Navman S30
The S30 focuses on a stylish and intelligent design. Cased in a silver and gloss black plastic, the S30 features prominent Navman branding on both the front and rear. Despite the lightweight and small frame, the unit feels well built and the design is much more modern looking than previous Navman units. A highlight is the window mount; it’s small and lightweight and is easy to clip on and off if you are moving the unit from car to car.
The S30 features a vivid menu system; it’s bright and colourful, with clearly labelled icons. Most operations are accessed via the main menu screen - tapping the displayed icons can navigate to your saved home location, a specific address, one of 500,000 points of interest (POI), a saved favourite destination or a recent destination. You can also edit or change any preferences from the home screen. Gone are the physical parking and fuel buttons of previous units - these are now accessed via icons on the main menu, along with tourist destinations, food outlets and emergency services.
The S30 is equipped with the popular SiRFstarIII GPS receiver and its performance is efficient and speedy, taking less than a minute to pick up a GPS signal.
Other landmarks we passed included the 60s Centrepoint skyscraper at the end of Oxford Street and BT Tower, but we couldn’t work out what the 3D illustration for Trafalgar Square was supposed to be – a Roman amphitheatre or an odd attempt at one of Landseer’s lions? Perhaps even a low-level Admiralty Arch.
The other notable feature is the Local Search (Navman Connect) feature. This is a business directory search, so anything in the Infobel database it draws upon should be listed. To use this feature on other models in the range you can pair your Navman 3D with your phone using Bluetooth.
When searching for a specific address the S30 filters suburbs by state, reducing the list of results to a manageable number. The destination can then be pinpointed by navigating to a specific house number, intersection or to the centre of the street or city, and you can also navigate multi-stop trips. The S30 doesn’t allow searching via postcode though. The address entry screen uses an on-screen keyboard that can be set to either normal alphabetic or QWERTY, but you’ll need to use your fingertips for the best possible accuracy. A new feature says letters out loud as you tap them, aiming to prevent mistakes.
The S30 uses SmartS 2008 navigation software with the latest WhereIS R14 maps. The navigational experience is pleasing thanks to clear maps and precise voice instructions, though there is no text-to-speech on this unit. Tapping on the information box in the top right corner opens a convenient route information drop down - showing distance to go, time to go, speed, ETA and current time. An icon in the bottom right corner can display battery life, GPS reception and a mute button. Re-routing times are solid but not outstanding; the S30 can struggle to keep up, especially on main roads.
Audio instructions are competent too, matching those of the C220 and Garmin 200W. Turns in close proximity are linked together, plenty of advance warning is given and, importantly, instructions are also repeated the closer you get to a junction so that if you weren’t paying attention at first, you get a second, and third chance depending on how fast you’re driving.
Other good stuff includes an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to access all settings and functions without having to hunt about too much. The volume control, for instance, can be launched by holding down the volume button on the navigation screen; recent searches, favourites and the address search are just two simple clicks away; and you can get a route overview simply by cycling through the views on the map screen. Just as useful is the fact that important POI categories, such as food, SOS (pharmacies, garages and the like), fuel and parking are a simple click away on the second main menu screen - no need to go rooting around in the POI search menu. You also get speed camera updates free for 12 months, though these disappear unless you opt to pay for the ￡50 per year continuing subscription.
The usual routing options (avoid or warn of tolls, unsurfaced roads and ferry routes) are supported, and users can also set a preference for using motorways. Navman includes a user-configured preset speed warning alert and preloaded speed and red light camera alerts.
Battery life is rated at up to five hours, though we experienced closer to four on a full charge. There is no AC adapter included in the package, so you’ll have to charge the S30 in your car, or via USB.
Route calculation and recalculation, meanwhile, is extremely speedy, and added to this, the S30 has powerful multi-stop routing and management tools. Each search option, for instance, allows you to add searches to your current route and these routes can be saved, alongside frequently used addresses, to your favourites list. Flick to the map screen and adding waypoints to your route is as simple as tapping the map and selecting an option from a pop-up menu. The pop-up menu also gives access to the route-around tool. So, if you’re stuck in traffic you simply click the road that’s clogged-up on screen, and choose the Avoid Area option.
The S30 is, in fact, such a good all-round navigation tool that it seems churlish to criticise it in any way, but it isn’t entirely perfect. Top of the list of problems is the volume of the speaker, which isn’t the loudest. Mount the S30 in a noisy cabin, switch the radio on and you’ll struggle to hear it while driving at motorway speeds. This isn’t helped by the fact that there’s no speed-sensitive automatic volume adjustment. There’s also no traffic information support (the Mio C220 features TMC support though a receiver isn’t included in the box), the POI database isn’t the most comprehensive, there’s no Bluetooth, and routing options are limited to car travel - there are no pedestrian, bicycle, motorbike or truck options here.
Tags: 3d illustration, admiralty arch, bt tower, business directory search, emergency services, food outlets, GPS Device, gps signal, home location, local search, menu system, Navman S30, roman amphitheatre, skyscraper, tourist destinationsRelated posts
Posted on July 25th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: GPS Device
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