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By Yenie Darian, October 6, 2009 4:21 PM

Garmin Nuvifone G60 GPS Phone Review: Do Not Buy

Here the new review from Gizmodo

Garmin nuvifone G60

What’s Bad ?

• The resistive touchscreen reminds me of phones circa 2006, bad for everything but big-button tapping.

• There’s no homescreen button, to quickly take you out of a mire of menus.

• It’s crashy—screens froze twice while I was writing this, forcing a full-on hard restart.

• Sometimes the accelerometer just stops working completely.

• The camera is terrible—if the hardware button required for the shutter even works—and there’s no video of any kind.

• The web browser is all but useless, because it relies heavily on zooming in and out, and the touchscreen easily confuses swiping and tapping.

• The interface looks cool at first, but there are strange design choices throughout. Want an example? The QWERTY keyboard only appears in horizontal mode—it’s ABCDE in vertical mode. Also, no “Where To?” button, a la older Nuvi devices.

• You have to pay a $5/month premium charge to check the weather, traffic, local events and other services—all of which can be found on free apps from real smartphone platforms (not just iPhone).

• Even when using email (let alone calendar), there doesn’t seem to be any awareness of the rest of the internet: The email wizard lets you enter any address and password, but it doesn’t say whether it can actually get mail. This tenacious little phone is still trying to log onto my Hotmail account.

• The battery ran down completely during my first day of testing, after a few phone calls and some modest GPS navigation, and the battery indicator drops fast when it’s just on standby. In fairness, you shouldn’t use this phone or any other phone without a car charger, if you intend to use it for GPS navigation.

• There is no car charger. It’s missing the $7 USB-to-cig-lighter adapter. AT&T probably wanted to sell it separately, but when I asked at my local AT&T store, they didn’t even carry it.

• Since it’s an AT&T phone, it has to compete with the iPhone and other handsets that are way better. If the Nuvifone were on Verizon, it would at least have a network advantage in certain markets that it could lord over the iPhone herd. But even Apple haters would have a hard time spending an extra $100 on this—with the exact same phone reception.

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By Yenie Darian, September 14, 2009 9:32 AM

Using TomTom Bluetooth GPS Receiver as External GPS Receiver for PDA

By: Yenie Darian

If you have PDA without GPS support, now, you never need to be lost again. Whatever you are doing and wherever you are, Tom Tom’s Bluetooth device is designed for people who already own a PDA that supports Bluetooth. This external GPS receiver gives your PDA GPS functionality, which will let you know where you are going and how best to get there exactly, when combined with Tom Tom’s Navigator software and maps.

External GPS Receiver

Wherever you might happen to go, the receiver utilizes Bluetooth technology to eliminate the need for connecting cables, and a high-performance GPS antenna to ensure the best possible reception.

TomTom Bluetooth GPS Receiver as External GPS Receiver has small size and light weight, this handy receiver can fit easily in a purse, pocket, or anywhere else off the beaten track.

The GPS antenna on this unit will stay connected to make sure you find your way whether you are driving down the road or walking down the street, and because of its Bluetooth connectivity.

This external GPS receiver is compatible with most popular brands and models of PDAs, including; O2, Palm Treo, Nokia, Acer, Imate, Dell, HP, Orange, T-Mobile, Qtek and Eten.

Unfortunately, this external GPS receiver is expensive for an older tech receiver. And once you have powered this on it works well enough. When it loses Bluetooth connection to whatever it is talking to it shuts off. When the client comes back this unit has to be manually powered on again.

Just thought you may be interested in reading this guide: A Review of Garmin Nuvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator and Finding the Best Garmin GPS Accessories.

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By Yenie Darian, August 21, 2009 9:28 AM

Garmin GPS 76CSx – Handheld GPS for Marine and Outdoor Adventure

The Garmin GPSMap 76CSx is packed with features that experienced mariners require. This

Garmin GPS 76CSx

Garmin 76CSx is insanely accurate, high-sensitivity GPS receiver by SiRF that tracks your position even in canyons and tree cover. It also included a 128 MB microSD card for storage of optional map detail. The 76CSx is ready to take you anywhere on the water as a highly capable unit. Even, the Garmin 76CSx is a good companion for an outdoor adventure, which it crosses over from nautical maps to forest maps to city navigator maps.

The 76CSx designed to present mapping and trip information clearly and accurately in any lighting conditions with 256-color TFT color display – 2.6Inch. If you’re walking in the sunshine, then the bright sunlight-readable color TFT display color screen will show you the details with no trouble. As well, if you’re walking in the pouring rain, your unit will stay protected.

You’ll get up to 20 hours of battery life from the unit, while using two AA alkaline batteries.

The Garmin 76CSx also let you retrace your path with feature the 10,000 point automatic track log; which can save 20 tracks (500 points each). And there’s a lot of option for easy viewing, plus a dual-position display mode.

The unit also includes built-in celestial tables for best times to fish and hunt; sun and moon calculations; and audible alarms for anchor drag, arrival, off-course, proximity waypoint, and clock.

Another type of GPSMap 76CSx has integrated electronic compass and barometric altimeter. The unit’s barometric altimeter system features automatic pressure trend recording while providing current elevation, minimum/maximum elevation, ascent/descent rate, total ascent and descent, and average and maximum ascent and descent rate. And the electronic compass allows you to get accurate headings while standing still.

The 76CSx’s trip computer provides odometer, stopped time, total time, moving average, overall average, max speed, and more.

Meanwhile, a fast processor allows the 76CSx to provide turn-by-turn directions, quick auto-routing and audio alerts when you use the optional MapSource software, which can be stored on the unit’s microSD card. With the USB or serial port interfaces, downloading information is quick. The 76CSx can share navigation instructions with repeaters, plotters, and autopilots using the dedicated serial port.

Just thought you may be interested in reading this guide: Understanding GPS Navigation and How to Choose a GPS Vehicle Tracking System.