Cheap Lidl Deal Alert

[scrumble]

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050519.p.My_Guide_Navigator_6500XL

But only available from stores in the South West

Does anyone recognise what make it is?

[oddsock]

Several sites I have looked on say its rebadged Mitac Mio 168 and there have been similar offers .
Dave

[Darren]

Definitely a Mitac Mio168. Never used Falk Navigator so can't really comment on the software side.
_________________
Darren Griffin

[rother]

here is a review in german
http://www.pocketnavigation.de/article/view_242_479__Falk%20Navigator%202004%20(M&G)/3.5.3.html
i use slim browser and the inbuilt language translators, as you can see it is a bit hit and miss.

if you do it online you can see the variuos images.

Introduction and map data


Preface
Map&Guide is a large name in the navigation business. In the year 2003 the company already tried with the Map&Guide Travelbook PDA in the area of PDA navigation. The product did not become generally accepted however, too many problems and lack to the fact led that high expectations which one had attached at the name Map&Guide was not fulfilled. But at the end of of 2003 dared the company in co-operation with Falk a new approach. The system was completely again developed and as Falk navigator among other things in div. Discounter Bundles markets. (Lidl navigator)The Falk navigator 2004 is a Onboard Navigations system with program sections for the PC and the pocket PC. The planning of a route can be accomplished at home at the PC, not be transferred however on the PDA. Route planning can be accomplished however directly at the PDA and unabhaenig by the domestic PC. Thus the Falk navigator is a its own and a full wertiges navigation product for the pocket PC.




Map data of NAVTEQ
The map data come from NAVTEQ (formerly NAVTECH) and have the release status 11/2003. In practice it shows up as with all map manufacturers that a release date does not mean compellingly that all roads were built before the appropriate release date are seized. In the comparison to the competition one can speak however of very current map data. Only the new mobile navigator|4 and his predecessor the mobile navigator 1,5 has likewise according to current maps. In the basic version only map material of Germany is contained. Further countries can be bought to go with, whereby at present only Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, north Italy and Elsass), France and GB to be available. The other countries (West) Europe are to follow to end of the yearly. On the respective maps a continuous navigation is possible.

nstallation of the PC software and transferring the map data


Installation of the software
2 CDs and a quite useful manual are supplied . After start of the SETUP of the first CD the Falk navigator at the PC is installed.Afterwards absolutely still the current service luggage 2 should be installed. One finds an overview of all past service luggage on the following Website: Falk navigator 2004 - Downloads For the Yakumo delta 300 government inspection departments is necessary an additional Patch, which one likewise finds under the Website mentioned! Importantly: In the Germany map March was an error with the road search to in the middle of . The error can be repaired only by an exchange of the KartenCDs. Whether the version is concerned and where one can exchange the CDs free of charge, one experiences on the following Website: Falk navigator 2004 - conversion action Copied with the installation all map data will become on the PC, thus the CDs thereafter no more in the drive assembly not needed. Space requirement at the PC with the Germany map approx. 1,7GB .With less place should be possible also an enterprise with the map data of that CD. With me however no relevant inquiry came. As processor at least a Pentium 233 is necessary, is recommended a Pentium 3 with 500 MHz. Particularly if one liked to export however maps from the total map, one needs CPU power or much patience.To the start of the Falk navigator an inquiry comes equal whether one wants to make the installation on the pocket PC now. If one answers here first with "no", the question comes again with each program start. After answer with "" the program installation on the pocket PC takes place.




Installation and export of the map data
The PC software permits an exporting of areas from the total map. Here either prefabricated regions (usually Lands of the Federal Republic) can be used, or however one defines the area over a rectangle, which can be drawn up on the map (see to screen SHOT below)Advantage over the map export with Navigon: Additionally to the selected rectangle one can export optionally also the main traffic routes of the total maps. So one can bridge large distances also with a small memory card, even if one should not deviate then from the route.Disadvantage in relation to the map export with Navigon: Only rectangles and no routes can be exported. The PC software functions on the PC as good route planners, but the routes do not leave themselves when passages transfer to the PC. It is to be assumed however that with the price purge with memory cards the passage option continues to lose at relevance.As also with Navigon the map export is an extremely cpu time consuming procedure . Arranging the map for Bavaria lasted 2.5 with a GHz processor nevertheless still approx.. 20 min . In addition still the time for transferring to the memory card comes.Altogether one can evaluate however alone the presence map export as very positive. Me personally the liberty with such Tool is rather than excluding firm segments as for example with TomTom.With 228MB storage requirement for the Germany map is appropriate for Falk navigator in the upper centre zone , which concerns the compression of the maps. TomTom navigator 2 is better , there creates one during same storage allocation additionally still Austria and Switzerland. But for example the Navigonprodukte (before the version 4) goennten itself more memory and did not create it not the Germany map on a 256MB memory card to pack.


The PC software as route planners


Nice ton have...
Falk and Map&Guide are admit for your good map display and your route planners. It does not surprise thus that one spendiert the user still another PC route planner . The PC route planner is installed automatically with and uses naturally the same maps as PDA application.To the route planner one does not have to lose many words. It is nicely so which at the PC to be had, but the function range of the application of PCS is very simply held. Very unfortunate it is that one cannot transfer planned routes at the PC to the pocket PC. Particularly for motorradfahrer a very meaningful possibility the PC route planner would be meaningful to use. I would classify the PC route planner thus as pure Nice ton have feature, with which in this test one does not continue to enter.




Screenshots PC route planners
Please on the screens click, in order to indicate these in the originalgroesse:



Menu guidance
After the Falk navigator was started, one is called acoustically welcome by a friendly woman voice. Who feels troubled of it in the long term (and I am afraid that am most) can the simply following file rename, in order to bring the lady to the silence: Programme\Navigator 2004\Waves.d\Herzlich_Willkommen.wavAfter one the reference the equipment not while driving to use confirmed, the main menue opens immediately. With the program start shows up, what in the entire program can be observed: It is particularly in the menu guidance and with the structure of the map (scrolling) extremely fast . The program start lasts less than one second and the program is immediately operational.The competition looks old against it : A MN|4 does not even start on a Ipaq 5550 with sufficiently free memory under 30 seconds - a TomTom navigator 3 nevertheless also still needs on average 15 seconds.The menu is very simply developed. It gives a mode to navigation and a route planner. Contrary to other systems the planned route from the route planner mode cannot be transferred however to the navigation mode. Also a free MovingMap is possible, thus a map opinion without route or a navigation goal. The menu guidance is intuitive and profited very much from the limited number of features. I dare the statement that with this system everyone brings a navigation on first attempt. Keep it simple - here seems to be come up the concept, even if one did not have naturally to pack the function range of the competition into a menu structure.




Goal input
Also the goal input is pleasing quick. To the selection stand postal code , place and road as well as house number (if available). Periphery search , last goals , favorites and goal selection directly from the map complete the possibilities a goal to start.Unfortunately no so-called Fuzzy search is possible, speaks: The correct initial letters of a road must be always entered.If one looks for thus e.g. the Ferdinand Kobell STR, then it is not sufficient as with the Navigonprodukten if one Kobell or DIN and enters. One will find the road only over the letters Fe ... to etc..The goal input is simply and intuitively , had however not yet all conceivable input methods. For example the input of side roads or coordinates is missing.Also the Outlookkontakte must to be read in somewhat pedantically over the PC software and not be able directly by the pocket PC to be used.A deficiency during the goal input: It the standard keyboard used and thus can a goal without problems with the fingers not be entered. Here one continues to be with the competition something, MN|4 and TomTom 3 has own finger-friendly input methods. The input of intermediate objectives is possible only for two intermediate objectives.Altogether also the goal input follows consistently the line entire of the program: Simply , fast and effectively .
Route options and Routenberechung


