Customer Reviews

Nextar ME 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

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

 

 

I purchased this GPS unit around August of 2009 at Target. Target had the units on sale for $89.99 at the time. It wasn't the best GPS unit in the world, but I was pretty happy with it. It did always get me where I wanted to go, however I often felt that my girlfriends Garmin took more sensible routes.

My feelings about this unit changed in November when daylight savings occurred. We fall back an hour but the GPS failed to do so. Instead the little Nextar unit can't decide what time it is anymore. It jumps around from between 2 hours ahead or behind the actual time and never stops. Me calculated ETA is never correct from this point forward. There apparently is no way to set time manually and turning off auto GPS time doesn't help. Nextar's solution of a hard reset also failed to do the trick.... great! I opted to hold onto the GPS unit a little bit longer as I needed it for a 5 hour trip, which is when another problem popped up.

Towards the end of November the sound started to go on my GPS unit. At first the voice simply cutout or got scratchy every once in a while. As time progressed the sound the voice commands became incomprehensible and then sound stopped working all together on the unit. Nextar's solution? A hard reset, which obviously failed to fix the unit.

The unit is under warranty and Nextar agrees to take it in for service. I think everything has gone quite well and am pleased with the service I received over the phone. A few minutes later I receive an e-mail from Nextar detailing how to send the unit back to them. The e-mail asks that I include a money order or cashiers check for $25 with the unit for return shipping and handling!!!!! So, I have to pay to ship it to them, and I have to pay them to ship it back to me? What kind of warranty or service is this? I've dealt with a lot of companies and none of ever asked that I pay a return shipping fee on an item in warranty. Realistically, it would cost me $4-$5 to ship it to them, but they need $25 to do the same? That's more than 1/4 of what I paid for the unit in the first place.

I ended up taking the unit back to Target and exchanging it for a Garmin. Lesson learned. I would have considered a Magellan except for the fact that Target doesn't carry that brand.

I'll admit the Nextar wasn't all bad. It does have a lot of advanced features for the the price. You would pay a lot more for features like lane guidance and multi-point routing if you bought a Garmin or Magellan. However, I don't feel the Tele-Atlas maps are as good as the Navteq maps after now experiencing both. What could be a decent little GPS is very much let down by the horrid service Nextar provides and the apparently poor build quality or quality control of the company.

If you were to ask me, I'd recommend pinching a few extra pennies so you can pick up a Garmin or Magellan GPS unit.

To be honest, the name Nexstar does not mean anything to me. The only reason I bought this GPS, because it runs iGO 8 navigation software. Anybody who is familiar with that piece of marvel knows what I am talking about. IGO 8 have won the second time the Vision Mobility Award of Excellence. They hold the "Best Navigation Software" title for two years in a row in Europe. That means something. So, what is this Nexstar ME do? Knowing iGO 8, I took a gamble. There is very little information about this "black sheep" GPS on the Internet. Even on the Nexstar homepage say almost nothing useful. The package came with all the necessary hardware pieces that are standard for today's GPS package. After turning the unit on, it scrolled through a very long fine print. Using my finger I touched to accept the agreement button and I found myself in a menu where I had a choice to go navigation, music, photos or to a setup area where you can fine-tune your unit, like time and date, brightness, volume, alignment etc. I picked navigation and the unit vent into loading mode. It took a long time to load up the navigation software. That indicated that the hardware must equipped with slower CPU. It runs CE 5.0 by the way, which is no surprise. The plus side was however, and I was a little bit surprised, when the application finally loaded up, the unit already hooked up with the navigation satellites. My previous experience with Mio P550, which was a PDA with navigation build in, - separate SiRF III chip, and also was running iGO 8, left me regularly waiting five or more minutes to find the satellites. So, this was good. Later, I found out that hooking up with the satellites is no problem for this unit and it is always full strength. As far as navigation goes, it is very stable, accurate and no sign of slow CPU. The interface is fantastic and joy to use the finger touch. There are two modes to pick, simple and advanced. The default is simple. Simple mode is OK, but want to learn and get into advance mode is better. The GPS voice is clear and loud, came as default. I have no problem to hear it even in my old noisy car. It does TTS (Text-To-Speech), but you need to pick that option in the voice setup. For those who wish to push the limit of this GPS, I am happy to announce it is also a "geeg heaven". Matter of hours I was able to add different languages and voices to the unit, and I am sure adding other maps, like countries of Europe are no problem either. Although on the Nexstar's website says, no other maps are available. Right. Interesting to know for example that iGO 8 has single-handedly the most accurate and detailed maps of Eastern Europe. Anyway, I think I will like this GPS. The fast satellite hookup, the marvelous interface, loud and clear voice, stable navigation are all good ones. There are really no negatives about this unit yet. Sure it is missing bluetooth and other fancy features like FM radio and transmission, but you always have to compromise performance, quality and price. For example this GPS have MP3 capabilities, but do I care? No. So, the question always is, what is important to you. Good luck.

i couldn't give it 1 star because it does do a good job...when it actually works! i had this unit for 2 days before deciding to return it. it freezes almost EVERY time i turn it off...so i have to reset it...then re-enter the time and re-calibrate it before navigating. That's a few minutes wasted and a total PITA! plus the unit doesn't even keep the time! if it actually doesn't freeze when i turn it off...the time is still never right. it also has a much harder time finding a signal and often freezes in the process. my boyfriend has a garmin and my roommate has a tomtom...neither have been anywhere near as troubling as this system-and i've used them many times.

