2006-06-27

Medion MDPNA 510T

I bought this toy yersterday for 299 at Aldi Süd and I am mostly satisfied (so far, not having tested this on a long trip).

What I like:
  • Cool SIRF III GPS receiver (if you have one of the pre 2006 Garmin GPS devices: This is like 1000 times better. I have full reception even in buildings (e.g. under a metal roof or under steel concrete, my Garmin would give up under the light shade of a tree). It seems to pick up all kinds of reflections and make use of them. Really amazing technology. It works perfectly even under metallized or heated windscreens.)
  • Early and precise voice messages. You don't need the display at all. (Even things like and early 'keep left' or 'keep right' on multilane streets.)
  • Bright display, high contrast colors for streets (the standard colors, yellow for motorways, red for Bundesstrassen and white for small streets).
  • Easy to use touchscreen: I never have to use the pen which comes with it.
  • TMC receiver helps to avoid traffic jams.
  • Fast responses to user input. Fast screen update. Feels very responsive.
What I dislike:
  • Navigation is limited to a 'map' (e.g. you have to manually change the maps when going from Cologne to Madrid).
  • Can not simply navigate to the next POI (e.g. gasstation) just by pointing at it.
  • Can not navigate to a point without having the address (e.g. by pointing at it or by entering the GPS coordinates).
  • Is lacking even basic GPS device functionality (waypoints, tracks, ...) although a GPS receiver is built in.
  • Can not move the map in 3D view (OK, the 3D view is not so important)
The only non-obvious feature I found so far:
  • You don't have to enter the complete addresses. Just a few letters are usually sufficient and you can select from a list if your information was not yet unique.
If all this is worth 299 EUR I don't know. But it's a nice toy.

Keine Kommentare: