Navman PiN 570

[waughie]

I no the navman 570 is a little out of date but still people get them like me. So researching on the internet ive found an outstanding review which i can relate to as i have had no problems with the sat nav I have used so i hope this helps with other people who get the navman 570.

OVERVIEW: -
The Pin570 – Supplied with soft case/sleeve, in-car mounting bracket (suction type or adhesive pad), in car charger, 240v charger, and USB lead.

Overview
A well built, solid (for a PDA) piece of kit. No sign of anything flimsy that could break off. The buttons don’t feel cheap or fragile, and the GPS aerial is firmly hinged onto the body. The screen is bright enough, and the buttons along the front can be changed to open whichever applications you prefer. I haven’t fitted a screen protector yet (I will), as I’ve still got the plastic that came on the screen in the packaging. This is probably a lot thicker than the screen protectors, but the device works okay with it on, even the handwriting recognition. The GPS aerial folds into the back of the device, but even when folded, sticks out about 3mm, but I’ve not found this a problem, as the edges of the aerial are chamfered, so it doesn’t catch when putting it in a pocket or its sleeve. A minor niggle is the on/off button, which is on the top left side, and it isn’t recessed enough for me. I’ve only caught it once, but if you put the device into anywhere i.e. a case or pocket, where it’s a bit too snug of a fit, it’s likely to get switched on. And as I run mine without any power saving mode… :rolleyes:
The other thing that is going to be a real irritation to me is the stylus. It fits very snugly into the 570, but getting it out is a pain. The top of the stylus is plastic, and has 3 little ‘blobs’ (I’m sure there’s a technical term!) which is supposed to be the grip to pull the stylus out of the body of the unit. These things only project a tiny fraction, and just don’t provide any grip. The lower ‘blob’ on my stylus has already disappeared (presumably under my fingernail), and the middle one is looking worn. What it should really have is a series of ridges, or be rubberised in some way, so I’ll probably, (make that have to), have a look for some replacements.

PC Connection
To connect to a PC there is a supplied USB cable. A cradle would be better, but Navman just don’t do one. From looking on the net, it seems that the cradle for an Acer PDA n35 does the job, but I can’t confirm that.

Connecting to a PC provides a backup, and access to the POI editor, but as far as the SatNav side goes, that’s about it. I suppose there will be software updates etc, but I wouldn’t have thought that they’d be too often. Disappointingly, there’s no PC interface to the navigation software, so no route planning on the PC, which would have been really nice. All route planning has to be done using the Pin570, (and that’s a bit quirky, but I’ll get to that) which obviously isn’t as nice as doing it sat at the PC, and then transferring. There is synchronisation between the device and a PC using MS ActiveSync. I know some people have had problems with this software, but I’ve used it before on a different PC connected to a Dell Axim PDA I had a couple of years ago, and I did have some problems with that, but so far do good this time. The version of ActiveSync supplied with the Pin570 is newer than the one I had used previously, so I’m presuming they’ve fixed the problems. You can synchronise emails, Word & Excel documents, and contacts from MS Outlook to the 570, which you may or may not find useful.


In-Car Installation
The in-car holder/bracket has a suction cup for the windscreen, or an adhesive pad. I’ve only used the suction to the windscreen, and it hasn’t come off yet! The supplied bracket holds the Pin570 securely enough, but is a bit wobbly on some roads. I bend mine down (it’s flexible!) so that it the bottom of it touches the dashboard. I have stuck a small bit of foam pad on the bottom of the bracket to cut out noise, & to minimise the wobble

I have a heated front screen, so I bought an additional aerial, but haven’t used it yet. I have mine positioned to the right of the steering wheel, and I’m guessing there’s enough of a gap between the edge of the glass and the heating element to let the GPS signal through, as I’ve been okay. The only problem this gives me is using the in-car charger, as my cigarette lighter socket is on the centre console, next to the handbrake, so the cable path is a bit awkward. That said, I very rarely use the in-car charger while driving, The battery seems good for about 3/4 hours using GPS (and I run everything on full), and I’ve not had a single trip journey longer than that. If I’m going to be in the car a lot, I tend to drive, park, plug the in-car charger in, and lock the Pin570 in the glove box while I’m not using it, or if possible, take it inside wherever I’m at, and plug into the wall.

