Customer Reviews

Navman iCN 520 Vehicle GPS Navigation System

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This GPS system works well, especially for those of us who have no proir knowledge to get to specific places.

If you have to punch in the address, there's a menu that you type up the city, the street, and the number, and it'll make a list of closest matches to where you need to go. You can also save destinations as favorites, or you can save your home address as "Home".

And directions are done quite well, i must say. When you have to get bare left/right to get into/off of a parkway/freeway, it tells you to do that, giving you enough time to do so. It'll tell you approximately when you need to turn and what to do immediatly afterwards (ex: "In 0.2 miles, turn right", or "turn right, then go straight"), and if you were to, say, miss your destination spot, or go in a different direction, it'll recoordinate new directions in a relatively speedy fashion.

Now, it also comes with a brightly-lit, and easy to access touch screen and a stylus that allow you to select items fast.

With all it's functionality, and blunt directions, there are a few small things about it that annoy me.

Firstly, if you have a lot of map data on your GPS, it will slow down its reaction time and how long it takes to load up directions, especially if you had set the map to show in 3D (I have mine always set in 2D, becuase you don't need to see a map in 3D to know where you're going, and it loads up faster in 2D, anyways)

Another thing is that the memory card given with th GPS (if yours comes with one) is relatively small in the data storage dept. (mine was 125 MB, if I remember), so you may need to buy a bigger one, especially if you want to travel some of the states (I bought a 1 GB Memory card for the Eastern Coast of the USA, and some of the Central part of it).

Also, the tiny, nonflexible D-pad on the lower right corner is a bit awkward, and a tad useless. selecting with it is easy, but you need to press the stiff center of the button, which may have you accidently move right and click, or move down and click. In short: Use the Stylus, religiously, for this GPS.

Apart from its minute quirks, the Navman iCN 520 GPS is a functional, and dependable piece of gadgetry that I will hold on to for quite some time.

I think this gps unit is excellent overall, especially consider the low price tag (I bought it for [...], free s/h & no tax). I wanted a gps unit after playing with my friend's Magellan Roadmate 300, and I think this unit is overally slightly better.

After reading numerous reviews, I was initially really worried about the time it takes to secure a satellite signal: many users has reported taking up to ten minutes. The inital satellite lock took me less than 2 minutes (I live in a small town in NC). after you turn the unit off (such as at the gas station), it will find the gps signal in less than 30 secs usually and will resume your previous route. There's another switch to completely shut off power supply (like when you're not planning to use it for a long time), after turning the unit back on, it takes about 2 minutes to get a satellite signal again...but overall it finds the signal faster than Magellan 300. One thing you can do to reduce start up time is to only activate the state's map you're in. For example, I loaded all the SE U.S. states but only have NC activated, I think this makes finding a gps signal slightly faster.

The GPS is very accurate, it's never more than 5 feet off unless in really bad weather conditions. I really like the fact that it's portable (not much bigger than a PDA), it comes with a leather carrying pouch and has about a 4 hrs of battery life. It comes with in-car mounting unit and cigarette lighter power supply that works very well. The maps are excellent, you can choose many different styles of maps (2D, 3D etc) and the map will automatically zoom-in to show more detail before each turn. The menus are fairly easy to use, but not idiot proof, most people should not have much trouble with it. Looking up addresses and "points of interests" were very easy. However it might be somewhat difficult using the touch-screen if you have fat fingers, but it does comes with stylus to circumvent this potential problem. the LCD is 3.5 inches, bigger than most in it's price category, and I definitely don't recommend anything smaller (like some of the tom-tom). The software you need to install on the PC is easy to use, and hooking pc to the gps via supplied usb cable was a breeze. You can plan multiple stops on this gps, and this function was easy to use. If you make a wrong turn, it very quickly recalculates the route for you.

There are some things i don't like about this. First and foremost, the screen has a glare in sunny weather, which can be quite annoying sometimes. also the volume is low even when turned up to max (can't hear well when window is open). The map transferring process from pc to gps unit is extremely slow, it seemed like it took about an hour to load up southeast U.S. (about 240mb). my unit only came with U.S. English (both male and female), I wanted to change it to an english accent but i gave up because this would've been very difficult to do.

I'm overall very satisfied, I would've given it 5 stars had it not for the glare in sunny conditions. This unit is pretty complete with all the major functions average consumers seek for an in-car GPS. I would definitely recommend you to buy this unit!!

