Nerds Review

Submitted by zen on 18 November, 2008 - 23:45.
Fujitsu LifeBook U820 Mini-Notebook from FUJITSU. The list price is around US$0.00.

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.

You can buy this in Amazon.com

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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 $106.02.

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

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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 $219.00.

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 400t Handheld GPS Unit with U.S. Topographic Preloaded Maps from Garmin. The list price is around US$599.99.
My wife got me this a couple weeks back (after I emailed her a tip that I wanted it) and I've been using it every chance I get.

Unfortunately, like quite a few others (read ALL of the reviews both here and in other forums about this model) I'm going to return it to the online store and here are my reasons...in the most important to me (and probably would be to any user) down to the least significant.

1. Accuracy of the maps showing on the screen....VERY inaccurate. Regardless of the profile I was in, the purple triangle on the screen showing my position was basically always inaccurate, anywhere from 60-80 feet. I did multiple tests after soft resets and master resets (everything that customer service asked me to try) and it really didn't improve for me at all...except to say that if I was outside for a long time with the unit it did get more accurate the long it was on. However, I would keep it in the car, take it with us to go find a geocache, turn it on, then wait a few minutes and it...
You can buy this in Amazon.com

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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, Usually ships in 24 hours. The list price is around US$639.99. (*The prices are subject to change) Street price is around $324.35.
Having 15 years of using Garmin products, they clearly missed the mark with this one. The screen is useless when attempting to use outside in the sunlight. As a marine oriented unit I find this an amazing product development oversight. I just cannot imagine any real world test that found this acceptable for the intended use. The best screen viewing is in their ads. First time I have been disappointed in any Garmin product.
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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...
You can buy this in Amazon.com

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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.
I bought it a long time ago, and I haven't had a problem since then. It is a text-to-speech GPS and that is what I like most about it. I wish it had more points of interest.
You can buy this in Amazon.com
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 4000 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator from Magellan. The list price is around US$449.99.
The unit itself is ok, other than the battery was completely dead on arrival. The real problem is I ordered a new unit, on sale directly from Amazon and I was sent a refurbished unit, with the previous users home address and destination addresses still in the memory of the GPS. I finally found the phone number for Amazon, which isn't easy. They should have sent me a new unit and picked up my refurbished unit. Instead, I have to send back the unit I received, for a refund. The new units are no longer on sale, so I would have to buy a refurbished unit or pay a lot more. I said ok, then just credit me the difference of what I paid for a new one, to the price you sell a refurbished one for. Amazon said, "no". Part of my purchase price was a gift card, so, I am afraid things will get even more screwed up if I return it. I am very disappointed with Amazon.
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Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 27 February, 2008 - 10:31.
Magellan Maestro 3250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic and Voice Command from Magellan. The list price is around US$449.99.
I was able to get update map, very good customer service,
web sit can be improved.
You can buy this in Amazon.com
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