28/04/09

Garmin's ColorMap StreetPilot III GPS Product Review

We think the ColorMap StreetPilot III Ver. 2.10 is a "break-through" in portable (move from car to car easily) address-to-address automatic routing GPS car navigation systems.  It was designed from the  ground up  to economically replace  the   combination   of GPS/Laptop Computer/Mapping Software system that many of us use to maneuver around cities. SP-III includes  a set of "base maps" showing all state and federal highways  and major thoroughfares in towns and cities throughout the USA.  In addition,  SP-III can be loaded with optional RESIDENTIAL street level detail maps of any USA area and a variety of overseas locations including much of Europe and cities in Australia. By using map memory cartridges uploaded with data from Garmin's CityNavigator, MetroGuide and MapSource CDROM map systems the system can economically be used over a wide geographical area.  These include: CityNavigator (NavTech Maps, the best GPS routable maps available in areas covered), MapSource MetroGuide (Etak Maps, good maps but not quite as up to date as NavTech and only USA version has autorouting capability within SP-III), Roads & Recreation, USA Topo, and WorldMap CD ROMs. 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 megabyte memory cartridges are available. (Our recommended minimum size is 32megs which is the size that comes bundled with the SP-III kit. However, the 128meg memory module comes standard with the "Deluxe" kit and we like this size even better.) The StreetPilot III is straightforward to use.

The CityNavigator (NavTech) map offering is necessary for the Automatic Address-to-Address routing to work to street address level. The SP-III provides automated guidance on a par with any of these and in fact much more routinely gives routing "the same as I would have chosen". Sometimes the route chosen is "just OK", but after all, SP-III is just a machine. The downside for SP-III as compared to the $3000 models is that most of the more expensive models have some sort of "dead reckoning" capability to permit navigation to continue for short intervals when signals are lost. Such signal loss can happen in "city canyons" such as NYC and LA where high rise buildings can block the satellite signals.

As to CityNavigator map sizes, the four central Atlanta "map chunks" are about 1.5 megabytes each, and other area "map chunks" range from 400 Kbytes to 2.0 mbytes.

Automatic ROUTE GENERATION with SP is pretty fast. It usually takes less than a minute to generate a route within the Atlanta area. One trial route from Atlanta to an address in Los Angeles took about 2 minutes which seems quite satisfactory.

CityNavigator offer the user a new (for Garmin) capability of generating a route automatically ON THE PC as well as within the SP-III.  This permits users to generate a series of automatically generated routes and load these into other Garmin GPS receivers as well as the SP-III.   The CityNavigator (NavTech) maps offer coverage with superior road detail. Details as to which lane to be in and which way to turn onto exit ramps at complex expressway interchanges is included.

While CityNavigator has "city area map chunks" ranging from about 23kbytes to 2 mbytes,  MetroGuide II also has max 2 MB "chunks" (compared to the older MetroGuide version with 8MB max chunks) whereas the Roads & Recreation Maps typically load "county size hunks" which typically use 100K to 400K bytes of memory per county. In the Atlanta area, the coverage area for a selected 8 MB MetroGuide or CityNavigator map section is roughly a square about 125 miles on a side. This covers the formal "Atlanta Metropolitan Area" and then some. Using the less accurate (but still very good) MapSource R&R maps, you are able to include a much larger area and up to 99 "counties" in an 8 meg memory cartridge.

Note: NO OTHER map products from alternative vendors can be uploaded into Garmin GPS receivers except those offered by Garmin for the purpose. This same proprietary relationship exists for other vendor's consumer GPS products as well. The 128Meg map cartridge will typically cover two or more states but this varies with road density within a state.

This new SP-III is designed principally for automobile use and its size, the two hour (or so) battery life could make it unsuitable for hiking or boating use. NiMH rechargeable batteries give better service than alkaline.

What's new in StreetPilot III?

The SP-III DELUXE kit contains: SP-III GPS, 128meg memory, Speaker/power cable, USB memory loader, Dash Mount Bracket, CityNavigator CDROM, Manual, and a data cable for computer interconnect.

