Final Thoughts…
The NAV300 came with a huge list of features, and although the majority of them were useful, I found a few that weren’t. First off, the inclusion of the MP3/Movie player I thought was rather silly, particularly because you can’t use this function while using navigation. Also, the movie and picture loading times were quite long. I even used a 150x SD card and it was still really slow. This makes it somewhat of a drag. I’d recommend that in a future revision that these features be removed because they are simply useless for a navigation system to have. Games and calculator? Yup, nuke those too and concentrate on what it does best.
The other thing that was somewhat odd was the inclusion of the stylus. The tiny stylus that came with the NAV300 was largely unused simply because it wasn’t necessary nor was it practical to use it. Also, there was nowhere to store it on the NAV300 making it easy to lose. Having said that, there were instances where the touch screen seemed cramped, particularly when trying to type in streets or numbers. However, I was never not able to punch in what I needed to punch in, albeit with a bit of cursing and some backspacing. I would suggest that Delphi find some way to increase the size of the letters and numbers a bit so that bigger fingers would will fit.
Since the NAV300 is battery operated, it would be nice to have a carrying case included with it so that when you do take it with you, it doesn’t get all scratched up. The screen is a sensitive part of the device and having even a cheap cloth bag would have been better than nothing. I did notice that Delphi sells a case on their site for about 10 bucks, but really, honestly? Do the right thing and include something so that a disaster can be averted. As for battery life, I didn’t get a low battery indicator once while exploring downtown San Diego, which was probably a good 3 or 4 hrs of meandering.
Overall, the Delphi NAV300 packs a lot of punch into its $399 US retail price tag. The GPS performance is very good and definitely passed the test when it comes to helping someone find their way in a completely foreign city. I would love to check it out with the Real-Time Traffic data option to see how much better the experience would be though and to see if the upgrade is worth the extra $199. I found the NAV300 interface intuitive and was able to operate the unit without the help of a manual which speaks volumes for its ease of use. I also enjoyed using the Bluetooth hands-free and found that the feature, ease of use and convenience beat wearing a silly headset any day of the week. Although there are some quirks with the interface and some fluffy useless features included, I definitely recommend this product as a solid buy.
Pros
- Quick startup and intuitive interface
- Good accuracy and on the road performance
- Great visual indication of turns and upcoming exits
- Text to speech was loud and clear
- Built in Bluetooth Hands-Free kit
- ZAGAT makes finding a good place to eat easy
- Branded icons make it easy to locate your favourite fast food and coffee places
Cons
- Fluffy useless features like movie and MP3 player
- Number and letters could be larger to facilitate easier data entry
- A bag or case would be nice to protect it when exploring on foot
Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10.0
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