Customer Reviews

Navman GPS 3450 for iPAQ H5400, H3600, H3700 & H3800 series pocket PCs

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I have a iPAQ 3800 that I no longer use and ordered the Navman with a little bit of concern based on the reviews. I found the software easy to use and install. The device works as well as the GPS I've used on rental cars. I live in a remote area with a private driveway that is about 900 feet long and even my driveway was on the provided maps. The GPS takes about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes to acquire. Once active, I put in an address and so far have been directed precisely where I want to go.

A couple of tips - each one of the maps takes 20 to 40 meg depending on the size of the state. If you have an older iPAQ, you'll probably need some SD memory. You won't be able to load the maps without the extra memory. It took about four minutes to load a 20 meg map on my iPAQ. There are some tips about increasing performance in the manual that are worth the read. When you install the software on your computer, check the website for updates before downloading to your iPAQ, they have corrected a couple of minor error messages that came up.

If you have a basic understanding of how to install software, you should not have any problem with Navman. I found the device easy to use and install. I am very satisfied with the performance.

I bought this thing after it finally dropped down in price to two hundred fifty dollars. Plus i got another fifty rebate and a free 128 CF card to boot! This thing works wonderfully and quickly locks on to several satellites. i live in San Francisco and the only time it ever loses satellite contact is when I go thru the nearby tunnels but when I get out of it within 5 seconds it quickly locks back on! It tells you your speed, distance to go and will reroute you if you go off course from your desired destination! My only beef is that it doesn't tell you elevation which it could if the software allowed and if it locks on to at least 4 satellites (which it always does). I plan on calling navman and ask them if they plan on updating the software for elevation.

This this is so fun and is very accurate and its unbelieve about that i can put every public road in California, Nevada, Michigan and Minnesota onto a 128 Meg CF card! To fit the entire US on a CF card you will need a 1 Gigabyte CF which currently is about two hundred bucks at Costco.

Highly recommended for your Ipac. You will have lots of fun!

good:
1)the interface looks good, fancy looking
that's it!

bad:
1)DUMB software: keep tell me to "perform illegal U-turn" when I am on i-5 going from SF to LA. It won't re-route until midpoint on I5

2)Exit: most of the time it will not tell you where to exit from the highway, no street name, no exit# (it will only say "exit in 1500 feet"). So if there's multiple exits (especially in LA!) within couple hundred feet, it will get very confused and make the user confused too! 99% of the time the user will end up getting out on the wrong exit!

3)when the highway splits, it won't know which highway it's on if you chose the middle lane. or, it thinks you are on the highway when it's really on the service road.

4)frequent reboot/freeze up.

5)it will take non-necessary shortcut, get people lost

6)won't let you choose the route. Stubborn piece of junk.

my wife doesn't want to use it, my friends who had used it don't trust it. makes me look like an idiot.

should never get this.

Works quite well. Comes with a suction cup for your windshield, power cable to work with car lighter, map software. Easy to install. You can set up favorite destinations or go to the map, click on map and select any spot as destination. Can include or exclude restaurants, hotels, etc. Turn on/off the verbal instructions. Tracks dead-on on the map. Can scale map up or down for details or big picture of where you are going. Pretty fast, usually only has to think 5 to 10 seconds to figure out new route. Will auto reroute if you don't follow directions exactly. Only downside is that the screen is a little on the small side, and not quite bright enough in sunlight. Takes about 15-20 seconds to acquire satellite signals. Sometimes I have to soft reboot to get it to work. Better than buying a new car to get navigation.

I can't disagree with any of the reviews here regarding the quality and usability of the navigation software. However, there is a significant limitation to this device that should be brought to light.
You have to choose geographic regions to import map data to your IPAQ before this system will work. So far so good. The down side is that each map region is in the 30 to 40 MB range. So in reality, you have to have a CF card just to start using this system. No problem you say, I'll get a CF card. This will allow you to install 1 or 2 map regions onto your IPAQ, but no more. Because this software needs "7 to 9 percent" of the size of your map files in main memory, you will still not be able to run more than about 2 map files.
If you're going to use this device to navigate around a single city, that won't be a problem. If you don't live close to a region boundary, you'll probably be fine. But don't plan on using this device for a cross-country trip, and find out if you're close to a border (Kansas City is) because if you are, you will have problems.

The pros:
Good gps unit, easy to use, nice layout, customisable, will work well with other gps software.

The con:
Literaly a con, you will not be able to use the SmartSt software. Navmans servers "do not" support activation of this software any longer. If you can provide proof of "original" ownership they will send you the same original software with new coding for installation at 1/2 the original cost (about $165.00 US)

Just got off the phone with Navman support. They asked me to buy a latest iPaq and buy new Navman. Since they stopped supporting the old and the old one does not seem to work with their server for registering the software.

I'm just coming back from vacations in Europe where I used the GPS a lot with my old iPaq H3660.
It worked quite well with the European maps I bough on the web.
Routing is Ok but not always perfect. The so-called fastest route in not always the one suggested by the system.
The addition of way-points would be great for long trips.

Conclusion: Good, affordable and complete (12v power cable + mounting bracket) navigation system. Let's hope the next software upgrade will fix the current routing problems.

I wanted a GPS for occasional trips (especially when traveling in new cities) but I didn't want to spend hundreds to get one. I was thrilled to stumble across this, which also offered the chance to get some use out of my dusty Ipaq 3670. As GPS's go, it's definitely at the low-end, but it works just fine. And for the money it's unbeatable. Even if you have to buy a used Ipaq off Ebay, it's still a great value. The suction-cup mount that comes with it is excellent, and the car charger works great. There are a few minor downsides: (a) It's running off however much RAM is in your Ipaq (mine is 64mb), so it starts a little slow. (b) It can hang if you try to move around menus while it's calculating a route. (c) You really need CF memory if you're going to load more than 1 state into it. 256mb will get you half of the US. All in all, an excellent value and a solid product.

I purchased this unit about a year ago for my IPAQ 5455 PDA, which is a pretty decked out and powerful unit. I had installed no other programs, so there was nothing else that should have conflicted.

The GPS continuously froze and I called tech support. They informed me of a known issue with the software and told me to download a patch. I did so and it helped none. On a 12 hour drive from CT to NC, it froze at least 10 times. I wanted this unit because it was supposed to increase my security by keeping me from taking the wrong turn into the bronx off of 287 in NY that I have often mistakenly taken. Instead, I risked my personal saftey by hard rebooting my PDA at Interstate cruising speed and trying to get this thing working. After it crashed twice, I switched driving positions so I could play with it from the passenger seat while my significant other drove, but to no avail.

This unit is supposed to offer great improvements over the 3420 (which was notorious for such problems), but I did not find this to be the case.

In order to maintain full navigation functionality, 3 satelites must be within signal range for accurate triangulation of the position, and as many as 12 may be accessed at one time. It took a long time to acquire signal, then it was lost quickly. I have used other (more antiquated) GPS systems that were able to obtain reliable sat signals much more quickly, so I was very disappointed.

The software functionality is decent, but that doesn't matter because it crashes so much that it is available only for a limited time.

I have since returned the GPS and sold my PDA because the main intended purpose had been for use as a GPS unit. Go with a dedicated GPS such as the Magellan Meridian Color if you want to get into GPS.