Delphi Mobile Navigation NA10000-11B1

I travel a lot by car, so over the past 5 years I have learned to rely on my trusty GPS navigation unit to get me from place to place efficiently. I have been a big fan of the Garmin Streetpilot series and have owned every one from the first one made with the monochrome screen, up to the StreetPilot III. But for me, its time for a change.

Enter the Mobile Navigation from Delphi model NA10000.



What’s in the box?

The unit comes with a complete package! Everything you need is included. You get the Mobile Navigation unit, mapping software for the entire continental USA and Hawaii on 4 CD’s, a car and home power supply, a USB cable for data transfer, a protective carry case and screen cleaner, and finally mounting hardware. The mounting hardware included is a suction-cup mount for a smooth, hard surface such as your windshield (be sure NOT to obstruct your view!), and either an adhesive or screw down mount for your dash.

At first glance, the Delphi Mobile Navigation is similar to other units on the market, with a relatively large bright screen, and a number of navigation buttons on the right. The unit weighs in at just over 12 ounces, but that is almost irrelevant since it does not use batteries, and is only meant for in-vehicle use.

I opted to use the suction cup mount and can happily report back that this mount is very adjustable and extremely stable and solid while driving. There is virtually no shaking or jittering going on making the screen easy to see no matter what terrain you encounter. Using the suction cup mount, the unit is easily and quickly able to move from vehicle to vehicle, without damage or leaving any marks.



Getting Started...

Upon opening the box, the unit has absolutely no mapping data on it. This makes the first step a required one, and makes me a bit antsy to get it working. SLOW DOWN! You must install the software that comes with the unit onto your computer, and follow any and all directions carefully that may appear to complete the process. Do not plug the USB cable in until promted to do so.

Once installed, and your computer is successfully communication with your Delphi MN (Mobile Navigation), you then need to install the base maps that you will be using. This is a simple process. Simply insert the correct CD into your drive, click on the regions you want and click to upload. No sweat! The MN comes with 64 MB of built in RAM, and you can add up to an additional 256 MB via a SD (Secure Digital) or MMC (Multimedia Card) flash RAM cards that insert into the top of the unit.

I strongly recommend getting the maximum 256 MB memory card add-on to minimize having to load and replace the base maps that only the 64 MB will hold. 64 MB may sound like a lot when you come from the Garmin StreetPilot family, but these new maps rom NavTech seem to be much more detailed and gobble up significantly more megabytes - but this is what makes using this unit such a pleasure; extremely detailed maps.

Turn it on!

Once the unit is powered and securely mounted in your vehicle, the fun begins. As soon as the power button is pressed, you get an amazing full color splash screen that screams at you through the high-quality crisp, clear 3.8" diagonal, 320x240, 256 colors color LCD display. The viewing angle on this baby is very wide and the brightness of it is such that it does not get washed out even in the brightest sun. Read the quick tutorial, or press OK a few times and you are in the main menu.

The menus are very simple to understand, and controls are just as easy to figure out and operate. I won’t go into much detail about menu navigation, just be aware that the buttons on the unit are very responsive and menu navigation is quick. Performing any process on this unit is done without hesitation or delay. Delphi packed plenty of processing power into this MN unit and it shows.

It may take up to 2 minutes for the MN to get its initial GPS location, but once you get that, and turn it off/on within a few mile radius, the “warm” start up time is about 15 seconds. As soon as you get a good GPS signal and the unit finds your location, go straight to the maps. You will be blown away by the detail and clarity of the screen, I promise you that. This is the first GPS unit that I am using in my car and do not have a need to hook up to my laptop for better software and display.

Features, features, features...

The first thing I noticed that was just way too cool about the way you see mapping info on this unit is its 3-D views! Check this out:



An amazing birds-eye-view is now available for a perspective not available before on a GPS unit of this price-range. This view gives you a great way to see the layout of what’s ahead without having to think hard about perspective. The best part about this 3-D view, is that once you are in the 3-D mode, you can even adjust the height of the horizon!



All these view changes are done in real-time, at the press of a button. No special menus to go into, no waiting for anything to load. You simply press a button and within a fraction of a second, the display changes. That is what makes this unit so great; all the processing power you need is in there.

In the standard two dimensional view, you can use the 8-way cursor button to scroll to any location you want. Again, there is absolutely no hesitation, or delay, and you can just keep scrolling smoothly until you go all the way around the world, at any zoom level. In the past, with other GPS units, this type of scrolling was available, but every time the cursor moved off-screen, the unit paused and had to take a few seconds to load the next frame.

Another cool feature that works remarkably well is the “Auto Zoom”. In traditional GPS navigation receivers, auto-zoom level was usually based on how far you are from your destination. Not so here. With the Delphi MN, auto-zoon level is determined by your speed. Go slow, and the unit zooms in so you can see each street that is coming up. Speed up, like on a highway, and the unit zooms out so you have plenty of time to see what’s up ahead. Ingenious.

Destination?

As with any good navigation unit, it has to be easy to find you way. Get into the “destination” menu and again, menus are very self-explanatory and easy to use:



Choose the type of destination, and using the 8-way cursor pad, enter the first few letters and the auto-fill starts to narrow down your choices.