Navigation Software - SmartST 2005
The one main area I had anticipated using the synchronisation was to be able to pull contacts from MS Outlook on my PC, through to the SmartST 2005 navigation software. Unfortunately, there is a problem here, and as yet, I haven’t managed to resolve it. Although the SmartST software does allow you to select from your contacts (pulled through from outlook), and although the address boxes seem to be filled in correctly, when I try to calculate a route, I get an error message “saying unable to find location, please be more specific” at which point I have to manually enter the address from within the software, which then works okay. I haven’t found this to be a ‘job stopper’, but it is really annoying because if you re-select the postcode, it blanks all the fields, so you have to remember the address correctly. If you just type the street name again, you can select it there.
Selecting addresses is quite easy. The post code search is 5 characters, but that includes the space, therefore “NG1 2” is as much as you can search. That’s okay for me, but you still have to enter the street name, but the selection is filtered to the ones within that postcode. If you don’t know the postcode, you key in the area (town etc), & then street, followed by house number if you wish. This process takes about 15 seconds, so like I said, I don’t find it an issue. The software ‘filters’ as you type, so by touching the Area field, and typing LON and waiting a second, the screen displays all towns/cities starting with LON, adding a D filters again, and so on. This is all split second stuff, and very straightforward.

You can have multiple destinations, but there isn’t a way to optimise them, you just go to one after the other. As I mentioned earlier, the trip planning is quirky, but once you get used to it, it’s easy enough to master, but displaying the results on a small screen isn’t ideal. You can view the map in 2D, 3D, & follow the layout, or you can view a turn list. You can switch between these views, but annoyingly, you can’t scroll down the turn list, select a particular junction, and have the map automatically display that area.


In-Use (The interesting bit)
The unit takes around 1 minute from switching on to get a GPS fix, depending on how long since it’s been used, and where it was last switched on. For example, if I use the Pin570, arrive at a destination, switch it off, get back in the car a couple of hours later, then switch on, it gets a GPS lock in a matter of seconds. If I use the Pin570, arrive at a destination, switch it off, get back in the car later, don’t switch it back on, go home, switch the unit on the next morning, it takes a minute or so to obtain a fix. All I do is go put the Pin570 in the car, go back & lock the house, and by the time I’ve got in the car & belted up etc, it has a lock.

http://img436.imageshack.us/img436/3359/pin5700iw.jpg


The unit is a breeze to use, and has some nice features. There are a choice of displays, 2D, 3D, or a Turn List. I always use the 3D. This display shows the name of the next road at the top above the map, with a ‘next turn’ icon, which is a little 2D picture of the next junction at the top-left of the map. I find this particularly useful. Then there is the 3D map, and at the bottom of the screen, there is the distance to the next junction, again, very useful, along with current road name. You can also display current speed, current time, viewing angle, distance to destination, estimated arrival time (which I use, and it’s very accurate), or journey time. The 3D map itself shows the road layout ahead, and being in ‘portrait’ mode, it gives a better view of what’s ahead, as the map always scrolls down the screen, irrespective of whether you are going North or South etc. You can customise the display to show various details, such as road names, map grid, topography, and vary the display colours. One feature I really like is the ‘autozoom’, which as you approach a junction, zooms the 3D map in much closer to give you a clearer indication of the road layout, and them zooms out again after you’ve passed through. You can also choose which Points Of Interest you want to display on the map, including the dreaded speed cameras. You can also set up alerts for the POI’s, and vary them for different types. For example, I have it warning me a quarter of a mile before a mobile speed camera, and 20 seconds before a Gatso type. I should mention that this will warn of all cameras within these criteria, irrespective of what direction you are travelling, or whether they are on your route. For example, if you are on a road that runs parallel to another road which has cameras on it, you will get warnings from those cameras, provided they are within the range you set-up. Again, this doesn’t really bother me either, and probably serves to slow down my driving anyway. Incidentally, the place I got mine from pre-install the camera database before delivery.
It is very easy to switch the various POI’s on & off again, by individual category. So you may want to display only certain types of speed camera, or only certain companies petrol stations (subject to the correct downloads!)

