Customer Reviews

Navman GPS 3420 for iPAQ H3600, H3700 & H3800 series pocket PCs

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I Purchased the Navman 3420 for the iPAQ after becoming extremely dissatisfied with the Pharos Ostia GPS product. See my review of that product. Like the Pharos system the routing software wants to choose you route for you and may not always be the best or most practical way to go. If you want to stick to the interstates, you can't if it thinks another way is shorter. This is also a flaw in the Pharos system, but the Pharos is much worse. Also it does not offer the flexibility to get from point A to point C via point B. But that is the worst thing I have to say about this product. Overall the maps are pretty good and fairly detailed. I have found a few quirks like a missing road segment or bridge which causes the system to route you the long way around as well as a few landmarks that are not in the right place, but the re-routing capability is pretty good. The maps are fairly good size, probably averaging 50mb and will require a CF card. A 256mb card will do and hold 4 or 5 maps, but I would recommend a 512.

From the hardware point of view, the Navman 3420's GPS antenna sleeve fits the iPAQ like a glove and has an integrated compact flash slot and is still compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Also the suction cup windshield mount fits right into the back of the sleeve allowing the unit to be mounted conveniently to the driver.

The functionality is pretty good and the menus are clear and easy to navigate. Most of the menu items are large enough to be selected with a finger and the zoom and toggle toggles are controlled with the action button. There have only been a few times that the software has gotten `confused' and required a reboot (vs. frequently with the Pharos). You should be up and running right out of the box in the time it takes to load the maps.

I have not had the occasion to use Navman's tech support, which in itself is a plus, so I cannot comment. I'm not going to go so far as to say it's the perfect product but it's design and operation is practical and sensible. The manufacturer has obviously put some thought into the product. I would like to see further development of the mapping software and more flexibility in route planning, like via waypoints.

Summary: Overall I'm pleased with this product. Hardware - 5 stars, Software - 3 stars.

I have been using the Navman 3420 coupled to an Ipaq 3850 for over 1 year and am constantly disappointed by its performance.

1) Maps are full of errors, old, and there have NO updates during the time I have owned this product. Even my own street is misnamed in the software.

2) When traveling across country, there is no way to program waypoints or to select one's own routing. This is terrible and really a pain. I mean this is why you want to buy a GPS unit right? When you follow the routing selected by the software, be prepared for a wild ride anywhere...maybe even through a corn field, no kidding it tried to route me through a corn field!

3) If you would like to load several maps on one of the larger compact flash cards and navigate through 5 or more states, GOOD LUCK! You will need an Ipaq with more than the 64mb of sdram found on the 3850(understand sdram on an Ipaq is not upgradeable). They say you will need 7 to 10% of the map area used on the compact flash card in sdram. So if you try to use a 512mb card for example (loaded with maps) then you will need approximately 50mb of sdram? Almost impossible on a 64mb machine as it will use sometimes upwards of 18mb just to run on its own without Navman's SmartST Professional software.

4) The 3420 does not have an external antenna input. Why is this important? Try using the unit in a large city with tall buildings without one. When you really need it - it will loose the satellite fix.

Do not waste your money on this device. Wait for a later generation product that is much more refined. Go to Walmart and buy a road atlas for $5 until then.

Very unreliable. Clumsy user interface. Couple of times I had to pull over and wait for the stupid thing to lock on the sattelites. Often needs a PDA reset. Imagine having to reset your PDA , start the program again and enter the destination again while driving in traffic.

I was running the NAVMAN GPS on a iPAQ 3955. To make this short, after doing a "Hard" reset and applying the latest Soft-Paq I could get it to work 1 out of 10 times.

Another mistake I made was buying a SanDisk 512mb CF card so I could store the program and maps (You'll get about 1/4 of the US on the card.) You can't install the program to the CF card as it will not function and the program (4.3mb installed) definitely slowed down my machine.

Just so you know I sent it back to Amazon and was refunded.