GPS devices

Navman’s latest GPS device trades at least partially on simply being big — the Navman MY85XLT has a 5in display screen, which gives it lots of space to play with. Navman hasn’t made radical changes to its display layout for the device, opting to give it voice commands and a search capability based on search terms. The latter worked sporadically; when we entered Macquarie University, it scrolled past around a dozen related businesses in other locations before finding the university itself.

A$685 is a serious price for a GPS, but then the Magellan eXplorist 610 is a pretty serious GPS. Where most models on the Australian market target satellite navigation for drivers, the eXplorist range is an outdoor-focused GPS targeted at the hiking, geocaching, hunting and general outdoor pursuits market. It runs from two AA batteries, which gives it flexibility in terms of charging, but also presents a problem.

TomTom’s latest GPS range features what TomTom calls HD Traffic. This isn’t traffic at 1080p, but instead a live traffic update service the company claims refreshes every two minutes. It provides onscreen indication of likely traffic delay times along your route, as well as intelligent rerouting based on what it knows, along with the IQ Routes information that TomTom’s had on most of its GPS units for some time. It’s a subscription service after the first year, something to bear in mind when assessing the total cost of the unit.