There is a choice of male or female voice for the audio, which is loud enough for me to have the radio/cd on at a ‘reasonable’ volume (the wife would call it loud), and still hear the voice okay. However, that is with the volume of the Pin570 set to full. I think it could do with the option to have it a bit louder, as anyone a little hard of hearing will struggle depending on background noise.
The voice announces the next junction/turn well in advance, several hundred feet usually. Then it re-announces around 350 feet before the junction, which works really well. This, coupled with the little 2D-turn icon shown on screen means, that so far, I haven’t missed a turn. Which brings me on to the next bit. Re-routing.
Purely for research purposes (honest!), I have deliberately taken the wrong turn, to see how the Pin570 reacts. So far, every time, the automatic re-routing worked within 100 meters, sometimes much less. Firstly, the unit chimes to alert you to the fact you’ve gone wrong, and then announces the new route, by telling you to continue for so many metres, or rarely, to make a U-turn. This will depend on how you have your preferences set to avoid motorways & quickest vs. shortest, etc, but even so, if you continue wrongly, the unit will continue to re-calculate from your location. It works really well, and takes the pressure off when you decide to make a detour.

I have had an odd problem with the software, in that it will not route me on a particular road that I use almost daily. It’s a by-pass to a village, and when I’m on the road, the software recognises it, with road name & number, but no matter what I do, I cannot get the software to navigate using it. I’ve even set a start point at one end, & destination the other end, and the software still re-routes me through the village, without using the road at all. I’ve narrowed it down to a problem with the roundabout at one end of the road, but that doesn’t help me much!
The other thing that isn’t so great is addresses on industrial estates/retail perks etc. Some of this may be due to them being new, but not others. The software really wants a house number to be spot on accurate, and won’t accept things like Units 1 – 4. But my view is if the Pin570 can navigate me across country to within a couple of hundred feet, I can manage the last bit myself.

Pocket PC
Very briefly, as I’ve not used it to any great extent for this yet, this works as well as a Dell Axim I used some time ago. I make notes at the odd meeting, set reminders etc, all of which synchronise with MS Outlook on my PC, and everything works as it should. I use it to transfer the odd Word or Excel file I need to look at, which to me is useful. I’ve got a few applications I’ve downloaded which look interesting, so this is all a real bonus, and a useful one, as far as I’m concerned.

Summary
The unit is now a few weeks old, and still looks and feels as good as new. The sat-nav side works very well, and other than the quirks mentioned above, the software works well too. I’ve used it almost daily, from short journeys where I know where I’m going, to ones of a couple of a couple hundred miles where I’ve no idea where I’m going, and I’ve got there, on time too. The route planner could be better, but it does its job. If I were using it for multi-drop deliveries for example, I’d probably look for something else, but for a couple of destinations a day, it’s great. And if you can be bothered to tweak it with your own preferences (speeds, areas to avoid etc), it gets better. Add into that the Pocket PC functionality, (which I've barely started to use), and this makes a great piece of kit for me.

[nuggo]

I've just bought one of these units and so far i'm well chuffed! Halfords have them on special for £99.99 and for that money you really cant moan!!! :D

lookin at possibly changing the software if i can to Tomtom 6, not sure if its possible though?

[waughie]

nuggo, i got mine for xmas and also im well chuffed. I took it downt o darlington from newcastle and it took me the exact way and then i went down to stoke on thursday and it took me exactly there, a little bit of a mix up like, it said continue toi the left on a double roundabout which should have been take a right on the 1st and a left on the next, but i found the place straight away like. Still well pleased like.

If you find out how to change the software let me know as i am also looking to changing the software.



Cheers

[krelisys]

I got my Navman at the weekend...mine is'nt so good... It's been in my car for about 2 hours and still no roads on the display... The screen shows a ? and asks for the nearest road...

What am I doing wrong...is this unit damaged?

Please help if you can

Thanks
Kylie

[bazz2004]

A sat nav with a stubby type aerial or one that folds out on a flap is almost certainly SirffStar II. If your car is one of the many with a coated windscreen the GPS system will struggle to pick up satellites. Try the sat nav in the garden and see if it picks up the satellites. The other posters sound very happy so if it won't work outside the car then the unit is probably faulty.