Route options
With the route options two speed profiles and a pedestrian mode are available on the one hand. One selects passenger car fast tends the route rather to large roads, even if the distance is somewhat longer. In addition with same distance a shorter travel time is precalculated. The pedestrian mode ignores one-way streets and pedestrian precincts.Further the user between time optimization , distance optimization and economic optimizing can select ung. The last point is a mixture of the two first options. Here thus not compellingly the fastest or shortest way is selected, but a good average . For me personally fast aktzeptable results with this attitude in connection with the selection passenger car, which are comparable with the competition, resulted.Since it is always extremely heavy to test and compare the quality of the route of process, I would like to keep myself here consciously something covered.Fact is however that an awkward route process is noticeable usually only to the native one and where one is native needs one no navigation system. As long as the route process is thus no disaster, it plays only a subordinated role so long one surely from A to B arrived.In summary one can call the selection of the route options at best moderate. Other systems offer here with exclusion factors (mautstrassen avoid, motorway avoid, ferry avoid), truck routes to closing from roads or areas, variable speed allocations to the type of road, and finally dynamic routes via TMC or GPRS substantially more. The Falk navigator shows up also here simply and simply .




Routenberechung
The quality of the route process is, the time for the Berechung of this process is the other one. Fortunately the computation time of a route can be compared more simply than the process. But there are many factors, which can positively or negatively affect the computation time.A direct comparison is only possible with the same PDA and storage medium. Particularly the quality of the storage medium and the size of the free main memory (on the PDA) have an enormous influence on the computation time. At the times with other systems to compare to be able it requires further fixed test routes. Also the route options must be comparable. More to the test procedure in the following article: Computation time for routes .Results of the tests: With long and centrallong routes Falk of the competition is clearly underlaid . It needs long test route with 2:40min for those approx. 580km nearly three times as for a long time as the competition of Navigon and TomTom.But with short routes the Falk navigator is nearly equal fast and faster with very short routes (starting from approx. 15km) substantially than the competition.The speed with short routes draws the system from that for unbelievably fast card pattern . It makes very much fun in the map scrollen and zoom, because there is practically no delay. With the topic scrolling/card pattern is the Falk navigator with far distance test winner all me admitted systems.

Acoustic output and visual goal guidance


Acoustic output
The times, when acoustic output on the PDA was an innovation feature, are past, but also over the quality of the acoustic output the systems differentiate themselves very still strongly.In principle two technical variants of the acoustic output are possible. The synthetically produced text ton Speech acoustic output makes a large vocabulary possible, works however usually still how: of another star .The second, also alternative selected by Falk, is the acoustic output by compound sentence parts taken up in the Tonstudio. Here one usually speaks of an Wave acoustic output .The number of the individual sentence parts suggests roughly the quality of the acoustic output, at least which concerns the size of the vocabulary. Falk navigator had approx. 80 sentence parts and lies thereby before the TomTom navigator 3 with only approx. 60 sentence parts . But the competition of Navigon works already since some versions with up to 400 sentence parts .Accordingly the acoustic output shows up somewhat more extensively than with TomTom, but differentiates by far not in such a way as with Navigon. If one is used to it from a Navigonsystem, one e.g. the announcement of motorway or federal highway numbers misses nevertheless much. The acoustic output is sufficient usually for a travel without view of the display problem-free.The acoustic quality is good and the acoustic output is loud and understandable . The intonation of the female voice is however for my taste partially something schroff and thus habituation-needily.Altogether the acoustic output is to be settled in the upper centre zone, approaches however neither contentwise nor acoustically to the expenditure of the Navigonsysteme. Beispielwave: Cordially welcome roundabout motorway




