This week I’m in Minneapolis for a client and I had requested a GPS unit for the rental car as I have no idea where I am and don’t like being lost. Unfortunately Enterprise didn’t have any units, so we were stuck with paper (I say we because my wife and son came along for the trip). My client loaned me a Treo 800w as a GPS unit as it has real GPS in it. I’m not sure if Windows Mobile was what I don’t like about it or that its GPS routing seemed to really suck. Since it doesn’t have all the maps loaded, it had to make a network connection to get the maps; for some reason, it seems to fail to connect despite having a full EVDO signal. Then when it did load the data, it didn’t reroute or announce the turns basically making it useless. My wife was operating the unit while I was driving and I have threatened to run over the unit because of how useless it is. It’s possible we were doing something wrong (I played with it and wasn’t impressed; I don’t think familiarity with Windows Mobile would have helped).
Will the iPhone 3G GPS be any better for navigation? Well, it won’t have all the maps pre-loaded and who knows if it will announce turns. We’ll have to wait and see. I might be spoiled as the GPS in my wife’s CRV is great, but I expect a lot from these devices.
Next time I travel and have to rent a car, I’m definitely buying a GPS unit. I hesitated earlier this year and buying a unit, but I might just get one next week. I can’t even put a price tag on being lost in a strange place!