Nokia N800 Navigation Kit review

This review of the Nokia N800 NAVKIT is more video than words, because video shows you more than words possibly can. The first video covering unboxing, parts, and installation has already been posted.

All the parts are of good quality:

• Nokia LD-3W Bluetooth GPS - The unit is small and sleek. The video demonstrates the ability to get a solid GPS indoors, in the pocket, or in the glove compartment.
  
• Car charger - This is especially handy since it works with both the N800 and the GPS unit. The chargers are interchangeable both at home and in the car.
  
• Car mounting kit - While I was unable to find a comfortable place to mount it, most cars will have no problem. The unit is rigid but adjustable. The N800 slides in from the side and locks into place. It does require both hands to remove the N800 from the clip.
  
• 2GB Memory Card - The choice of MiniSD means the card can be used as a secondary card in wider range of another devices. By default, about 1.5G of the 2GB are in use.
  
• Restore CD - This allows you to reinstall Navicore, install it on another memory card, install additional voices, run updates, and more. It is Windows-only and requires that you have your memory card in a card reader. Yes, the N800 works as that card reader! To answer a reader's question - the reinstallation wizard allows users to select Nokia 770 or Nokia N800 as their device! I did not test this on a 770 as I had only one installation key.
  

The Navicore software is both very functional and easy to use. While there are some improvements to be made (such as a better search engine for points-of-interest) the most common GPS functionality is quickly at the user's fingertips. Another change I'd put into the Point-of-Interest feature is to get details on each POI before it's added as a destination on the route. The need for this is demonstrated in the video below:

Setting it up in the car is a breeze for MOST cars. The car charger and windshield mount can be used for other apps like Canola as well - when you know where you're going. My car .. well .. just watch this video:

I will be best served by waiting for ProClip USA to offer the N800 device mount which is due in coming weeks. When it is available, expect a review of it here.

And now the big long in-car video. This shows a good deal of the GPS functionality as well as my silly commentary:

Forgive what happens in that video when I go under overpasses and reach for the tablet. The anti-shake filter in Final Cut freaks out when major lighting changes happen.

The advantages are clear: Full map, turn-by-turn voice guided GPS navigation on the device you bring everywhere anyway. No need to worry about a stand-alone GPS unit - just pack along the Bluetooth receiver and you're set to go. With the N800's good speakers, voice prompts are quite clear even in noisy cars with some music on. It's not all roses, however. The POI database, screen brightness/clarity in sunlight, and color options can all be improved. Navigation calculation speed is great, but screen updates and POI searching could all be faster. 3D maps could have allow the user to choose if they want street names on and off.

How does this compare to other GPS units? I've used TomTom and CoPilot Live in the past in long-term scenarios and played with dozens of other units.
Navicore on the N800 advantages:

• Consolidating high-end GPS software like Navicore into such a functional device as the N800 is just a great idea.
  
• For people like me who own N800 tablets already, it's a great kit.
• It's easy to update and add features - simply plug it in to the PC and run the included software.
  
• The 800x480 touchscreen is hard to beat.
• A reader asked if geocaching was an option in this device. Yes: Enter the coordinates in the WGS84 area of the route selection screen. Stand-alone car GPS units usually do not have this option (though hiking/trail GPS units do.)
  

Stand-alone GPS units have their own set of advantages too:

• Stand-alone units generally have transflective touchscreens for sunlight readability. If your mounting kit keeps the N800 in shade, it's no big deal. Otherwise, glare could be a problem.
  
• There are generally a wider range of mounting kits for stand-alone units.
  
• TomTom and others have traffic, weather, and emergency notification available. Navicore (at least my version) does not.
  

In conclusion, I would say that the Navicore software is some of the best software ever written for Nokia Internet Tablets. With Canola, Rhapsody, Gizmo Project and other software, it's clear that the Nokia Internet Tablet platform gets stronger as time goes on. For Internet Tablet users, it's a a fantastic kit.