Larry Garfield goes driving with Dell's new Bluetooth GPS navigation system for its Axim line. After making it back alive, he tells the tale.
Dell is pushing their Axim line of Windows Mobile handhelds hard, and padding them with Bluetooth-based co-branded accessories. Among them is Dell's new Bluetooth GPS Navigation System, an overall good GPS solution with a few rough edges.
Hardware
The GPS receiver itself is a pager-sized rounded box, average sized for Bluetooth GPS units at 85 x 47 x 28 mm. It is silver plastic with three large LEDs on top for charging, satellite lock, and Bluetooth active. The AC adapter jack is on the left along with a somewhat small and sharp power switch, while the right side includes a port for an external antenna (not included). The bottom of the unit has a large rubber pad to reduce slipping as well.
 | The Dell Bluetooth GPS is full featured, but the software is a weak link
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The Bluetooth GPS comes with a car adapter kit, including a suction cup mounting brace that is somewhat clumsier than we'd like. The handheld can attach via a wrap-around fabric holder or a stick-on magnet.
The GPS receiver itself includes a power splitter to draw power from the same plug as the Axim itself, either when on normal AC power or when using the included car power adapter. In practice the receiver will generally be plugged into AC power while in use so it will last as long as the car does.
Software
The Bluetooth GPS comes with navigation software from Navteq, with map data that covers the United States and the southern Canadian provinces (excluding Yukon and the northern territories). Maps can be loaded either by state/province or by a radius around a given area, and range anywhere from 1 MB to 50 MB depending on the state.
Connecting the GPS unit to the handheld is a bit clumsy, unfortunately. When the software starts, it scans for nearby Bluetooth devices and asks the user to select the GPS unit. It does not save that information, however, and the user must reassociate the two every time the program starts. While it is possible to pair the GPS receiver with the handheld (the passkey is on the fold-out setup poster), it does not actually accomplish anything.
If the handheld loses the connection to the receiver it will ask the user to reselect the device. That includes even when the GPS unit is not in use but the program is still running due to Windows Mobile's annoying habit of not actually exiting a program when told to do so, and on more than one occasion we had to reassociate the receiver while driving. That's not good.
The interface for the mapping software is well-rounded and generally easy to use. Destinations can be found via contact lookup, address, or intersection and all use a very simple wizard-style interface that never gave us trouble. It also includes selected points of interest, and offers both a 2D map and three angles of 3D map in addition to textual instructions. The female voice for "follow the disembodied voice" navigation is clear but a bit quiet. The program also supports waypoint sand detours around selected areas.
The accuracy of the GPS signal is extremely good, accurate enough to detect lane changes. Map data was not quite as good, however. Some addresses resolve incorrectly, although never more than 2-3 buildings away on the same street. A larger problem is with roads that curve, fork, or change name and turn into an expressway. The navigation software does not warn the user of turns or name changes, even when a local street becomes a major expressway. It also sometimes has a fork in the road wrong, and will consider taking a street that veers off of the current street to be "no instruction" while the straighter street gets a "bear left" instruction. A quick glance at the map generally clears up any confusion, but that of course means taking your eyes from the road.
The Navteq software's auto-rerouting for when the driver goes off course is extremely fast, however, the fastest we've seen to date. The program also has a lot of other feedback features, almost to the point of excess. Voice prompts for a turn begin as far away as a mile, and for the last few hundred feet include a visual count down bar. There is also an audible chime when the turn is less than 100 feet away. The screen supports day and night color schemes and shows the current street and block as well as the name of the next turn. There is also a somewhat too small toggleable readout for current speed, distance so far, or distance remaining. The program can also alert the driver when he is driving too fast, based either on a fixed user-defined speed or the software's best guess of what the speed limit probably is based on the type of road.
Availability
The Dell Bluetooth GPS Navigation System is available now for $249 USD. It is compatible with any Bluetooth-equipped Dell Axim handheld. Although the software should work on any Bluetooth Windows Mobile handheld, the GPS unit is designed to share a power adapter with the Axim itself.
Conclusion
Dell's first foray into Bluetooth accessories is a good start. The receiver itself is very sensitive, and the included software is full-featured. However, the non-paired design results in some difficulties with the handheld losing track of the receiver and the Windows Mobile architecture itself results in the handheld trying to connect to the receiver even when it shouldn't. The map data is overall good, but some turns and road changes are improperly marked resulting in some difficulties on strange roads. Still, for Axim users who travel a lot the Dell Bluetooth GPS Navigation System is worth a look.
- What's positive: Very accurate signal, Lots of features
- What's negative: Association issues, map data has some errors
Overall: 
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