MONEY SPECIALIST

When it comes to GPS navigation devices, Garmin is a name that everyone associates it with. This doesn’t mean there are no other good GPS devices out there at an affordable price. One local brand that comes to mind is GPS BAY.

Few weeks back, I was lucky enough to be given a unit of GPS BAY E688i for review, courtesy of GPS BAY. The timing was just right as I needed a GPS device for my roadtrip in Western Australia. I was about to pack my dad’s old GPS BAY 3303, but in the end I decided to bring along the new GPS BAY for field testing.

A quick look at the design, I was already impressed with the solid built of the GPS device. The plastic used in the E688i is more likely to withstand rough usage better as compared to the 3303. Another interesting design I like is the permanent on/off switch on the E688i, in addition to the soft power button at the top. Unlike the 3303, there won’t be any battery drain by switching the E688i permanently off.

The GPS device is preloaded with MapKing navigation software, just like the 3303. So it only has maps for Malaysia and Singapore. Unfortunately, my Garmin Australia map is not compatible with the MapKing software. So I tried installing Garmin Mobile XT software into the SD card as the GPS device is running on Win CE.NET 4.2 Core. Guess what? It works reasonably well with my Australia map.

With the assistance of GPS BAY E688i, I managed to navigate from Perth to Augusta easily. Augusta is a town situated at the end of South Western Australia, where two oceans meet; the Indian and Southern Ocean. A driving distance of about 1100km was chalked up during my 1 week stay around Perth and beyond. A remarkable feat no less! So here is my account of the usability of the GPS BAY E688i during that period.

Using the GPS BAY E688i on a roadtrip in Western Australia

The main interface of the GPS BAY was pretty easy to navigate and the wealth of features including media playing like MP3 and MP4. The boot up time of the GPS BAY was pretty fast with cold boot taking less than 30 seconds into the main menu.

The GPS chipset used here is the SiRF StarIII, which is pretty standard nowadays. GPS lock as usual is dependent on where you are. I found that the GPS BAY would lock pretty fast when you are outdoors in the clear sky. In the car however, I found that it did take a slightly longer time to get a GPS lock, in fact almost a minute.

Routing is an important aspect of a GPS device. I found that the routing procedures on E688i were relatively good and rerouting was also done faster than the 3303 due to the faster processor speed of 400MHz, as compared to the old model, at 370MHz.

The one setback I found though was the sync between the voice navigation and the set route. At times, the voice navigation directions won’t tally with what is displayed on the screen itself. This did cause some concerns of me getting lost a few times. I think this could be due to the Garmin Mobile XT software that I use.

The screen size of E688i is the same as 3303 at 3.5-inch, but I noticed the newer screen is brighter with better viewing angles. The small size was a double edged sword. On one hand, I like that it was easy to bring about with me during the walking navigation in the Perth city. On the other hand, due to its small size, the lack of a wide screen made the display feel quite cramped with lots of information popping out on the map during navigation.

GPS BAY E688i complete set

GPS BAY provides a good amount of accessories to go with the E688i and this includes a stand, GPS holder, stylus, in-car charger, earpiece as well as a USB sync cable. I like the fact that the GPS holder is magnetic based, making the GPS device to clip on and off a breeze. All in all, it’s a pretty good package, which fulfills my requirement as an essential companion for a budget backpacker traveling around.

GPS-BAY E688i Product Features:

* Full map of Malaysia and Singapore inside 1GB SD card
* 3.5″ TFT high resolution touch screen
* Rechargeable battery at 1100 mAh capacity lasting 3 hours
* User friendly software and interface using MapKing
* Instant route calculation through speedy 400Mhz processor and 64MB RAM
* Automatic calculation on driving distance and time
* Voice navigation and warning in an option of 7 languages; English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese
* 3D & 2D Mapping options – and various route options
* Clear spoken instructions, turn by turn
* 3.5mm Earphone port
* Portable unit – it works great in your car as well as in your hand on walking navigation