We can say that SP-III gets rid of almost ALL of the error effects of GPS error that bothers so many people.  When you use CityNavigator or MetroGuide the SP-III will "lock" your vehicle track to roads and as long as you  travel on the road.  Automatically generated routes using CityNavigator maps "rubber band" to the roads in the route. Once in a great while, you may find an isolated road segment where the map is so far off that road lock will jump off the road, but it is extremely rare.

Another useful feature is that with CityNavigator maps, (when not in guidance mode) all approaching cross street names are displayed prior to arrival. We found the SP-III audio and visual guidance directions very satisfactory. SP-III automatically varies its "turn here" warning time to give you more warning time at high speed than at lower speed. A typical audio/visual sequence would go something like this:

At all times, the map on the left half of the screen shows your progress and a thick pink line shows your project route on the map. On the right is the text information: speed, time to go to next turn, distance to go to next turn and written directions/information as needed. At any time, you can press the "speak" key and get the latest directions in audio form.

An alternative screen shows a listing of turns to come. Another screen display is the trip computer.

AUTOZOOM zooms the screen in and out automatically as you approach waypoints and turns so you always have time to make decisions.

Route selections for CAR, TRUCK, BUS, and EMERGENCY are provided so you can be properly routed depending on your vehicle type.

The accessory CityNavigator contain many thousands  of "attractions" on board.  These include:
Food and drink, Lodging, Attractions, Entertainment, Shopping, Services, Transportation, and Emergency and Government. In our area, there were a few restaurants we had not known about (and a few prominent ones are missing).  The restaurant listing appeared to be about 2 years old.  Listed ”Attractions" include theme parks, museums, libraries, schools, parks and such.  The listings were quite satisfactory though the placement of a particular restaurant or gas station might vary plus or minus a few hundred feet (once, half a mile) from the actual location.  This feature could be very handy in a strange city.

The user can give the GPS a Street Address or Street Intersection or select one of the, for instance, Restaurants in the accessory map data base module and it will LOCATE this address or location automatically and plot it on the map screen.  The SP-III can then automatically create a "turn-by-turn" route to this destination from wherever you are. This is a very useful feature and it has worked very well in our tests. Be prepared for a few well known items (such as my local library) to be missing from the "attractions" list. Still, if you are unfamiliar with an area, what IS included will be quite useful.

We think the 128 megs is enough for "most" users. SP-III has a map memory of 128megs available and also a "complete USA  base map". The  base map has the entire USA included as far as major roadways, state numbered roads and interstate highways are concerned.

Then, if you need complete detail for a PARTICULAR city (or rural area) you are going to visit, you can load (from your laptop or other PC) high detail maps from CityNavigator.

The unit automatically transitions from the  base map to the detailed maps when the detailed maps are available and back again as you move out of the detailed map areas. While it is quite easy to load new maps from a laptop computer into your SP-III, you could just have multiple map cartridges and plug in a new (preloaded with maps) cartridge for various areas if you did not have ready access to a computer on a lengthy road trip.

SP-III does not have the 2Gigabyte map memory we all wish for, but it is quite flexible and the  base map goes a long way toward making 128megs of map memory sufficient for most users. That said, DO NOT expect that the  base map is as accurate as the CityNavigator maps from NavTech. There will be some areas where the map error is larger than 150ft and the SP-III will think you are offroute and will claim it must recalculate. This is a minor irritation for some people but if you just ignore the problem when it (fairly rarely) occurs, things work out fine.

Specific Questions Answered:

• Does the SP-III have automatic daylight savings time? Yes, at least it works in the USA.
• What is the battery life for the 6 alkaline? About 2 hours. NiMH 1600mah batteries last longer. Keep it plugged into your 12vdc power is our advice.
• Is the color screen viewable in sunlight? Direct sunlight washes it out, but if it is in your car on the dash, it is quite satisfactory.
• What memory cartridges does it use? SP-III comes with 32megs (128meg in Deluxe kit) and can accept 8, 16, 32, 64 Meg and 128 meg Garmin cartridges.
• Does SP-III have a trip computer like earlier SP's? Yes.
• Is the SP-III the same size as the original SP? No. It is the same shape, but slightly deeper. It uses the same mount and accessories.
• Where is the speaker for the audio output? It is mounted on the power cable near the 12vdc power plug (car end). The audio output comes from a separate connector from the power input.
• Is there enough audio volume available to use SP-III in a noisy truck? In a <normal> car, we judge the volume will always be ample. Audio is fine in a Ford F-150 truck and we think it will work OK for a fairly noisy truck as well, but you can always connect an external audio amp and speaker or even earphones.
• Is the audio clear and easy to understand? Yes. We think the audio quality of the female voice is quite clear and understandable..
• Is the contrast and brightness adjustable? Yes, there are about 10 brightness steps and contrast control resolution is maybe 50 steps.
• Is CityNavigator included? Yes, Deluxe kit includes "all region unlock". Additional regions cost extra.
• Will my old SP (or G-III) cable work with SP-III? Yes, but a new speaker/power cable comes with SP-III.
• How do I load 32megs of map data in a reasonable time? Using the USB memory card loader (provided in kit) this takes a couple of minutes.
• Does SP-III come with a dash mount? Yes. Similar to the older SP mount with the same mounting foot but different for the new case shape.
• Does SP-III's "road lock" feature work on the  base map? Yes. Can "road lock" be turned off in SP-III? No, It is ON with CityNavigator and MetroGuide maps and OFF otherwise.
• Can I upload/download waypoints/routes/tracks to the SP-III? Yes, using MapSource and G7ToWin Version A.00.38 or later. (G7towin can also download screen images from SP-III and LEGEND/VISTA.) OziExplorer is in the process of being updated also. Other 3rd party software will need some revision as the formats of the waypoint and route files and screen dump files have changed from prior Garmin data formats.
• If I deviate from the calculated route, what happens? SP-III automatically recalculates a new route to your destination without operator intervention.
• Can I "TrackBack" on a tracklog with SP-III? No. This feature is not supported. Instead, you would use AUTOROUTE. (Note: this is not correct, because with the “register path way” functions enabled you could reversely flow your previous path.)
• How many waypoints can be in an automatically generated route? 2000
• How do I upload SA8 Maps (or DRG, or TravRoute or whatever.) into SP-III? You can't.. Only Garmin maps can be uploaded into SP-III. You can connect SP-III to your laptop, run SA8 (etc.) on your laptop and plot your travel path using your laptop if you want.
• Does the SP-III allow entry of route preferences? Yes. Options are: Avoid U-turns, Avoid Toll Road, Avoid Highways, Faster Time, Shorter Distance, Off Road (turns off road lock and allows GOTO). Also, Calculate routes for CAR or TRUCK or BUS or EMERGENCY vehicle.
• What is the maximum number of "turns" in a route? One correspondent has reported that on one particular address to address route, he has achieved 57 turns in the route before the maximum nodes error message occurred. This can vary depending on the complexity of a route.
• Can I buy a SP-III in the USA (to save Euros) and then use it in Europe (or Australia) using CityNavigator maps? Yes. But a USA purchased unit will have a USA base map and the European  base map(such as it is) will be essentially not useful. The reverse is also true. If you are in Europe with a USA base map, this means you will have to load maps from CityNavigator for your entire journey if you want autorouting all the way. This all works just fine. But, if you have the European base map, you would only have to load the start city area and the destination city area of interest. The base map could be used for routing in between. It <IS> useful to have the base map for your principal area of interest, but you can get along without it.
• Can I add VIAs to influence SP-III to do a route "my way"? Answer: Yes. You can add as many vias as you want in the PC route generator in MapSource and these will be transferred to SP-III when you download. You can also add a limited number of VIAs using the SP-III without the PC.

Additional SP features include:

The trip computer is improved and has functionality similar to the SP(CM). With SP-III, You will notice that when you come to a stop, the estimated times do not go to infinity, but hold a realistic value. The GPS calculates estimated times based upon road classes in your Route and modify the estimation by your actual speeds on the various road classes. It also computes the actual road distance between turns (waypoints) instead of using straight line distances.  The results give fairly accurate estimated time to various points, even when using different road classes, like traveling on the freeway, and then exiting later on some local roads. Your estimates will not only be based upon your current highway speed, but by the combination of speeds you are using, or will be using on the various road classes.

The GPS has the standard HOST mode which allows  the upload/download of waypoints, routes, tracks, etc., OR use the GPS for tracking with the NMEA output WITHOUT having to change from GARMIN to NMEA mode and vice versa. The SP external power/data cable and active antenna BNC connection is the same as for the G-III(+) and G-II(+) and earlier SPs..

Note: None of the "display fields" are user configurable in SP-III. A "satellite" page (menu/menu+GPS INFO) rounds out the active displays. Another display shows loaded maps and allows user selection of "active" maps.  If you have multiple maps of the same area (a TOPO and CityNavigator for instance) you will want to turn off one or the other and use one at a time.

A "Driving Status" line on the Map display indicates such information as "Driving South on Roswell Road near Sandy Springs".  This can be quite useful in cities where you don't exactly know which street you are on. Also while driving; the name of each approaching side street is displayed allowing finding side streets in the dark.

Major features the StreetPilot DOES NOT have

Datums- The SP only provides WGS-84 so any external mapping program which cannot use WGS-84 directly OR convert WGS-84 to its required datum will give larger than normal map position errors.

Battery timer- The SP has no battery timer feature. It does have a battery "fuel gauge" display and MORE IMPORTANT, SP-III has an "Automatic Shutdown when External Power is Removed" feature to prevent running down the internal batteries if you forget to turn off StreetPilot in your car. Unfortunately, it does NOT have automatic power ON when external power is applied like other Car Navigation systems.

Only 43 ICONS are available in the SP-III to identify user waypoints and mark routes.  

The battery meter can be set to alkaline, or NiCad types.  Alkaline battery life in the SP (6 AA cells) is about 2 hours.

Features and Operation

The SP-III has a direct and easy to use routing system. The user:

• Enters an address, an intersection, select a restaurant, hotel, or other Point of Interest.
• selects ROUTE to it and then FASTEST WAY (or perhaps SHORTEST)
• SP-III automatically generates a route to your destination and cues the user with both audio and visual directions.

The SP-III has essentially NO CAPABILITY for off road guidance. (You can do a GOTO if you select OFF ROAD as your routing preference.)

The SP-III operates from 6 AA batteries or from external power in the range of 10 to 32 volts DC. The SP-III uses FLASH memory and has no memory backup battery. We get about 2 hours from a set of 6 Toshiba/Sony Alkaline AA cells.  Best to keep the unit plugged into external power. The LED backlit display lighting has a rated design life of 100,000 hours.  The SP shuts down when the internal battery voltage goes below 4.8 (alkaline) or 5.2 (NiCad) volts unless external power is applied.

A special Power/Speaker cable is supplied with SP-III. However, the data/power cable used is the same as the Garmin G-45/12/II+/G-III+ and other SP units. Normally, you would not need a DATA cable if you use the USB module to load maps into your SP-III. However, you will need a data cable if you intend to upload/download routes/tracks/waypoints directly to MapSource or to other 3rd Party Software.

The external antenna connector, a BNC coax jack, is located on the right rear of the unit just behind the keys.  The BNC jack is powered and has a current limit rated at 50mA to protect the unit from shorts on the antenna cable. However, the standard antenna is passive.   The Garmin GA-26 amplified antenna, Lowe's, Tri-M, and the MAGELLAN M-4000 amplified antenna all work with the SP.  We believe most other amplified GPS antennas will work as well.

The SP-III outputs out only the NMEA protocol NMEA-0183 Ver. 2.0 and accepts RTCM-0104. Other proprietary GARMIN sentences are input/output as well.  Garmin has included its (now) standard HOST MODE (Called GARMIN in the GPS) so that (with suitable software commands) it is now possible to switch from NMEA to up/download without manual intervention. The NMEA out, TEXT out, DGPS in, and RTCM in are also available.

DGPS signals in the RTCM-0104 format are accepted. Anytime NMEA output is selected, the baud rate of the output serial port is set to 4800 baud and input is disabled or it can be set for RTCM in and NMEA out. RTCM (DGPS) alone can use baud rates of 300 to 9600. A setup screen permits selection of the I/O combination needed by a particular application.

