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Jewish World Review
August 3, 2007
/ 19 Menachem-Av, 5767
Delphi offers onboard navigation, traffic
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Buyers of the latest automobiles can obtain in-car navigation systems which also add real-time traffic reports. For the rest of us, GPS systems have long been available, but without the addition of traffic info, at least until now.
For several weeks, I've subjected the Delphi NAV200 to concerted testing. For $449, you get a package which equals some of the systems I've seen advertised on the new car commercials — without the attendant subscription fees.
While no two products in this category can be truly equivalent — navigation software differs, for one thing — the Delphi solution offers what I believe is a good value, especially if your car is recent enough that you're not thinking of a trade-in right now.
In common with some other recent products, including the far-less-than-desirable Magellan RoadMate 6000T, the NAV200 tries to do a lot. Along with the navigation system, there's an MP3 player, a photo viewer, a world clock, a calculator and even a game. Then again, the NAV200 is detachable and can be carried around as a personal GPS.
However, my sense is that most of these units will spend their time in a vehicle; the extra features may be distractions at best. Frankly, I'd be happy with fewer options, but that's me.
In operation, the Delphi takes a bit of getting used to: select "navigation" from the menu and you must first agree to a disclaimer about safely using a GPS before the navigation mode kicks in. The display is clear, unless sunlight is hitting it; the colors then are washed out and the map hard to follow. Repositioning helps, as do overpasses; there's a night mode display setting that makes things a bit easier after dark.
Unlike some units, there's not much in the way of voice options; the volume control is a help, keeping the robotic "speaker" at an acceptable level. I couldn't find a way to show a series of turn-by-turn directions, but the unit was very good in providing the right guidance at the proper moment.
What really makes this unit interesting, though, adding the $199 "Real Time Traffic Kit" (which I already did in pricing the total package at $449). This kit utilizes Radio Data System-Traffic Message Channel (RDS-TMC) technology, a service of Clear Channel Communications, to update your travel route and, when necessary, interrupt your directions to alert you to a problem just up ahead. There's no reading of the warning, but a visual signal, and a recommendation of either "ignore" or "reroute."
It was an "ignore" that flashed before my eyes Friday morning as I was heading over to an office in Greenbelt, Maryland. An accident had slowed traffic on the 495 "Beltway," but there really was no alternative, and I was guided accordingly. Such a "co-pilot" is invaluable, especially for those driving in one of the 68 markets in which this service is available.
What's not to like about the NAV200? Those extra features, as noted, are distracting, as is the constant need to OK a disclaimer when seeking navigation. The unit somehow thinks my residence is in a "government restricted area," and won't store my street address; using geographic coordinates, however, gets me to and from home easily. I'd also like to see a way to override things such as the notion that I live in a secret Federal location, which I don't.
But the NAV200 is a very good start for a combination of technologies most of us living in or near cities will continue to need out into the future. Traffic isn't getting any lighter, and congestion is inevitable. If $449 is the price of avoiding at least some it, it's a reasonable price, indeed. Details at www.shopdelphi.com.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
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© 2007, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com
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