Navman iCN 510 32MB GPS Navigator

User Review: 5 out of 5 stars

- Great product
This is a great product. A good friend of mine recommended it to me and since I was in need of a good, reliable out-of-box nav system for my car, I decided to purchase it.

Pros:
- At about 1" thick, it's the most sleek in-car navigation system on the market.

- Acccurate, real-time (no lag) navigation with voice prompts.

- Can't beat the price.

Cons:
- The first signal acquisition on a given day can sometimes take some time (but I'm assuming this is an issue on all comparable models).

- Directions on the highway: Sometimes the on-screen and voice-prompts for directions while on the highway can be vague.

- The built-in speaker was sufficient in my car when all windows were up and the radio was low/moderate. You can't really hear it with the windows down and volume low/moderate.

Addt'l notes:
- Like everyone else said, install the patch.

- I definitely recommend this product.

User Review: 4 out of 5 stars

- iCN 510 - Great or good - depends on your driving habbits
First to summarize the experience - it will get you where you want to go, but will it do so as you expect, not so sure about that. But overall for this price, no other product in the market beats the accuracy, convenience and functionality.

Following are the tests I did:

1. Drove myself right into Midtown NY and after deliberately getting lost, set the unit to guide me back home - It surely did with the best route that one can take - pretty much the same route that a taxi will take.

2. Use it to go over the workplace (about 90 miles from home) - all hell broke loose here. No matter what settings I try, quickest, use of freeway, use of urban roads, it would not give me the route that I usually take. To overcome this problem, you keep driving your route and the unit will recalculate the route and eventually will tally with yours.

3. Set the destination for some very obscure address - well it got me there in a very strange way but it did get me there.

Now for the details:
1. Unit is very well designed, is accurate, has bright screen and has just the right amount of functionality for trip making. Volume is a bit low but is audible enough. You can plug in headset, if you want to blast the music while you drive. Also if you miss the instruction, you can toggle the volume toggle to repeat the instruction. Navigation with stylus and/or without is really easy.

2. Cold start is about 1 minute and hot start is just a few seconds. If the GPS signal is lost (like when going through the tunnel), the reacquisition takes less than a second.

3. Back on route calculations are pretty fast at under 2 seconds.

4. Windshield mounts are very convenient for taking out and placing the unit (and attaching the car adaptor for power).

5. Unit comes with everything you need excepting the SD card. The SD card option scores over the hard disc (as in some more expensive units) since it has no movable parts.

6. 3.5 inch screen size is actually just the right size ( I wonder where and how people keep some of Tom Tom unit and Lowrance big screen unit). This is just about the size of an older PDA and can fit into your pocket.

Now some points where I felt the unit needs improvements and hence a lower rating:

1. Maps are indeed old and if you are in area of lots of construction then it does make mistakes in naming the roads. Many times it pointed to take a turn when the turn wasn't there (closed recently).

2. The biggest problem with the unit is that it can't handle jug handles. For example in New Jersey, if you want to take a left, you have to first cross the crossing then make a jug handle to get on to cross road and then go straight. Unit keeps on saying "turn left".

3. Do download the update patch as a first step while setting up the unit.

4. Unit also has problem with selecting the street address due to truncating the addresses and also it seems not to find the House/building no. In short within half a mile of your destination, the unit can't be much relied upon. To overcome this problem for regular trips to same location set the location as POI while next to location and then get the maps using POI instead of address.

5. With regards to basemap, the manual says it is available free of charge, but I couldn't see it nor could I download it.

6. Last but not the least, the speed as indicated in the unit is consistently less by 2 miles/hour compared to the speedometer.

7. A couple of times during heavy traffic situations, I noticed that the directions (verbal and text) just don't make sense. They keep suggesting exiting the current route (highway) and taking side lanes. This also leads me to wonder, whether at the time of setting up of trip, unit actually looks at the traffic patter :-)

Anyway overall, I am happy I got the unit, something that I should have done a long time ago.

Anshoom
a happy iCN 510 owner :-)

User Review: 4 out of 5 stars

- Very happy with the Navman iCN510!
I decided to get one of these, because I saw my friend using one in Switzerland. My sentiments are the same as his...I should have gotten one of these a long time ago! Primarily got this for my wife who is a real estate agent, but also because we travel alot, and thought this might come in handy during our travels elsewhere in the US/Canada, or even Europe.

It is very portable and light, with a decent sized screen. You could definitely use this to navigate your way walking through Chicago/NY or other walkable cities.

