Garmin StreetPilot III 6.8-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

You don't need to buy a luxury car or spend thousands installing a multipart system to get advanced GPS navigation capabilities in your automobile. Garmin's StreetPilot III delivers all the high-end features you need--from detailed street maps and sophisticated auto routing to voice prompts and a color screen--in a compact, inexpensive, and portable package.

Setting up the unit was surprisingly simple. First we installed the software from the MapSource City Navigator CD onto our PC and connected the card reader, with the 32 MB data card, to the USB port. Then we went online to unlock one of 10 detailed coverage areas included on the disk; for instance, area 1 covers California and Nevada, area 7 covers New England and New York. After that we downloaded detailed maps of our city (San Francisco) and surrounding areas to the data card. We also downloaded waypoints--locations like our home, office, and other places we often visit--onto the card and inserted it into the StreetPilot III. If you don't have a USB port, you can also use the included serial cable to connect the entire unit to your PC.

The physical installation went just as smoothly. We affixed the plastic base to the top of our dashboard with the included adhesive mounting disks, snapped the StreetPilot III into place, connected it to the cigarette lighter for power, and extended the small fold-down antenna. The dashboard mount's quick release makes it easy to store the StreetPilot III when not in use or, if you purchase a second mount, lets you use it in multiple vehicles.

We turned the unit on and in less than a minute it locked onto the GPS satellites and displayed a map of our current location on the clear, bright, easy-to-read color display. As we drove along, it displayed our position and direction on the map, the name and address number of the street we were on, and even the name of the upcoming cross street. The two zoom buttons let us get a very detailed street-level view or a broad overview of our current position, and the menu button allowed us to customize the display.

The fun really started, though, when we used the StreetPilot's routing capabilities. Using the arrow buttons, we input the intersection of a store we'd never visited, and within a minute it calculated the most direct route. The voice navigator told us where to go and when to turn, and it was simple to monitor our progress both on the map and on the text display. For our next stop we knew the exact address and entered it into the unit. The StreetPilot then guided us onto the freeway and successfully to our second destination, telling us exactly where to stop along the street and even on which side of the street the store was located. To get home, we just accessed a waypoint with our home address that we'd preprogrammed on the PC.

Even if you don't know exactly where you're going, the City Navigator maps include points of interest, like restaurants, shops, and parks. This allows you to tell the StreetPilot to find the closest fast-food restaurant and then be presented with a list of nearby options.

Testing in San Francisco, we did lose satellite lock a few times in extremely hilly areas or in areas with very tall buildings. We think this was due mainly to the fact that the unit's antenna is inside the car; an external antenna option is available for less than $100 that should solve the problem.

Once you use the StreetPilot III for a while, it's hard to imagine driving solo again. Whether you're a salesman always heading to new locations, planning a road trip, or just need help getting around town, it's an extremely helpful companion that's cheaper and easier to install than anything else available. --Ken Feinstein

Pros:

• Compact, portable design
• Easy-to-read color screen
• Auto routing and voice prompts

Cons:

• Optional external antenna will get better satellite reception in some cities than the built-in antenna

The Talking Color StreetPilot III from Garmin is like having your own personal navigator in the passenger seat. This StreetPilot III combines the power of a 12-channel GPS receiver with a detailed base map and routing functions to get you where you need to go by the shortest, fastest route. As an added bonus, automated voice prompts from an external speaker tell you when to turn, the distance to upcoming turns, course deviation, and the distance to your final destination.

The Talking Color StreetPilot III comes with a PC cable, 32 MB data card, and USB Data Card Programmer so you can download map data from CD-ROMs. This model comes with City Navigator, which contains detailed street maps for major North American cities. Mapping software allows for automatic routing and contains information like turn restrictions. Simply enter an address or intersection, and the StreetPilot will calculate a route and provide turn-by-turn directions. Points of interest, addresses, and phone numbers are also included in the database.

The City Navigator CD-ROM comes with access to one region of your choice. To unlock additional regions, visit the Garmin Web site or call Garmin customer service.

Other GPS features include a trip computer with resettable odometer, timers, and average and maximum speeds. The built-in base map of North America and South America contains state and country boundaries, lakes, rivers, streams, airports, cities, towns, coastlines, state and interstate highways, local thoroughfares, and secondary roads within metro areas--plus federal interstate-highway exit information with services like food, lodging, and service stations.

View map information on the Talking Color StreetPilot III's backlit display with 16 colors and a resolution of 305 x 160 pixels. The unit is powered by six AA batteries with a battery life of 20 hours at the lowest backlight setting, and two hours at the highest setting. It comes with mounting hardware, a PC interface cable, 12-volt adapter cable with an external speaker, a 32 MB data card, USB data programmer and MapSource City Navigator software on CD-ROM. The Talking Color StreetPilot III is covered by a one-year warranty.