This budget-priced GPS from Pharos is a bargain, yet it hardly seems like an entry-level model. It has many of the features found in premium, higher priced personal navigators, including a 4.3-inch widescreen display, a sensitive, top-notch satellite receiver, and text-to-speed conversion, which enables the device to speak street names. Still, as you might expect, the 7.3-ounce Drive GPS 250 isn’t completely without limitations: You get only a small number Of POIs and support for just two languages (English and French).

Navteq maps for the U.S. (including Hawaii and Alaska) and Canada and a one –million-entry POI database are preloaded on a supplied 1GB SD card. Though there is an external SD card slot, it’s not meant to be opened. In order to take out the card, you have to remove a nearly impossible-to-replace metal cover and break a seal that voids your warranty. The device comes with a stylus, which stores neatly inside the case.

With a simple-to-use menu system, the Drive GPS 250 offers a cool Map Browsing mode, which lets you scroll a map by touch. I especially like that when you touch the screen in both Map Browsing and Map View modes, the address of the point you touch is displayed. You then have the option of adding it to your favorites or navigating to it.

During standard route-calculation tests, the Drive GPS 250 took approximately 12 seconds to plot a trip to a destination 12 miles away in Brooklyn. Finding its way to a destination 640 miles away in Ohio required 21 seconds. Route recalculation time after a missed turn was acceptably speedy.

Although it lacks media players, a Bluetooth phone interface, and can't get real-time traffic updates, the Drive GPS 250 does have text-to speech functionality, a feature not always found in budget models. If you're looking for a basic, wallet-friendly, widescreen GPS, the Pharos Drive GPS 250 is a solid choice.

Pharos Drive GPS 250 Review
Price range: $299.99
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Emërtimet: GPS