You can do a soft reset or a hard reset if the software is playing up.

[waughie]

Is it the navman Pin 570? I no that when im in the house no matter how hard i try upstairs or down stairs, hanging out the windows or what ever I can not get a signal.

If it is the Navman PiN 570 then does the orange light come on on the top left hand side of the unit? If it does then it has picked up a satalite but doesnt recognise the road that your on. Try going along the A1 as it always knows that road, or a major road.

what i would do is go in to a field or your garden when it is warm (saying that it is england we liv in, its never warm) and try picking up a satalite then. By all rights it should pick a one up with in a few moments.

I hoe this helps.

Cheers

Chris.

[nuggo]

mine did hang for a while at one point when trying to use it but if you turn it off and then back on again then you should be fine! really impressed actually with the speed that it pick up signal, i was expecting much worse from an older unit such as this!

waughie, i'm just in the process of installing tomtom 5 on the unit now but just having a few teething problems that im tryin to iron out then i'll let ya know what its like! :D

[smmeggy]

hi, i just bought one of these, and it seems to work fine, but yes it will only pick up signal from in my car ( which is when you want it too) but i would like to upgrade it to full postcode search, is this possible, and if so where can i get the software to do this.
thanks, smmeggy.

[gui_busa]

I also bought one of these Today and have already tested with TomTom 5 and Destinator 6 and found both work very well but you do have to remember to switch the GPS on.

GPS gave me a few problems but managed to clear the issue and all three navigation programs are working fine.

oh by the way the PDA works with my 4gig SD card as well.

Regards

[nuggo]

wow didnt realise it'd run with a 4Gb card. navman say it'll support upto 1Gb so there really doing themselves a dis-service!!

[simon11]

[PHATTANGLO]

I am a complete novice regarding satnav. Can I ask, can this system be used to navigate in europe? I appreciate that this may seem a silly question but I really don't know anything about satnav and I am in serious need of advice regarding a system I can use as far into eastern europe as possible.
I have bid on a couple of VDO Dayton screens on ebay and put an ad on the wanted forum here to try and replace the damaged one I was going to use for our Romanian charity run.
However, my wife pointed out it makes more sense to buy a satnav ourself rather than with charity funds, we can still use it for our charity trips, but then also use it ourselves as we like to tour by motorbike and it makes sense to have a more portable device.
I would appreciate any advice you can offer, in terms as none technical as possible please .

[smmeggy]

well i bought my pin from halfords for £99, it came fully loaded with uk and Rep Ireland maps, also i have disks in the pack with andorra,finland,norway,portugal,spain,sweden,france, italy,austria,belgium,denmarkgermany,luxembourg,netherlands and switzerland, so as far as i know it will take you to all these places, not sure about far east etc, and although i have these maps on disk you might have to obtain an unlock code for them from navman at a cost i would think. hope this helps.

[grahamterry1000]

I got my PiN 570 LAST Xmas and have used it a fair bit on my travels. However once you have been to a place once or twice you generally know how to get there so it is not of much use as I tend to travel to the same places on business.

Waste of time buying one I hear you cry. Maybe, but after all this time I am trying to put Speed Camera POI's on it and am having a devil of a job.

I downloaded the ASC files and went into the POI Editor but whilst the POI's show up in the Settings and the mapping does take you to Nearest POI when asked it doesn't show the associated icon and I do not know why.

At first I thought it was because the icon file was on my PC and should have been on a local file on the PiN so I copied the files across into what I presumed would be the MyPOI folder and still no joy. The actual ASC files do not show up as being on the memory card at all under a local Pocket PC search or a Windows XP search. Strange....

The only place they are identified is in the POI Editor and even there once saved to the device you can't edit the icon or anything just view the file names.

Am currently in communication with Navman UK about it but if anyone has had same problem and resolved it would be nice to hear from you.

NB Until reading someones long article on the pros & cons of ths PiN570 I didn't realise it zoomed at junctions, handy.

Cheers anybody.

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