Larry Garfield takes the GPS-integrated PiN out for a spin. Does he make it home alive, or is he lost forever, circling unknown streets with no way home?
Review summary of the Navman Pin:
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 Price: $500.
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Cons:
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Full Navman Pin Review:
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GPS is not a common feature for a handheld, yet, but for some types of users it can be indispensable. Unfortunately, Navman's first foray into the GPS-handheld market is quite dispensable, as its otherwise decent design is crippled by one show-stopping problem.
 | The PiN is decent hardware, but its software leaves a great deal to be desired
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Design
The PiN (Personal Interactive Navigation) is pleasantly small at 111 x 68.5 x 15.2 mm and 147 grams. The casing is a not-unattractive two-tone gray plastic, and the GPS patch antenna flips up from the back or locks down with a clip.
The screen is the standard 240 x 320 16-bit color TFT common to most Windows Mobile handhelds, and is clear and bright. Below it are the control buttons, arrayed almost like the palmOne Tungsten T3. There is a 5-way joystick in the center, with the four standard application buttons wrapped around it rather than in a line. The buttons are decent, but the joystick has a sharp crowned edge to it that makes it both a bit slippery to use and surprisingly painful. In fact, the joystick takes the cake as the worst directional controller we've ever seen, a title formerly held by the Sony CLIE PEG-TG50.
The left side of the handheld includes the round power button and oval-shaped voice recorder button, which are similar enough and properly placed so that it is easy to hit the voice recorder by accident. There is also a 2.5 mm audio jack, more commonly found on mobile phones. The top of the device includes an IR port, SDIO-capable SD/MMC expansion slot, and the silo for the telescoping metal stylus. There are two LEDs on the top front to indicate power status, while the microphone and speaker (which is clear and loud) are on the bottom front flanking the buttons.
The PiN ships with a charging/sync cable as well as a car adapter. The car adapter includes a suction cup mounting brace and car power adapter, both of which worked well in testing.
Connectivity
The main connectivity feature of the PiN is, of course, its GPS antenna. The antenna can be positioned at any angle when flipped up, although parallel to the ground is best. Unfortunately the GPS software will not pick up the antenna until told what COM port and baud to use. That information is tucked away in the quick start guide, which partially defeats the purpose of having an integrated GPS; the zero-configuration. It is simply inexcusable that in 2004 a handheld with integrated hardware requires the user to know what a COM port or baud rate is.
Picking up a satellite lock with the Pin took about 1-2 minutes while standing still, but in motion took as long as 10. Once acquired, the signal is not easily lost, however. Accuracy was good, to within 5 meters or so in most cases. The PiN also includes the aforementioned IR port and SD card slot, as well as a serial port on the bottom for the included charging cable.
Specifications
The PiN runs on a 300 MHz Intel PXA-255 processor, which in practice proved to be a bit sluggish in some operations such as looking up a street name. Whether that is due to the processor, the software, or some other factor is unclear. That is backed by a fairly standard 64 MB of RAM, which, since most map data will be stored on an expansion card, is acceptable.
The 1350 mAh Lithium Ion battery is about average for a modern Windows Mobile handheld. With the screen and GPS features off, the handheld was able to play MP3s for roughly six hours before shutting down in self-defense. When used in a car, however, most users will plug it into the car power adapter allowing it to run almost indefinitely.
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