Operating temperature range is specified as -15C to +70C. Unique in their class,  Like other Garmin handheld GPS receivers, SP is rated submersible to one meter per IEC529 IPX(7). The maximum altitude rating is 60,000ft and speed maximum is 999 knots.

Master Reset:
Hold down the quit button, route button, and up on the rocker pad. Press power button, wait until you get the first
power-up screen then let go of the up and wait for the unit to come on fully then let go of the rest of the buttons.

Feature Details:

· The SP-III has a large number of features and displays. These include:

• The MAP SCREEN includes the MAP, an ARROW, current speed display, distance to go, and time to go display. When in Route Navigation mode (and tracking) a large ARROW indicating the proper direction of travel. Uniquely, this ARROW points at the proper direction of travel along the road right now NOT at the next waypoint. At TURNS, the arrow will make right angles or whatever angle is appropriate for the turn.
• A moving map display is provided to plot your course over ground.  The detail of the base map is similar to, but enhanced compared with the base map in the older SP ColorMap.  Outside of Canada, Mexico and the USA, base maps are generally less detailed. Waypoints saved in the  machine are displayed on the moving map page as they come within range of the map scale selected.  The map screen has pan and zoom and scales from 120 feet (1/2 inch) to about 800 miles (screen width).
• Route  start/finish points can also be generated from user waypoints, city waypoints, points of interest, street addresses and street/road intersections. There appear to be 7 layers of map  detail in the base map and perhaps 7 more in the street level CityNavigator maps.
• The map display may be set to north up, or current track up.  The map display provides an array of user customizable  features such as AUTOZOOM,  Map DETAIL control, Tracklog on/off, Street label size, Railroads on/off, North up/Track up,  Display   waypoint/exit/POI controls, city/town text size selection, display/don't  display  map features such as restaurants, hotels, shopping centers, garages/service stations, tourist attractions,  entertainment centers and similar.  The map screen also supports zoom and pan features.  On  the SPIII,  user waypoints can have one of 43 symbols such as boat,  house, gas pump, etc. When you are  moving,  an "arrow" pointer shows your direction and leaves a "cookie trail" showing your track. Map accuracy is superb on the CityNavigator maps in the Atlanta area.
• The automatic guidance system is a big improvement over the earlier SP models. You can typically set up a new route in perhaps 1 minute or less.
• A simulator feature provides display of simulated motion and simultaneously outputs simulated tracking data  to your computer for test of mapping software, data gathering simulations and such. However, the simulator can only follow established routes and cannot just be set up to travel in some user selected direction. This seems OK since the SP is designed to facilitate automated automobile navigation which requires the input of a route. If you are in simulator mode and turn off power, a power ON automatically restores normal mode operation. (It's not documented in the manual, but the simulator can be driven by using the cursor keys on the dashboard page. Up/Down adjusts speed, Right/Left adjusts direction. However, it is a trick to figure out which direction you are going with this setup.)
•  There is no screen back lighting timer feature in SP-III.
•  A message screen pops up (with beep) to show system warnings and messages. These include such things as approaching next turn, no DGPS position, poor GPS coverage, and battery is low.
• When the unit is powered ON, a Garmin introductory screen comes on followed "now loading maps" advisory then by a "land data is provided only as a general reference to your surroundings" page.  AT LAST, Garmin has eliminated the necessity to manually press the "enter" key to get into operation. The unit will time out to the map tracking screen after a couple of minutes. To view the SATELLITE page, you must press MENU twice, then select GPS INFO and press ENTER. Then  the satellite status page comes up and displays a "compass" display of satellite numbers (1 to 32) in view along with signal strength bars for each satellite potentially in view (up to 12). This satellite page is where you can see readouts of "accuracy", speed, elevation and lon/lat.
• The signal strength bars are solid black with green border if the GPS has found the SV and has not yet downloaded ephemeris data and changes to solid green when data is received from each satellite in turn. Each signal strength bar is marked with the associated satellite number. On the polar plot, SV numbers are black on white when locked and white on black background when locked.
