Despite being the smallest and lightest PDA on test, i-mate’s PDA-N squeezes its GPS receiver completely inside. Only the Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX N520 has the same sleek, antenna-less layout.
This size is a distinct advantage as a PDA, but can be counterproductive for GPS, particularly with CoPilot Live. The small 2.8in screen is crisp and CoPilot’s compact layout works relatively well, but it’s difficult to select items from a list or use the keyboard with a finger, and it’s a nuisance getting the stylus out in the car. It also makes the map harder to read, and this isn’t helped by the huge yellow arrow that marks turns, making it difficult to digest street layout in crowded inner-city areas.
Above traffic-jam speed, by default CoPilot replaces the map with a “safety screen”: written instructions for the next turn. We’re not convinced this is safer; it takes longer to read and absorb text instructions than it does to glance at a map. The map reappears as you’re about to turn, though.
But more annoying are the POI proximity warnings. These also obscure the map when they appear, which can often be at a junction so you can no longer see where to go. There’s a Close button, but other applications alert you in a less intrusive way.
Importantly, CoPilot has the potential to send you to the wrong address, so much care is needed. Our destination was Farm Close, a tiny road in Lyne, Surrey. Type it into TomTom, for example, and it selects the correct location. But CoPilot goes to a confusing address options page, with headings such as general street, nearby address, and (strangely) streets in nearby cities. There were several items called Farm Close, but none was the correct one – even the primary option marked Lyne, which turned out to be in Egham. Leaving out the house number changed the list, and this time the correct road was at the top.
In terms of vocal instructions, CoPilot defaults to pre-recorded phrases, but you can opt for the text-to-speech version instead. While this can read out road names, the phonetic translation is occasionally impossible to understand. The standard phrases aren’t as clear as TomTom’s, so the volume has to be up
high for clarity.
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