This review is from: Nortech Navigator 3.5" TouchScreen Car Mobile GPS System (Electronics)The Nortech Navigator is a great little personal GPS at a reasonable price. This unit is currently selling at the local Sam's club for $239, which makes is a very sound value. The Nortech is apparently produced by a generic Asian manufacturer and imported to the US though a distributer in Stubenville, Ohio. An entry level Garmin unit sells for just a little more.
I've owned assorted GPS devices over the last nine years, so I'm probably a bit jaded by bells and whistles by now. What I want is a GPS navigator that is easy to use and gets the job done accurately. If you've owned other GPS devices, the Nortech is very easy to figure out. Even if you're new to GPS, the touch screen mneus are pretty logical. My main luggable car GPS is a Garmin 2720, which sets a very high bar for comparisons. I bought the Nortech Navigator becuase it can easily slip into a shirt pocket, has an internal Lithium Ion batter, and a complete detail map of the US pre-loaded; it seemed like the perfect thing for tossing in the brief case for short business trips and the like.
What's in the box?
The Navigator unit, which is just bigger than a deck of cards.
12 volt car power/charger cord.
Wall transformer power/charger cord.
Suction cup mounting bracket.
Adhesive disc for dash mounting.
A very brief instuction guide and warranty card.
Touch screen stylus.
How it works:
The Nortech is really a Windows CE pocket computer. I haven't done an autopsy to see exactly what CPU chip is lurking in there, but it is reasonably quick at screen updates and routing calculations. There's also the Navteq US map database in flash memory. When you take the Nortech out of the box, the very fist time, you can tell it is booting up CE, then loading the navigation software. The initial lock on GPS satellites takes about five minutes, with no need to initialize your location or time of day. Once the unit has acquired GPS alamanac and ephemeris data, it will do a warm start in about 15 - 45 seconds - about as fast as a decent Garmin device. As long as you don't let the lithium battery go completely dead, and you've used the unit within the previous few days, it will initialize quickly. Pressing the power button normally only puts the Nortech in suspend mode, which elminiates lengthy boot-up times. I wish my Garmin 2720 could do that!
How's the map data?
Actually pretty good. The map data comes from Navteq, and it is all pre-loaded in the flash memory. I'm guessing the RAM is only about 256-512 meg, and only has a very sketchy basemap of major highways. The detail map for where you are now get loaded automatically, so if you are searching within your general geographic area, you won't notice anything odd. Only if you zoom out to see more than a handful of states at one time, do you notice the map detail is not even across the screen. Generally, I'd say this is no big deal, as at that level of abstraction, you probably only care about interstate highways anyway. A more expensive Garmin will give you smoother transition in detail between map zoom levels, if that is a feature that is important to you.
How's the operation?
Very easy. There's just one button to press (for about 1 second) to avoid bumping it on accidentally in your pocket or brief case. As noted, you're generally navigating within a few seconds, as long as you have a clear view of the sky.
Finding places works pretty well. In some ways the find menu is a little tougher to use than Garmin, but on the other hand, some features are easier. Nobody has it perfect yet. The map features database is very complete, and at least as good as Garmin, which isn't surprising, given it is complied form Navteq data. There is no problem finding and routing to map features, even if the features are outside the map detail block for your current location. I was able to find and route to the Hacienda Donna Andrea Santa Maria in New Mexico, by telling the Nortech to start its search near Albuquerque. It plotted a reasonable route, Starting in Akron, Ohio in under 30 seconds. All I needed to match the in feature name was the word, "Andrea," so I'd rate it's functionality as excellent. As with any high tech device, you should expect to practice a little before you are a navigation Wizard, but this is an easy device to learn. One thing I couldn't tell for sure is if the Nortech has the Donna Andrea hotel in the correct location; it is about a mile off in Garmin's City Navigator 8.
How's the Manufacturer support?
For the importer, probably very little. I haven't had a reason to call or write them.
The Navigation software and data is actually called Destinator, which appears to be a German company, but they have a .com e-mail address and reasonable web site. The web URL for Destinator is in Nortech Navigator manual. I sent an e-mail question to Destinator Support on a Sunday afternoon, and had an answer by 10:00 Monday. It remains to be seen how onerous the upgrade process might be, once the map data begins to get stale. It won't be necessary to upgrade too soon. The map data seems to be about six months fresher than Garmin's City Navigator 8, and most of the new roads where I live are in the database. Also, most new business palces are there, which isn't critial if you at least know the street address of the business. It is handy that there is basic info, including the telephone number, when you look for a business in the Find mneu. I'd rate this as over-all very good.
Routing quality:
The routes around town wher I live are at least workable. Even a fnacy Garmin unit doesn't always pick the best route I know. I am not an expert on the software and database internals, but I've been told the distinguishing feature between a cheap GPS and a good one is the number of attributes that are known about each road segment. Cheap units might only know average speed and distance for a road segment, which a better unit might know the number of lanes, average speed, average number of traffic lights, etc. From experience, I'd say the Nortech Navigator is somewhere in the middle ground on the number of attributes it knows. If you an Internet guru, think of it as the difference btween basic RIP routing and Cisco EIGRP. At any rate, the Nortech will probably always get you there, but it might not be the way somebody that's lived in town 20 years would tell you to go.
PC integration:
There really isn't any. Theoretically, you'll be able to download new maps and software updates. That is one thing that is much cooler on my Garmin 2720. It took the Garmin to Arizona and New Mexico. I was able to download all my GPS tracks to my PC and can re-live my vacations by playing around with MapSource. You're not going to get this for $239 - at least not yet!
Physical characteristics:
The unit is is a very compact. It is about as long as a deck of playing cards, but slighltly wider. The thickness is about the same as a deck of cards. There is an SD card slot, but it doesn't seem to have a real function with the current software. There is also a USB port and included USB cable, but again, doesn't seem to have much function. Since it is a Windows CE device, plugging it into a Microsoft based PC running Active Sync, will recognize the device, but there is nothing configured to sync. I haven't really tried to get at the CE operating system running underneath Destinator; there is probably a way, if you are savvy. It is nice that both a car charger and wall charger are included. Once charged, the internal battery will power the unit at full screen brightness for at least two hours. The unit will automatically go into suspend mode, to preserve data, when the battery gets low. Becuase there is an SD slot, usb and power jack, I don't think the unit is particularly water proof. I'd rate the quality of construction better than average, for an over-all score of very good.
The screen is trns mode TFT back-lit LCD with good color saturation and contrast. The color choices in the Destinator software are good and the icons are easy to read and sensibly organized. Touch screen accuracy is good and not an issue. They include a stylus, but there's nowhere to store it. In use, the stylus is unnecessary.
About the only criticism I'd have, is that I think I would have made the case slightly thicker and set the LCD a little deeper in the bezel, to provide more shade. None the less, readability in the car is still quite good.
Cool features:
Compact size.
Pedestrain mode - allows routes in non-street area.
Very complete database.
Low cost versus features.
Summary:
This is both a good entry level GPS and a nice second back-up unit for expeienced GPS hounds. If you want to do off-road stuff like geocaching, then a high end hand-held unit with basic features and longer battery life would be a better choice.
Nortech Navigator 3.5" TouchScreen Car Mobile GPS System (Electronics) at amazon.com