At first sight, it looks small. But in thruth that is one of its best features. I have had other GPS in the past, but due to their weight they would occasionally drop. Not this baby.

I reccomend that you use the suction cup on the windshield. The stickem dish that comes with the GPS doesn't take heat very well, and can and will become unglued.

Great features of the Nextar, size, loud voice instructions, speed limit warning, almost instant route corrections. It is only off by a couple of yards. When approaching major intersections or in the highway, it will zoom in, and show you the next move and distance plus again it will tell you, and show with plenty of time. That is the biggest difference from the previous ones I have had. It tells you the next move, after the next. and the distances involved.

Another nice feature about the GPS system is that it automatically knows/adjust to daylight viewing, and night viewing.

The Photo slide show is of excellent quality, not to many transitions, but beautiful resolution, I reccomend to have at least a 6 second interval...you will see why.

The price, what can be said, there is no excuse not to have a GPS on your car now.

By the way, it also has a walking mode.

Great product, does everything it should, and more.

pretty good overall. it's my first one, but seems to do what i need it to do and what it's supposed to do.

sometimes i have to turn it off once or twice to clear it though. it does not show my current position when i turn it on sometimes so i have to play with it and get it cleared.

also it is a little slow on startup, but eventually does what it is designed for. recommend for long trips for sure. good item/value for the money.

maybe not for those who are very tech savvy and knowledgeable but for sure for the average 'Joe' it is fine.

Buyer beware -- this little GPS unit works pretty well, but if you plan to upgrade information (maps, etc.) you will have to buy an SD card AND a card reader... and after that, you have to PAY for your upgrades! And on top of that, the upgrade website is frightfully complicated. Nextar offers an exchange program where you can get a Q4 (an improved model), but you have to pay $79 for that!!!

Pros: Tons of features. Price was perfect (I got mine for $49). Not that hard to figure out (it's my first standalone GPS). Size is just right for having a small car. Comes with everything you need out of the box.

Cons: I think the preloaded maps might be slightly outdated. It tried to have me go around the block when my destination was within eye sight in front of me. :p

Overview: It took me a little bit to learn how to use it, but overall it pretty much rocks. I have mine mounted on my windshield, right below the rear view mirror. The brightness is good, and the rerouting calculations are almost immediate. I like how you can add "via" points, and I like how accurate it is. I got it for dirt cheap, and I didn't really expect much except for point A to point B directions.

I had a Nextar GPS purchased several years ago, and decided to "upgrade" to this newer unit. The maps in this unit are dated early 2009. I have 3 other GPSs, so am not a noob.

Only some voices in the Nextar ME seem to have text-to-speech. The TTS is very garbled, as if they left out a lot of the pronunciation rules to fit the software into available memory. I found it better to select a voice without TTS, so I could at least understand what was being said.

The menu structure is obscure, so it can be very difficult to figure out how to get to a particular option setting.

The coiled cable is short, so it constantly pulls the unit downward toward the cigarette-lighter socket. The GPS is held to the windshield mount only by a magnet, and it actually popped loose while I was driving.

The display tries to present too much information in too little space, so it's impossible to read everything unless your windshield-to-driver distance is very short.

The voice gives un-needed information, like telling you twice that you are entering an interstate highway when you are already merging after the on-ramp.

I would not recommend this unit.

My friend and I drove a semi lower 48 for a year. Be advised the maps are for cars not trucks. the unit worked great for the first few months, then the power cord started coming unplugged. Battery wouldn't hold a charge for more than 45 minutes. Kind of sucks in Downtown KC with a Semi and suddenly you have no GPS a mile from your exit. A month later it started freezing and needing a hard reset to clear it. finally it lost its map file. Nextar told me 70 bucks for new map. can't just download the file? nope 70 bucks. Fine I'm getting a garmin. POS.

The Garmin worked great the whole time, (still does). Save your money.

The mounting cradle for the device is of poor quality, it broke the second time I used it. I contacted Nextar asking for a replacement and they want me to pay for it; even though it is still under warranty. If I paid for it, I couldn't get it because they don't have it in stock.

Go with another brand!