I just bought this product, so the review is premature, but this is a great GPS unit, and it's a steal at half the MSRP. I doubt the minor updates of the icn530 are worth the additional $150. It has the biggest touch screen and best set of features available in this price range. It's better than the Magellan 360 because it is more compact/less ugly.

The fact that you have to load your detailed maps on the SD card is only a minor inconvenience. A 1GB card should hold all of USA.

I get a quick satelite fix everytime I turn it on, and route recalculation is quick enough so far. The interface is intuitive and responsive. The blue backlit buttons are sexy too.

Buy it before it's only available as a 90-day warranty refurb (roxorz!) on ebay or obscure online stores.

After reading many glowing reviews of this product, I decided to take the plunge and order one. One week later it was repackaged in the box and shipped back. The unit has some nice features including quick route calculations, many POI's, and a nice touch pad. However the time it took to acquire a sat signal makes this thiing pretty much useless. My commute time from work to home is roughly 25 minutes, it took the 520 from the time I left the work parking lot to the time I pulled into my driveway before it got a sat fix.I thought to myself...you have got to be kidding. So I gave it another go, I punched in my favorite takeout restuarant on the POI menu and set that as my destination. I left my house, went to the restuarant, picked up my food, drove back home, and guess what...still no signal, and this was after a warm start. Another downside is the software is lacking many updated streets. Some streets in my subdivision have been around for 4-5 years, but they are not found on the software. Also, it takes a 2GB SD card to load all the NA CD's that are included with the bundle and transferring states to your SD card is painfully slow. It took about 15-25 mins to download each state to the card (roughly 20mb's for a avg sized state). If you do not want a GPS system that will give you aggrevation time and time ago, this is not the unit for you.

Review: Updated June 3rd, 2007.

This Navman is working great. I traveled more than 35,000 miles with no problems.

One side note: All GPS are like a portable computer because they all have microprocessors. If you experience any problems, just reboot the Navman. There should be an On/Off switch in the back. You can use your stylus to do that.

Review: Updated August 8th, 2006.
I still love this GPS. Come on people!!! If it takes you 15-25 minutes to load just one State, you need to get a new computer. I have an old Celeron 500 mhz computer with 128mb and it took me less than 5 minutes to load one State. I can get a Satellite signal in less than 2 minutes. If it takes you more than 2 minutes, it could be the Satellite is trying to find you from your last destination.
Example: I drove from home, 100 miles to a friend's house using my GPS. After arriving to the friend's house, I turned off my GPS. While I drove back home, I kept the unit turned off. After arriving home, I turned on the GPS, this time it took 5 minutes for the Satellite to find my GPS because the Satellite is trying to find me 100 miles away. Weather permitting, it should not take you more than 5 minutes to get a signal. If it takes you 25 minutes to get a signal that means you have one of those special car windshields (read the manual) or a defective GPS. If you cannot find streets that is around for 5 years, that means there is something wrong with you. TeleAtlas, the provider of the maps, has been around since 1981. Come on people!!! This unit is easier to use than programming your old VCR.

Review: July 20th, 2006
I have been using this Navman GPS for over a month. The maps are very easy to install. Pick and choose which State to install in your computer. Install the maps yourself and save up to $400. The 256 MB memory card that Navman provides can easily store 2 or more States. If you travel to many different States, I recommend a bigger SD memory card.

You will never get lost when you have this GPS with you. The Voice Instructions are simple and easy to understand. Touchscreen is easy to use. You can pull out a Stylus Pen from the back of this GPS if you don't like to use your fingers. It is very lightweight and pocket size portable. You can take this GPS with you when you are away from your vehicle because it has a built-in rechargeable battery. I used it while I am walking on a street and know exactly where I am at.

While driving, if you miss a turn, it will automatically re-route you in seconds. I have tested this device driving over 2,500 miles in the past month. This GPS never gave me any problems. The maps are up to date and very accurate.

Many of my friends who own Magellans and Garmins are amazed with this Navman. I tested my Navman ICN 520 against their GPS. The Navman is as accurate as their $700 devices. I came out ahead because I paid $350 and they paid over $700 for the Magellan and Garmin. Also, my Navman works in and out of the car.

This Navman GPS is a MUST BUY.

I bought this baby for $300, it has all the info for
maps from Mexico to Alaska. Nice easy to read display.
The push button menu key sucks, everything else is great.

