Top GPS Guide

Acer’s p610 Portable Navigator is a competent enough GPS device, but there are a few areas where it could provide a better user experience.

Acer’s portable navigation range includes both Windows Mobile Pocket PCs with GPS built in and standalone navigation devices such as the p610. There are three models in the p600 series; all come with maps courtesy of Navteq and have a version of the ALK CoPilot 6 software installed.

The models vary in whether they include live traffic information and Bluetooth, and in the version of CoPilot they run. The two higher end models come with CoPilot Premium while the p610, reviewed here, does not. Nor does it have Bluetooth and live traffic data support. Even so, the price — around ￡180 — is very competitive.

The Acer p610 Portable Navigator comes with maps of the UK and Ireland. If you want Europe-wide coverage then you’ll need to consider the high-end p630 and p660 models. It’s powered by a 400MHz processor and its mapping data comes from Navteq. The GPS module is the standard SiRFstar III, while the presence of ActiveSync on one of the provided CDs shows that the core software is Windows CE.

The maps and some other data needed to run the navigation software come on a 256MB SD card. There was 82MB free on our card, and this can be used for pics or music. If you remove the data card, the CoPilot software stops running. If you’re interested in using the p610 for looking at photos or listening to music and want more than 82MB, you’ll have to reinstall CoPilot from CD to a larger-capacity SD card.

The most significant issue with this entry-level p-series device is that it doesn’t run the Premium version of CoPilot. It only offers four-digit postcode navigation, for example, which isn’t good enough: Acer should have included the Premium version, with its seven-digit postcode support. For an extra few pounds on the price, this makes the device far more usable.

Tags: 256mb sd card, 400mhz processor, activesync, copilot software, core software, GPS Device, gps module, Gps Navigator, mapping data, navigation software, navteq, p630, traffic information, user experience

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Posted on September 3rd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Gps Navigator