperature was too low to operate, but it started as soon as I got the car warm. I still think that it is the best nav system on the market and not too expensive either. BOTTOM LINE: Get the COBRA NAV ONE 4500!!! You won't be disappointed!

I am very pleased with this GPS unit. I was alittle worried after reading some of the reviews, but am very happy that I still ordered it.

The graphics are by far one of the best. It has very detailed graphics, unlike many of the other brands that have a more cartoon look to them. The graphics are compariable to what you would find in a in-dash unit. It is very user friendly, and easy to navigate. The unit does weigh a bit, but have not had any problems with the suction cup as I read about. As long as the window is clean it works great. I have even drove over some really bumpy roads and the unit has not come loose.

For the money and what you get this is a terrific unit, and would highly recommend it.