Nerds Review
Submitted by zen on 18 November, 2008 - 23:45.
Fujitsu LifeBook U820 Mini-Notebook from FUJITSU. The list price is around US$1049.00.
The Canadian http://www.costco.ca has U820 on sale for CDN$1299-$150=$1150 with free upgrade to 4 cell batteries, including Garmin GPS software and Bluetooth.
It's equal to about US$950.
I have seen the U2010 in Bangkok's Pantip Market selling for US$1200 (without GPS). And it was sold in Hong Kong for HK$8888 (about US$1139) without GPS, and without the free large battery upgrade.
I can conclude that Canada is the cheapest place to buy Fujitsu U820/U2010. The catch is... we have to pay a 12% tax... so it may not be cheapest afterall.
Anyway I just ordered mine, I will post my review here next week.
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Submitted by zen on 18 March, 2008 - 22:54.
Garmin nüvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator from Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$249.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $94.79.
This is the newest Garmin Entry model, NUVI 205 (3.5" with less map), NUVI 255 (3.5") and NUVI 255W (4.3") to replace the older NUVI 200, NUVI 250 and NUVI 250W respectively.
The new feature is text to speech... It speaks the street name instead of just left or right turn. It is only a software feature. They have to wait so long to "switch it on" for the lower models.
It is also darker, with an "improved" interface. I heard that the newer models are a little sluggish but I haven't tested it myself, so I'm not sure about the rumor. There is also a new elevation map feature. So it will display maps in 3D with elevation? I am not sure if that's sure. I will update this blog when I get more information.
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Submitted by zen on 9 March, 2008 - 15:48.
Magellan Maestro 4050 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (with 3 month free traffic) from Magellan. The list price is around US$199.99.
No, this is not your perfect GPS. But with a price tag of $249, this can be the perfect GPS in the price range. Although the navigation and routing is lagging behind Garmin, Magellan does have a better POI database, and the hard to beat AAA tour book. Yes, the AAA tour book is not linked to the POI, but it can become rather handy in your next road trip.
The 4050 also has a innovative but useless voice command. It pick up most of the voices, but most of the time is not good enough. The experience is as annoying as dealing with a touch screen that works only 90% of the time. Even with a 10% failure, the feature will still be useless to most people. It may be a good selling point, but hardly a practical useful feature.
The route exclusion feature in 4050 (or 4040) is pretty lame. And the unit feels less responsive than the Garmin models. Hourglass, how the hell they dare to put hourglass in a GPS units. All the clumsiness of the Windows CE platform is inherited in this Magellan GPS unit.
You can buy this in Amazon.com |
Submitted by zen on 2 March, 2008 - 02:31.
Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS from Garmin, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$299.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $228.00.
This is one of the items in my "wish list". I like it for a very peculiar feature, the one that is not even advertised. This is the only unit on the market that is good for long term geocoding for my photos. Many other units can write tracklogs but this one can write the track logs on to the mini sd card, so I have infinite space to store my tracklogs. I have used other units, the track logs were full after one or two weeks. But usually my vacation is 5 to 6 weeks, so none of them can store that much in their track logs.
Another reason I like this unit is because it have very good GPS reception. The reception for walking unit is more important than the automobile GPS which usually have unblocked views to the sky. This walking unit need to stay tuned even under heavy trees.
I have an eTrex Venture back in 2002, but it was broken in about a year. I hope this unit is more solid. The weakest point is the joystick, it's so fragile. And it's true for all electronic units using joystick. They simpl...
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 400c Portable GPS System with Preloaded Coastal Waters Maps from Garmin. The list price is around US$639.99.
Update: Used the unit on the weekend. Worked great and it is what I expected. Beware that the screen is very dim unless you have direct sunlight hitting it at the correct angle. I still recommend the unit if you are willing to put up with this issue. Again, I haven't been able to find an option. The Oregon 400c is the only one I can think of but I wonder if the screen brightness is really better.
I am giving the unit three starts but with the intent to update this review in the future once I really play with it for a while.
I just wanted to confirm what a previous reviewer wrote (Conrad). DON'T UPDATE THE FIRMWARE ON THIS UNIT. Hey, I even wrote it in annoying caps because I did read the review and did not followed the advice.
I got the unit yesterday played with it a little. I was quite happy with it but then I decided to register it with Garmin and update the firmware. I updated to software 3.3 (from 2.5) and from that point on the unit was broken (from a software standpoin...
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 400t Handheld GPS Unit with U.S. Topographic Preloaded Maps from Garmin. The list price is around US$599.99.
I have had my Garmin for about six months now and have mostly given up on it. It is a disaster. Yes, I have seen all the videos showing all the cool things you can easily do with a Garmin and I don't believe any of it. The videos have to be mass produced fakes. Basic things like battery life are annoying (Garmin has none), but using the software on this high tech trivet is another matter all together. Multiple attempts to use Topo 100K, for example, has been nothing but an exercise in frutration. I have followed directions and still come up short. You shouldn't have to commit hours to tech bulletin boards and user groups to figure out how to use a device these days. I couldn't be more disappointed in a product. This is far and away the worst purchase I have made in recent memory...and I'm not the most responsible guy you're going to meet.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 2 March, 2008 - 02:40.
Garmin Colorado 300 Bilingual Handheld GPS Unit with North American Maps from Garmin. The list price is around US$499.99.
I purchased this GPS for the sole purpose of Geocaching and while I'm sure it will be used for hiking/biking that isn't why I got it. The unit is very easy to use one handed thanks to the control dial. It fits easily and comfortably in my hand. The battery life is good while using Energizer 2450MAH NiMH rechargeable batteries as well as Li-Ion batteries. There are a few things I would like to see changed on this unit. The battery compartment has some flaws mainly the rubber gasket around the case. The gasket had started to come unseated so I contacted customer support. they were very fast and helpful. I asked if I could re-glue the seal without voiding the warranty and was given a go ahead with that. So for the time being that problem has been solved. I also recommend using some clear non conductive silicon grease around the seal to both allow it to slide off easier and give it a bit better water resistance. Lastly the GUI is very nice but I would love to see a few more features added. I would lik...
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 3200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator from Magellan. The list price is around US$199.99.
There's no problem with my GPS. Sometimes it gets freezed but recovers soon if I re-calculate. It might be confusing to look at the map which is shown, but you won't take a wrong turn if you keep on following the name of the road that this GPS directs.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator from Magellan. The list price is around US$449.99.
This product worked fine for just over a year, and then died on me. I checked Magellan's website and they won't repair it. So this product is a scam, as apparently it is supposed to die after a year, so you'll buy a new one!
Terrible, terrible product. I recommend finding a different brand than Magellan when you buy a GPS navigator! I can't recommend any, personally, as I haven't bought any others yet.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator from Magellan. The list price is around US$599.99.
The unit is fine at first until you are lost and are relying on it for your life. Then when you are 700 miles away from home lost in a strange place in the middle of nowhere and really need it the electronics fails and it thinks the battery charger usb connection is a computer connection because of a voltage detection bug. Of course you at first think it is your lighter or the cable and probably waste more money. There are many posts for the problem. There are no posts for the solution. If you can even return it it gets "refurbished" for the next victim. In my case I bought it online and am stuck.
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