Visual goal guidance
The visual goal guidance consists with the Falk navigator alternatively of a mixed map and arrow mode or a pure arrow opinion .The large arrow opinion reached over a simple click on the map display (left screen SHOT). The arrow opinion is particularly suitable for motorradfahrer , who must seize the next instruction with a view. The arrow opinion is very well succeeded , clearly and nevertheless details enough, in order to seize the crossing situation.During my test travels I used the arrow opinion frequently, because the unusual position display on the map confused me again and again.I am not me really over it in the clear one which Falk induced have to select an in such a manner complicated positionsdarstellung in the map opinion. The announcement consists of one point , the actual position. But thus not enough. Around this point is a circle . On this circle a large directional marker , which points to the fortbewegungsrichtung. The danger of mistake between directional marker and point of position is perfect thereby - above all if one is accustomed as with most systems only one position arrow. For Umsteiger this kind of the position display is really very complicated and actually unnecessary.The whole is doubly unfortunate, because the map opinion succeeded very much . The map has good contrasts and moves very liquid. The driver's instruction sheets are visualized additionally to the acoustic output in the lower part of the screen in large writing. In the top are a small arrow opinion as well as travel data. Up to the travel data and the small arrow opinion all screen elements before navigation can be deactivated (approximation bars, text descriptor, next road, compass, street name and yardstick). If one deactivates some elements, above all the bulky character indication, then one receives a really large and clear map .The map display can be darkened for the night a little (screen SHOT center, left), which is not usually sufficient however . The competition of Navigon is here, there the screen brightness is continued to reduce and a coloured adjustment is not only made. The night opinion of the Falk navigator is thus not consistently enough.The autozoom shot works reliably and can be switched off before navigation. While driving can be gezoomt with the arrow keys. All attitudes (with exception of the day/night opinion) must be festglegt before navigation, also not more completely up-to-date.In summary the visual goal guidance is satisfying . The whole structure of the navigation opinion and the position display could be however more stimmiger. It is good that nearly all elements are optionally selectable. It is bad that one must commit oneself before navigation (also with the adjustment of the map to the north or in direction of travel). Particularly the good arrow opinion and the liquid and fast card pattern are here the strengths.
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Special features and support


Navigation purely...
A navigation system is for navigating Falk there probably naturally imagined and with features held back themselves. A few attitudes can be found nevertheless, which are rather ungewoehlich and so that have the Touch of the special one.The travel data can be arranged very simply from the following functions: Distance up to the goal, Enfernung up to the next crossing, arrival time, remaining travel time, speed and height.In the attitudes one finds an option turning maneuver avoids - behind it an interesting function hides itself over in div. Forums one discusses again and again. Is the system to rather turn with a Routenneuberechung to attribute over to the old route and accept turns or should the ReRouting a Vorwaertsrouting always be? Since both has pro and cons, Falk lets the user decide whether he would like evenly sometimes to rather turn or a longer distance would like to take in purchase.Otherwise Falk navigator does not offer unusual features , which would have earned a special attention here. How mentions already several times, the system does not take over itself straight with features. For a certain type of user that is safe a who courage drop, but that, which would not like itself to load with unnecessary attitudes and features, but uncomplicatedly from A to B to navigate must that will rather make happy. He finds a still very slim and effective navigational instrument in the Falk navigator.




POIs and POI Warner!?
The Falk navigator has an extensive provided volume of data of POINT OF Interest (POIs). These must be transferred however first specially by the PC to the PDA. Also the possibility consists of loading additionally volume of data of the InterNet.Shortly there is more information about the POI functionality of the Falk navigator here. It will give likewise soon a POI Warner to version for the presented navigation system.We ask for something patience...




Support
If there is none on the technical level still absolutely outstanding features, then the support achievement of the company Map&Guide must be emphasized nevertheless here separately. Map&Guide is represented in the forum with altogether three Special Membern, each an asking and each problem tries to solve.Although also different companies in the forum make a very good job (above all Navigon and Teleatlas), must for Map&Guide with its commitment are emphasized. One sees one not rare answering the Special Member still deeply at the night in the forum the questions the user. The answers are competently, honest and open .Map&Guide is during the support achievement (at least the support over the forum) the past test winner in the range support achievement. Finally also the product will faster develop itself further, since the developers enter with the desires of the users and develop the product further appropriate customer orientated. I hope and wish myself that this co-operation is in the forum still for a long time and fruitful. Thank you!

