Pharos PocketPC Navigator Review
(http://www.pharosgps.com)
for AXIMUSERS.COM
May 28, 2003
By dfilias
Intro
If you own a Dell Axim, then by default, you're a techno-junkie. You're a forward-thinker that's not afraid to exploit technology for your own personal interests and benefit.
Enter the Pharos PocketPC Navigator... a GPS unit that marries with your Dell Axim to provide you a feature-rich, on-the-road navigation system that Pharos claims is, "Great for walking tours and other outdoor activities."
What's in the box?
The basic unit includes:
- iGPS-CF (Compact Flash)
- Navigation Software
- Detailed US Street Level Maps
I tested the MobilPak, which also included:
- Extension Active Antenna
- PDA Holder
- PDA Car Charger
Pharos was nice enough to also supply a Serial Y-cable and Serial Extension Antenna, which is perfect if your Compact Flash slot is already being used. The serial accessories can be purchased separately from Pharos.
The MobilPak includes:
The Serial Accessories (sold separately):
Getting Started... The Software
After making sure my Axim was connected via ActiveSync, I dropped the CD to my computer, and was greeted with a simple menu: Install Ostia and Install MapFinder.
Ostia 2003 installed into main memory with no problems. However, I tried installing it onto my SD Memory Card, and I did experience problems. After referring to several online resources, I discovered that Ostia 2003 must be installed into the main memory. I'm not sure why, and Pharos wasn't much help. It just needs to be installed in the main memory.
Next step was installing MapFinder onto my computer. MapFinder is a Windows application that allows you to select certain regions of the US which then loads specific road maps onto your Axim.
There's two ways you can load maps to your Axim: 1) send it directly to your Axim via ActiveSync or 2) send it to your removable storage card via a card reader.
Lesson learned: If you don't want to sit around for 20 minutes, waiting for the maps to load to your Axim via ActiveSync, I highly suggest sending the maps directly to a card reader. I'm not sure why, but loading the maps to my SD Memory card reader took less than two minutes... loading via ActiveSync took 20 minutes.
I loaded three regions from Michigan onto my SD Memory card. I wasn't going to Iowa or Oregon this week, so I figured I'd only load the regions I needed. If I decided to take a road trip to Oregon, I'd load all the regions in between.
Playing with MapFinder
Pharos' Mapfinder application was pretty powerful. I decided to see how close I could zoom-in on a region in Florida:
As you can see, Pharos MapFinder can get almost as close as a driveway. I was impressed.
Real-world auto install
Before I get into the technical review, I'd like to briefly discuss installing this system semi-permanently to an automobile.
First off, the PDA Holder that comes with the MobilePak will probably work with 75% of the vehicles out there with heating/AC vents. Their system attaches to the vertical or horizontal fins of the vents, assuming you have them. If you do, your PDA is either going to get very hot, or very cold, depending on the season.
Unfortunately, I was one of rare people that drive vehicles without vents. I drive a 1994 Wrangler Sahara without AC, so my PDA Holder installation required a little ingenuity.
Basically, I wiped my dash with some adhesion promotor (a solvent which is banned in California) and adhered the PDA Holder with some 3M acrylic two-sided tape. It's actually held up with daily use for at least a month. If you drive a Jeep Wrangler without vents, I highly suggest looking into another type of PDA Holder.
Since I had the MobilePak, I also wanted to permanently attach the Extension Antenna to plugs into the iGPS-CF Receiver. Installation was a snap: basically I squirted a glob of silicon sealant/adhesive to the back-side of the antenna, stuck it to the windshield, and fished the wire around the window periphery. I also stuck on a piece of Velcro to the iGPS-CF that allowed me to keep it mounted on the PDA Holder when I wasn't using it.
The Meat of the Review
Loading up & Locking on...
All the boring and time-consuming tasks were complete, so it was now time to test the system in the real-world.
After plugging in the iGPS-CF into my Compact Flash expansion slot, I fired up Ostia 2003 on my Axim.
The next thing you have to do is select the type of GPS receiver: CF or Serial.
Next, intuition tells me that if I fire up the application, the GPS will immediately become active. Not true. You have to "Enable GPS" via the menu:
While you're waiting to get a lock on a few satellites, now's a good time to load up some regional maps. You can load them all (3-4 if you're touring Michigan), or just one at a time. I found if you had too many maps loaded, it adversely affected the speed or the system (read more in Gripes later).
Obviously, if you only load one region, you'll get some bare spots on your GPS:
Your current position
Once you've finally locked onto the GPS satellites, the smiley face will turn from red (dead), to yellow (acquiring), to green (locked) and your position on the world will be displayed:
You can also zoom in on your position by using your stylus to draw a rectangle (200ft is as close as you can go):
Another cool feature is the tool "GPS Info" under the GPS menu. Clicking that will let you know your current Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Time, Speed and Distance. Very cool, if you ask me, but I'm sure this can be found on any K-Mart GPS. I've never used a GPS, so I was a little elated... especially that your current speed can be calculated by satellites.
Another tool in the GPS Menu is "Satellite Info". This basically shows you all the GPS satellites available to you, and the strength-level of the lock. I guess this would be useful to you if you're working for the government and trouble-shooting which satellites are offline. Nonetheless, it's cool, even if you only use this once in your lifetime.