Once you find your destination and click “GO”, the route summary is available for viewing:



And if looking at a map does nothing for you, an instruction screen is also available always displaying the next 4 instructions:



The route is highlighted on your map at any zoom level:




When Zoomed in close enough, the Points of Interest along the route are displayed, and using the cursor, when you pass over them, the unit will display the information for that POI, so you know what to look for, if interested.



Not only are all these routing tools available for you to look at, but since you are driving, and usually on your own, the Delphi MN has a built in speaker in the back, which is plenty loud to be heard over most road and wind noise. Select from either a male of female voice, and it will audibly prompt you for turns and any other navigational routing requirements throughout your trip. Plenty of warning is provided and the voice is very clear. Keep your eyes on the road!

Ofcourse as with any text entry without a keyboard, it may be a bit tedious when having to use your thumb, so Delphi added a “favorites” section for your destinations. Enter up to 10 quick shortcuts, and up to 100 total destinations which can be stored in memory to be called up anytime you are “lost” and need to get back to where you want to go.

The units navigation also takes into account that sometimes people take wrong turns, or its simply unavoidable to go the planned route due to traffic or construction. Delphi has built in a “Back-On-Track” feature that automatically recalculates your route if you stray off the pre-determined path. Never be lost or taken by surprise again - no matter how bad it gets out there.

Conclusion;

When you look at all the features and processing power packed into this unit, you must understand its function, before passing any judgment on it. First and foremost, its an in-vehicle navigation tool. Its is not a GPS unit that will be as useful for geo-caching or any other such GPS function as a simple $100 dedicated GPS may be. This unit does not take any batteries, so again, its for in-vehicle use only.

But when it comes to in-vehicle navigation, this unit not only rivals, but surpasses some of today’s best built in vehicle navigation systems. With its fluid smooth scrolling, 3-D views, voice prompts, Back-On-Track routing, and brilliantly bright color screen, it just doesn’t get any better. This has already completely replaced my Steetpilot / laptop combination which I have been using for years.

Retail price is $899.99. The Delphi Mobile Navigation is available at a special introductory price at MyRadioStore.com:

http://store.myradiostore.com/demonana.html
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Last edited by Ziggy on Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:49 pm; edited 2 times in total

Looks like it takes the "fun" out of driving the RV across country. Half of the adventure is being lost and trying to figure out how to get out of the mess without backing up!!

Now to convince the accountant that I really NEED one of these babies!
Chim

Wow. Consider me sold.

The only down-side I immediately find is the lack of a serial data output, so I might be hanging on to my current GPS (the now discontinued Garmin eMap) for my ham radio for a bit longer, or at least until I can find a workable (non-display) replacement for it. It's been with me in my cars for over 40,000 miles.

But wow... those screen shots and the level of detail are very cool! The voice feature of it sounds interesting too. I'll see if I can get a recording of it somehow, maybe with my voice recorder or something.

My only concern with jumping on this so soon is... could there be a later version that you add an external antenna for both GPS and XM, to receive XM's future traffic data service? :X But no worry, there's always eBay for when such a product does become available.

- Mike

Well, I finally got mine activated... After playing with it, it's definitely a cool system, but I'm not all impressed with the detail of the map data.

I've been living in my current apartment for over 2 years now. Last year's MS Mappoint data at least had the first phase of my apartment complex, and one of the small side-roads leading to the second phase. On the web, the current data they have has the entire complex in it. But the data for the nav system, labeled with a 2003 copyright, has 0. None of it whatsoever.

Then, for another test, I noticed that it had a few of the Metro stations. So I went looking for the end of the Orange line, the Vienna/Fairfax station. I found one of the parking lots and one of the parking garages, but not the station itself, and not the other lot and garage (there's one of each on each side of I-66). ?!?! What good is it to put just the underground Metro stations on the map, when chances are very good that you can't park near them?!

I'm still playing with the 256MB limit thing... Tip: If you REALLY put that much data into a memory card, NEVER zoom out to try and see the whole east coast. The system slows down CONSIDERABLY, even going through the menus, almost to an unusable state. I ended up ejecting the memory card so it had to unload those maps, bringing it back down to just MD/VA/DC (which I loaded into the system itself). As an aside, I could fit all of the east coast CD (with the exception of those three areas) onto my 512MB memory card with enough space left over for probably one more state. Maybe two, depending on the density/size of the states. Oh, and 512MB for my card means 512,000,000 bytes, which ends up being something like 485MB, because to Windows, 1MB = 1,024,000 bytes.

- Mike

After my recent cross-country trip, I learned the value of a good navigation system (even if I'm not *really* lost.)

The Delphi Nav System looks like a great unit and I've decided to get one... I'll post my impressions after I spend a little time with it.
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- Mike

I'm new to the whole navigation thing, and I was wondering if anyone could explain some mounting details with the unit? Does it have to be attached to the windshield or on top of the dash? In other words, does it need to be in direct view of the sky? I would like to place it lower in the car. IE. Under the radio right in front of my shifter.

Also, how is the mounting hardware? Do they use some type of adhesive or suction cup to mount it to the dash or...

Thank you all for your time,

Evan

For those of you who live on the West coast, pay close attention if you try to locate a destination by zipcode. Numerous errors in the database maps supplied. Have not been able to get resolution from either Delphi or Tele Atlas North America. Responses to emails from either company non-existent. Only support has been from Navman USA (they manufacture the product for Delphi, and is same as iCN630)

Maybe I missed this somewhere in the thread, does this recieve the radio signal as well?