Review:
GlobalSat BC-307
Mapopolis
Arkon Powered Multimedia PDA Mount
Purchased from
Semsons.com
BC-307 - 129.99
Arkon - 44.99
Mapopolis - 89.99
Total: US$264.97
I recently drove from Hamden, CT to Philadelphia, PA, and this gave me an opportunity to put my GPS/Pocket PC solution to a real test. I chose the BC-307 unit and Mapopolis software mostly due to the great reviews they've received in the GPS forum at
Aximsite.com. I'm really glad I read those forums first!
Downloading and installing the Mapopolis software was a standard affair, no surprises.figuring out how to load maps in limited memory, however, was about an hour of experimentation. The trick is to load your origin and destination maps, and then ONLY the major road maps in between.
Mapopolis found my house, my destination, and planned a route between the two. I compared the directions with my own, directions received from someone else and with Microsoft Streets and Trips. Mapopolis had us going exactly the way I expected, since I chose "fastest route" and not "shortest."
I mounted the PDA, put the magnetic antenna on the roof and we were off. The trip down was fairly uneventful, with the GPS warning us only when we pulled off into a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike (the Vince Lombardi, for those of you familiar) that is a good distance away from the main road. Things I liked were the fact that we were reminded when we hit major points, when the road changed names, changed from North to South, etc. The voice prompts kept me from having to look at the screen much, and the Arkon powered mount kept the battery charged and the volume up, even with music playing.
In South Philly itself, the GPS kept telling us that we needed to turn...480ft, 250ft...turn now! But we thought we knew better. Turns out, the GPS was smarter than us...we were trying to go down a one way street, and had to turn around and go back where the GPS told us to go in the first place.
The trip back is where the GPS package really had a chance to prove it's worth. At the very end of the George Washington Bridge, right in front of Exit 1C, traffic was stopped, dead. The guy next to me was reading. It was 2:00 AM, and the traffic went on as far as we could see. We moved maybe 25ft in 45 minutes. We decided then and there to put our faith in the GPS to route us home from I-87, which you can pick up at Exit 1-C. A quick right out of the line, and we were off.
*Bong* The GPS told Mapopolis where we were now, and within 30 second, we had a new route. It found a small feeder parkway that connected 87 to Rt. 15, which has an exit almost at our front door. It even told us when to bear slightly right as opposed to a sharp right, with a pleasant voice prompting us at all appropriate intervals. We would probably *still* be sitting in that traffic jam if we hadn't trusted the GPS to get us home. I would never have found the feeder road that connected the two highways without the BC-307 and Mapopolis. And as a bonus, I forgot to plug the external roof antenna in on the way home, so the GPS was working perfectly without it. Measurements were almost perfect, with the GPS being more accurate than the signs on the highway as far as distances were concerned. When we pulled into our driveway, *BONG*, Mapopolis stopped providing turn by turn directions...very precise.
We love our GPS so much we gave it a name: George (The GPS). George is the best money we ever spent, and we will never travel ANYWHERE without him again...even if someone else is driving. George rules.
Linear Mode