Selecting a destination
The next thing you have to do, if you're going anywhere, is to select a destination... obviously. You have four choices: Contacts (from your Outlook Address Book), Addresses (manual entry), Street Intersections, and Points of Interest.
One of the coolest things of this software is that it ties in with your Outlook Address Book! This is soooo cool! Just make sure that all your contacts have addresses, and Ostia can (somewhat) pull that info into a search.
Unfortunately, Ostia isn't as smart as MapQuest, and requires you to know SPECIFICALLY if your address is on a Street, Drive, Road, Avenue, Highway (See Gripes).
Plan a route
Once you've selected a destination, now it's time to plan a route...
Like many GPS units on the market, Ostia will give you turn-by-turn directions to your destination, with full voice prompts.
Another cool feature (required, if you ask me), is auto correction. Suppose you make a wrong turn or miss a turn on your way to a destination... Ostia has an auto correction feature that will get you back on track. If you don't feel like waiting for auto correction, just click on the center button, and it will immediately start to correct. Though not instantaneous (See Gripes), it does seem to work most of the time.
Viewing Details
After selecting a destination and planning a route, you can also get a turn-by-turn text version of the route:
The software also allows you to return to the map, view the destination, view the origin, view the full route, view entire region map currently open, set a Lan/Lon mark on current map, and trace a route for future use.
Gripes and Issues
Waiting
One of the most annoying things with this system is the amount of time spent waiting:
Whether you're waiting for the system to auto correct, load a map, connect to a satellite, zooming in or out of a map, tracing or recording a route, you're always waiting for something. In a world of instant gratification, I can't lose a second of my precious time. I found myself waiting and waiting and waiting... whenever the system required some kind of input from me. I hate waiting, especially when I'm trying to drive, while talking on the cell phone, trying to not miss a turn... every second counts!
Loading maps
If you don't have a card reader, you're going to wait a loooooooong time to load your maps via ActiveSync. I don't know why ActiveSync is soooooo slow, but it was long enough that made me think something was wrong with my computer. If you don't have a card reader, get one before using this GPS.
Loading Ostia into removable memory
Good luck. Not possible.
Ostia ain't no Mapquest
Using Mapquest, all I need is an address and street, and usually Mapquest's intelligence can fill in the city, state and zip... most of the time. Not with Ostia! Ostia is soooo specific, that it requires you to know exactly if the address is a street, road, drive, etc. (Poinciana Drive, not Poinciana Street). If you enter it wrong, it will tell you it's not available. If you enter just the street name, you'll have to select from a list of Drive, Street, Road, etc, which then asks you to select a city. I found myself going back and forth between street, drive, etc., that would allow me to select the correct city. It was very annoying.
Ostia's intuition is mediocre. It's very specific.
Side Streets vs. Highways
Another thing that bothered me about Ostia, is that it only selects the shortest route. It doesn't have the intelligence to know that sometimes, even though a little farther in distance, highways are just faster. I almost got lost on side streets going to a vendor. I was a little peeved.
Cloverleafs and complex highways
Life would be easy if everything was just left and right turns. Unfortunately, Ostia was dumber than a half-witted chimp when it was faced with complex highway clover-leafs. If my life depended on Ostia to make the correct highway merges, I'd be dead by now.
It's not all bad...
Even though I was slightly turned off by all the gripes listed above, the Pharos Pocket GPS Portable Navigator did impress me in other ways.
Integration with Outlook Address Book
The integration with Outlook was very cool! I basically updated all my contacts with their addresses (both home and business, if applicable), so destinations were ready to go at a moment's notice. Of course, you'll have to enter the exact street name (1234 Poinciana Drive, not just 1234 Poinciana), so a little research might be necessary.
Also, Ostia also allows you to add new contacts to your address book after a destination entry, which was also VERY cool!
Voice Prompts
Even though I drive around in a loud Jeep, the voice prompts for turns was very beneficial. It basically let me drive without taking my eyes off the road.
Auto Correction/Auto Re-route
If you make a wrong turn, miss a turn, or end up going the opposite direction, Ostia did have some built-in logic that auto-corrects your route. You can either wait, or just click the center "enter" button, and Ostia will have you back on track in no time.
Serial version available
If your CF expansion slot is being used, Pharos offers a serial version of their Portable Navigator. This is definitely a plus!
Car Charger
The MobilePak comes with a car charger, which was a definite PLUS for me, since I did not have a car charger. If you plan on using the GPS in the car, I highly recommend getting the MobilePak, since your battery would be toast just after an hour.
Conclusion
Personally, this is my first review of any PocketPC GPS, so I really had nothing to compare to other than Mapquest, which really has nothing to do with GPS.
It's obvious that this system is pretty CPU and power intensive. The system can only work as fast as the CPU allows. The annoying waiting that I experienced is probably typical of all GPS units, so don't let my gripes steer you away.
Even though Ostia is very specific with street names, once "locked-in", it works very well into getting you to your destination. A little research and planning will make destination searches so much easier.
If you're looking for an affordable PocketPC GPS unit that integrates seamlessly with your Outlook Address Book, don't mind waiting a few seconds for certain features to chug away, and will usually get you from point A to point B, the Pharos Pocket GPS Portable Navigator is for you.
If you're looking for a super high-tech GPS navigation system with little waiting, that's integrated into your car stereo system, buy a Grand Cherokee Overland and front an additional $1200 for the navigation radio.
Overall, I rate this Navigator 7 out of 10.
