carNAVi Pro BT Review
GPS navigation devices aren’t exactly new; in fact they have had a presence in the local market through gray and parallel imports. Of course, these devices were far from reliable, not because of their design, but because of the data available to them. More specifically, the maps were not that accurate, since there was no official support from the respective manufacturers. It’s a different story today as there are now GPS navigation devices that have extremely accurate maps and local support and it would be hard to get lost with these things in your car. carNAVi is the latest manufacturer to jump onto the home GPS navigation scene, and if their top-of-the-line Pro BT is any indication, they’re ready to give their competitors a run for their money.
The Pro BT is what you’d expect from a navigation device: it’s not the thinnest or most elegant device around, but it’s not the flimsiest either. It has a 4.3-inch TFT LCD touch screen that is quite easy to use. There’s a 3.5mm jack on the right side, along with a mini-USB port that serves as both a data and charging port. All data, maps and media are stored on the SD card that goes in the unit, the slot of which is on the right hand side.
Pro BT is powered by a SIR Atlas 3 GPS processor running at 400 MHz, with 64 MB of memory. The operating system is a modified Windows CE. The GUI is nice enough and you can access the different menus and features with a simple tap on the screen.
Like other solutions on the market, you can configure your destination in different ways, mainly through points of interest (PCI), address search and city search. However, you’ll need to tell the unit what city the location you’re looking for is in, which could slow down your searches when you’re in a hurry. One thing that pleasantly surprised me is the sheer number of POIs in the system. Of course, a product like the Pro BT is only as good as the quality of its maps, and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint. The maps are pretty accurate and up to date, and carNAVI assures me that they have maps of the entire country in one form or another.
The Pro BT uses an internal GPS antenna and acquires a signal in less than two minutes. It has voice prompts that tell you when to turn, how far you are from your destination, etc. One thing I liked about the screen is that the environment is rendered in 3D, so you’ll be able to see if you’re going under or through a tunnel. The screen also automatically dims depending on the time of day and when you enter a tunnel.
The only minor issue I have with the Pro BT is that the street names disappear on the screen momentarily when you turn, which, while disconcerting, isn’t really something you need to worry about.
how hot
Pick up the signal in less than 2 minutes
Easy to use and understand GUI
Updated maps of the country, many points of interest
3D rendered maps
no
Street names momentarily disappear on screen when you turn
Verdict
The carNAVi Pro BT is an excellent GPS navigation device and is a godsend for people with navigation problems who always seem to get lost.
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