This unit serves its purpose and, though it isn't perfect, it gets you to your destination. I find it to be as reliable as permanent in-vehicle expensive systems, which are not perfect and subject to outdated maps as well.

The tracking and pinpointing is very accurate. GPS signal has been great even on cloudy overcast days, even without pulling up the antenna. It tracks your vehicle's speed, exactly corresponding with the speedometer! Very impressed with the rerouting features, when you get off track, it does a great job getting you back on the route.

I'd give it 5 stars if not for the following minor negatives:
I agree that the maps are likely outdated by a few years, though this isn't as noticeable in a city like Cleveland, OH where there hasn't been that many new road construction projects in the last few years. Probably more noticeable in a place like Boston. The voice cues are accurate for the most part, though not perfect. On one highway entrypoint, the voice says to stay in the left lane, when the exit is actually on the right lane. This was shown accurately on the routing and map, however. So you have to pay attention to both the voice and the map if you don't know where you're going. Also, the point-of-interest feature on here isn't as good as the Garmin products...less complete, bust still quite helpful in helping you find gas stations/ATMs, etc. Not quite so helpful with the restaurants, which tend to open/shut down faster than other POIs.

I was also looking at the Garmin C330, but decided on this product because the visual display/maps/brightness of colors and general readability of the screen appears to be better, based on reviews of both products. The Navman 510 has a pretty phenomenal screen for its price. Haven't had significant issues with reading the screen during daylight. Also, The windshield attachement device works great, and I have been able to position my unit right under the rear view mirror so that it is eye level.
Also, you can program multiple "Via" destinations (point A to B, B to C, C to D), which is important for a real estate agent, and is not available on the C330.

Do download the update on the Navman website. I am using a 256 MB SD card, and am able to fit about 5-7 states, which is perfectly fine for my driving needs. Overall, I would highly recommend this product. Great if you aren't familiar with your destination, but I am also using this even during normal longer distance driving, since it keeps me from making any inconvenient wrong turns.

User Review: 4 out of 5 stars

- Good but not perfect - Needs memory card to work
Overall it is pretty good.

A couple of dissapointing items:

1) In spite of the description "...32 MB...." the unit came w/o a memory card. In order to use it you need a memory card. Bottom line is that you will not be able to use it unless you have a memory card lying around that you can use. Amazon lists the version that comes with a 32 MB memory card but ships the version that comes w/o any memory card.
2) The PC Software is a bit crude. Took a while to figure it out.
3)There is no users manual. You'll need to download it from Navman website.
4)The firmware in the unit hangs every now and then. You have to turn the battery off and back on to get it to work again.

In spite of the above comments, it works pretty good and would recommend it.

User Review: 3 out of 5 stars

- Has potential, but many problems.

I have owned an ICN 510 since last November and while the Navman has helped me find my way, I have been disappointed overall with the performance of the product. There are a number of problems that are frustrating and I would like to see rectified in future versions of Navman's software. They are listed below.

Route Selection:

Even when set to quickest route and preference to urban roads at max, the Navman often takes me through small local roads with many stop signs.

Occasionally the product will navigate me to a dead end.
Often selects routes that are inefficient and indirect

On highways, the arrow locator often runs adjacent to the road you are on, but not actually on the road. The ICN continually warns to go to nearest road, even if you are in fact on a major highway. It often does this for long periods and turns/exits can easily be missed.

The ICN is often confused in certain urban locations in Vancouver, and takes the user to a false destination.
Some roads as old as 3 years are not programmed onto the maps.

Points of Interest:

Even with service pack one update, the points of interest are all in the wrong categories when you want to select one of them as a destination. For example, when you look under accommodation, it lists a selection of churches.

Destination Selection:

Many addresses that exist on the maps can not be selected in the destination menu. The user is forced to manually browse for the address on the map and select the location with the stylus. Very frustrating.

The intersection feature is severely limited. Even major intersections can not be located using this feature. It has proven essentially useless for locating a destination.

Postal code support for Canada is severely limited. Can not locate specific destinations only general areas in city's/towns.

City/Town Centre feature is flawed. The Navman often considers non dense residential locations as "the city centre".

I am located in Vancouver B.C and have primarily been using the product locally, though it has been used to do a road trip through the western United States. I am hoping a new version of the Navman software will be able to rectify a number of the above problems.

SZ
ICN 510 Owner
Richmond, B,C

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