• Waypoints may be named with a ten character name plus a symbol (boat,  gas pump,  house,  etc.) which may be selected from a library of 43 symbols. The GPS permits you to select any waypoint from the list and have the map "jump" to it.
• The SP has a single track log system.  This track log provides  2000 track points. (Older CM has 950.) It is not possible  to "track back" along a cookie trail with SP.
• The SP-III does not have (or need) WAAS, but accepts the RTCM-104 version 2.0  DGPS correction format.  The GPS can control the frequency of the Garmin GBR-21 or other Starlink compatible DGPS receivers when it is set to the RTCM/NMEA mode. (For the Garmin GBR-21 DGPS receiver, you must connect the NMEA output to the DGPS Rx,  but you can also use the SP's serial  output for your computer's serial port input. In such case,  you cannot upload/download data to the SP.) DGPS beacon frequency and signal strength will display on the SP when DGPS activity is present on the RTCM input. Note: The NMEA I/O baud rate is ALWAYS 4800 baud on the SP EXCEPT that in RTCM-104 only mode,  (no NMEA output), 9600, 4800, 2400, 1200, 600, and 300 baud are selectable.  This could be a problem for simultaneous DGPS/NMEA operation since some DGPS receivers will not output at 4800 baud, which is the only speed you can get with RTCM/NMEA. Garmin says that all of Garmin's DGPS ready GPS receivers are compatible with all DGPS receivers which output RTCM SC104 version 2.0 data streams within the above limitation. Alert messages and BEEPS from the SP alarm DGPS signal failure after about 15 seconds when that mode is enabled. You can select the desired DGPS beacon by location, so you don't have to know the local frequencies.
• External  I/O signal modes available are:  NMEA out,  RTCM in, NMEA/RTCM, Text Out, Garmin Data Transfer (includes GARMIN and NMEA capabilities all in one), and RTCM in/Text out and NONE. If NMEA is one of the selections, the baud rate is automatically 4800 baud. NMEA  $GP sentence output list for the SP-III is: BOD, GGA, GLL, GSA, GSU, RMB, RMC, RTE, and WPL.
•  Proximity waypoints are not provided in the SP and North is always "true" north (no Magnetic/True  North  heading  reference selection).  USER GRIDS are NOT supported in the SP.
•  If the MENU key is pressed and held when the unit is turned ON, an undocumented test screen is activated which incidentally measures battery voltage, temperature and a few other things. Pressing QUIT (several times) from the test screen gives you a set of display test screens. DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING unless you know why you are doing it. If you press and hold ROUTE when the unit is powered up, you do a master reset. This will clear all  data and user variables. Unlike previous Garmin GPS receivers, this will NOT clear the temp compensation curves and non user data.
• When navigating a ROUTE, the pointer points along the road in the correct direction of travel. This happens EVEN IF the road is curvy and makes many changes in direction.  This is in contrast with conventional ROUTE technology which has the pointer constantly pointing at the NEXT WAYPOINT (TURN).  As each turn is approached, the SP delivers  an  verbal warning  and  the  POINTER automatically indicates the proper turn direction and the command line switches to the next waypoint (turn) in the route list. There is no concept of "reversed route" in SP-III. Each automatically generated route is from "where you are now" to a fixed destination. Each destination you want to travel to is selected from one of user waypoints, POI, addresses, street intersections, etc.
• The SP has dedicated ZOOM in/out buttons on the front panel.  This permits easy expansion or contraction of the map display with a single keystroke.
• The SP offers 43 different waypoint symbols for pictorially identifying waypoints.  This feature permits the user to show such objects as anchors, boats, gas pumps,  houses, cars,  fish, etc., to further identify waypoints on the map display.
• Waypoint MARK and AVERAGING is available in the SP-III.
• The SP is rated submersible to one meter for 30 minutes like all current Garmin handheld GPS receives in accord with IEC-529 IPX(7).
• A "Delete By Symbol" feature permits deleting all waypoints of a class. Also, you can FIND waypoints by NAME, and you can review the "most recently used" waypoints.
• The SP display can only be operated in the HORIZONTAL display mode which is in keeping with its design an automotive GPS mapping receiver.
• There is no dedicated GOTO button in SP. It has been replaced by a ROUTE <automatically> TO button. Garmin designers apparently decided that the dedicated GOTO button had little value in automotive navigation.