Result, source of supply and resuming left


Result
The Falk navigator does not surely only belong names wegens to the large navigation systems on the small pocket PCS . Falk succeeded it to develop an efficient and fast navigation system that with unnecessary ballast does not strike itself. Current map data and good map display were to be expected by Falk/Map&Guide anyway. The speed is reflected less in the time for the Routenberechung again, because here is one the competition on long distances still afterwards, but shows up in the extraordinarily fast program start, structure of menu and above all that extremely fast card pattern . If one has the feeling with many competition systems as if the pocket PC would be completely overtaxed, then the Falk navigator flies away formally. For this reason working with the system makes fun and program stability is likewise very high, since the pocket PC does not push to its power limits.The menu guidance is to be served simply and intuitively. There is not necessary manuals or long acclimatizing phases. This system can serve of everyone. Navigation is reliable and practice suited.But the Falk navigator is not unfortunately in the single disciplines the respective point system. Neither acoustic output nor route guidance and visual goal guidance are top class. There is no dynamic route guidance (TMC) and the restriction of the intermediate objectives is more than annoying. Bad night opinion, attitudes only before navigation and no assumption of routes into navigation are further examples of clear weaknesses of the system.The lack of fascinating features with which one from the competition set cannot leads itself finally in addition that this system belongs to the large navigation systems, however the point off reached . Who cannot be impressed however from the advertising-effective and partially really fascinating features of the competition, navigator a reliable and efficient Navigationssytem for the everyday use finds in the Falk . Which uses the most beautiful 3D-Ansicht and the maddest Design, if one must wait for it a half eternity, until the program is started. For the Falk navigator would decide less with me from therefore rather the understanding and the heart.




Source of supply Map&Guide
The Falk navigator can be referred directly with Map&Guide. The price/achievement relationship is particularly useful with the Bundle. The software Only version is due to the fact that only one Germany map in the comparison to the competition rather expensively. The UVP is attached:· 149.95€ Falk navigator inclusive Germany map · 249.95€ Falk navigator inclusive Germany map and government inspection department receiver · 129.95€ Central Europe town center (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, north Italy and Elsass - 353 MT) · for each 99.95€ France town center (171 MT), UK town center (123 MT), BeNeLux town center (171 MT) Tap: They sell this product over a Shop and would like your price to apply? Inform now about attractive advertising possibilities on these sides!

[Pocketgps]

That's not a Mio168 unless they have changed the casing, mic, speaker, joystick and even the cpu speed, they are all different including the os system, or do they have some creative specs and images to try and sell this unit.

Must admit that the cradle looks like the Mio168.

http://www.creativesupplies.co.uk/catalog/images/productphoto/satNav.JPG

[Darren]

Mio released an updated 168 model in the USA recently with WM2003SE, a faster processor and better GPS receiver. It looks like this is the first sighting of this unit over this side of the pond.

So it's not a Mio168 exactly but a newer better specced version of it.
_________________
Darren Griffin

[Pocketgps]

I thought this was the new Mio168:

[Darren]

Nice looking unit. Haven't seen that before, any more details?

The US Mio168 MkII was physically identical but with WM2003SE etc, the Lidl unit appears to be so albeit with subtle case mods (not unusual in Mio's OEM units). The Lidl unit is clearly a version of the 168 and not a completely new unit such as your photo.
_________________
Darren Griffin

[Pocketgps]

I don't have any other info on this, it arrived in my email about a week ago from someone asking if I could do some new sound files for them and saying had I seen the new Mio168, but have tried to reply to the email address and get returned email, address not none.

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