GPS Devices Washington DC

In the latest issue of Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine, I talk about the Navman iCN 750, a Windows Mobile GPS navigation system with a digital camera. The iCN 750 sets itself apart with a feature they call "NavPix." While my article focused on the NavPix features of the unit (and you should pick up a copy to read all about this innovative feature!), I promised to give a general overview of the device on my blog.

IMPORTANT: Although it wasn't available when my article went to press, Navman has just launched a special Web site for NavPix-enabled images. You can download images created by Lonely Planet or other NavPix users, as well as uploading your own images. You can add titles and share them with friends and family as well as making them "public" so that other iCN 750 owners can download them.

The iCN 750 features five buttons on the front of the unit, with the top two buttons giving you one-click directions to the nearest gas station and parking lots. The next two access the iCN 750's menus and the final button will switch the display between the different views (turn-by-turn text directions, overhead map, guidance and 3-D displays).

To the right of the iCN 750's beautiful screen, five buttons give you quick access to the most important features of the GPS system.

The rest of the unit is kept relatively uncluttered. There's power and camera shutter buttons on the top, and a volume wheel on the right side of the iCN 750. The opposite side features headset, power, and USB jacks as well as an SD card slot.

A multimedia champ!

But the real advantage only becomes clear when you turn the unit on. The iCN 750 sports a four-inch (480x272 pixels) landscape screen. I've always felt that GPS systems should be shown in landscape mode (most Windows Mobile GPS applications support this feature, but Pocket PCs don't mount "sideways" very well) and the iCN 750 shows exactly why this is important. When the display is on 3D Map screen you get a wide view of the landscape and on Next Turn screen, you can easily see the directions alongside the real-time map.

In addition to the impressive screen, the iCN 750 has great audio features. The speaker is clear and loud enough to hear, even in a convertible with the top down, and the optional headset port offers an alternative for the hearing impaired and situations where ambient noise levels might be high. When the volume is changed using the scroll wheel on the right, the iCN 750 displays the volume level on-screen and repeats the current driving direction (like "turn right then take the next left") if a route has already been entered, or says the word "test" to give you an idea of the current setting. Pushing down on the volume scroll wheel mutes the sound.

Innovations abound!

Although setting a destination (by entering an address) is slightly more cumbersome than other GPS solutions, the res...