Subjective Observations of Performance

I have tested the SP on the roads and highways of North Georgia including several interstate trips. Our SP has worked properly at all times as far as we could tell. We tried uploading and downloading waypoints, tracks and routes using G7ToWin.  We tried it out on SA5, 6, and 7, Precision Mapping 3, Vista and AutoRoute 5.  Generally tracking worked well, and SA7 upload/download functions worked OK.  (However, most upload/download programs will require later releases for all of the new SP functions to upload/download properly. Examples: 50 icons, One 10 character names, commands to use Garmin's new "no touch" switch over from NMEA to UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD.  All map programs tested which specified a NMEA-0183 ver 2.0 data stream as input tracked properly with the SP.

We compared the SP with the G-12XL, G-III+, G-II+ and the EEx2.  The SP performed on a par with all units in every test for lock stability, multi path performance, re-lock after an underpass, and ability to suddenly change direction without loss of lock. The SP laid down smooth tracks on our highway maps during all tests.  No gaps, jumps, etc., (The SP has data smoothing like the G-III+.)

We noted that all SP models and G-III+ (along with the G-12XL and the G-II+) have a form of "dead reckoning" for moments when signal dropouts occur. For instance, if the SP-III is tracking along and just before a sharp turn you invert it and block its antenna, it will continue to track straight for about 30 seconds.  It also provides a very good data smoothing filter to throw out random fixes that are way off track. This result in an exceptionally smooth track on a moving map display.  There was no overshoot apparent during quick stops, sharp turns, and similar maneuvers when normal continuous tracking was taking place.

SP-III performance under tree cover and city canyon conditions was about the same as the earlier SPs, G-III+, G-II+, G-12XL and the EEx2 and we rate that as very good.

We found the display controls easy to learn and use.  The menu system and arrangement is quite satisfactory. The SPIII has many feature changes as compared with the older SP’s and other handheld units. However, after a couple of hours of operation, we found the SP-III menu system both adequate and easy to use.

Summary

Our overall impressions are that the StreetPilot III is a new generation of low cost Automobile Navigation Systems. With the lowest price of any truly automatic self contained address-to-address car navigation system and the superior NavTech street maps, we consider the SP-III to be revolutionary in its price class. With the SP-III, I believe we can eliminate having to use paper maps for car navigation (in the covered areas).

What DON’T we like about the StreetPilot III?
1) The unit drains batteries extremely rapidly. It will be extremely advantageous to operate it from external power.
2) The CityNavigator software for "all" or one of ten regions of the USA comes bundled with SP-III depending on the kit selected. An individual additional region cost about $99 and the bundle with "all the rest" of the USA costs about $200 or so.  Many will opt right away for the "entire USA". This is a bit pricey for many buyers, BUT it is the best car navigation map system that you can buy and Garmin's price is considerably less than other car navigation vendors charge for the same map capability. These are apparently the same maps that are used in the $2000/$3000 car navigation systems.
3) The simulator is a bit hard to steer and gets off track now and then, but this is "picky".
4) We would like to see the SP-III power up automatically when external power is applied.
5) On occasion, we see the router generate "funny routes" such as taking a busy numbered federal highway instead of a nearby freeway. All Car Navigation routers we have used seem to do this from time to time and so I guess it is "just the state of the present art".

My 2 cents

Or the production model is considerably upgraded, or it seems that this text was made to different kind ok GPS. Of course it’s a road GPS. Mainly for road use. But it has enough qualities to be usable in the field. There is the issue weight, or the batteries one, bet despite that it’s easy to use it in the field. It has sufficient sensibility to put me just over some precise spots some hundred yards off road. Some times, due to design quirks or just plain age, it’s kind easy to be held in a drawing state just in some roundabouts or highway exits without enough time to wait to complete the screen information’s. I use mine manly to Geocaching. It leads me to the precise spot to leave the car and there shows me the off-road path to be confident to find the cache without worrying about any misbehavior or lack of effectiveness. I do not plan to substitute it for a new model, unless any crash or malfunction.