I have used so many gps receivers since 98 starting from Garmin 12 and Delorme Earthmate interfaced with laptops and pdas, and also with bluetooth gps receiver. Then I just got the Magellan roadmate 800 a month ago. That thing was cool but bulky. Got some info on net how to hack it and able to play divx, overclock from 300mhz to 500mhz. But when I saw the iCN 520 on sale for $199 with free shipping, I could not resist a good deal like that and I bought one...
Here is the list of features of iCN520 that i like:
Smaller and lighter with same screen size 3.5",
Zooming and scrolling over the map is faster.
Someone complained about glare, maybe, but I adjusted my map color to white background and I had no problem to see directions. The small speaker distorts and sound metalic but I can live with that.
I also found info how to hack it and I can use as pda without block recognizer, divx, mp3 player, scientific calculator,...
Overall I found iCN 520 a cute and useful gadget.

NAVMAN iCN 510 Vs. iCN 520 Portable GPS Navigation System

My original purchase was a iCN 510, After about a year I bought the software upgrade that now ships in
the newer model, the iCN 520. with the new software installed, my older iCN 510 now has the same specs
as the iCN 520. Only the color is different.

Both on my bike and in my car, I can give a more robust review, after having used this unit for several
months in addition to testing it with its original software. My updated review is in the works now.
Below you will find my first review.

Both units should display every road you come across using clear and robust graphics.

It's easy to use as a "where am I now" indicator. However, trying to set it to take you to a destination using
the iCN 510 seemed to often be impossible to program. Very difficult. It can be done, perhaps, if you study
the manual. I don't have the patience. The iCN 520, however seems to have addressed this problem using
updated software. The new software makes it MUCH easer to input the address of your destination.

It color codes roads so you know if a road is a main road or a secondary road as you approach it.

It talks when you use it to lead you to a destination. This feature does work well.

For use in your car you can just use the supplied suction cup. While I was testing it on my motorcycle I first
tried using it unit under the clear map area of my tank bag so I could just glance down at it (when was safe
to do so) to choose a new road or to stay on my present road. With the 3D angle I can tell if a road approaching goes a distance or just loops back onto the road I'm already on. More recently I used several nylon restraints (the type used by the police for instant handcuffs) to secure the suction cup shaft to a flat surface just in front of my instrument cluster. Now I can see it at a glance without having to look down too far. I strongly suggest that you get a good mounting platform from a third party and mount the device securely under your fairing or to your handlebars if you intend to use this unit on a motorcycle.

This unit is intended for use in a car or truck it has not been optimized for use on a motorcycle. The button placement does not work well while wearing gloves. This unit is much less expensive than the made for motorcycle GPS units. I use it as a cross platform device (car & motorcycle) to save money and because at the time I bought it GPS units for motorcycles were selling for $1000 and were not cross platform.

As with most, if not all GPS units, you will need a windows PC to install the software and maps.

These GPS units come with software CDs with maps for Canada and the USA and regional maps for the East,
Central and West of the USA and you store the maps on a SD card.

The new model (iCN 520) has a new color scheme, comes with a SD Card and most importantly, comes with
new improved software.

Also good news, if you already have a iCN 510 you can buy the new software and just upgrade the unit to
the improved software, essentially having a iCN 520 for the cost of the new software.

The iCN 510 may be available at discounted prices now! Also SD Cards are getting cheaper all the time. A 512mb SD card is supported by Navman and is big enough to get the job done.

Street price is about $325 to $500.

I will be posting a updated review in the next few weeks.

(This review is from my motorcycle / consumer electronics product review website ezrider.info)

I have owned the product for over a year, and it has always performed wonderfully. Gets a GPS fix in 30 - 45 secs the first time you turn it on each day, and if you shut it off during the day, it fires right back up getting its GPS fix within 15 seconds. I have the 2005 Smart ST maps, and they are very accurate. I have only noticed a few incidents of mapping errors (telling you to make a turn that is illegal, house number range off, etc...) No major mapping problems though. I have tried the Magellan 360, and looked at others, Garmin, Tom Tom, and for the price, this is the best way to go. Get a fast SD Card, so you don't get lockups in the software - I had made this mistake initially - buying a cheap SD card, and it would freeze during route calculations. Picked up a 1GB Sandisk Ultra II, and it works great, no more freezing, and I have about 1/2 the USA loaded on the card. I absolutely recommend this to anybody who wants a quality GPS System at a reasonable price.

Worked well maybe once! After that I couldn't get a satellite lock no matter what. I live in sunny Florida. No reason for it to have such a hard time locking on. Too bad the actual GPS part didn't work well because the graphics, user interface and shape were quite nice.