MONEY SPECIALIST

My dad was on the look out for a GPS satellite navigation system. Most of the time, a branded GPS device from Garmin with many extra functions would cost around RM1000. However, my dad would only use the GPS device occasionally as he is quite familiar with the road around KL and PJ. So investing in an expensive device is not cost effective at all.

Then he came across a promotion by Citibank credit card, a GPS navigation device would only cost RM399! For that price tag, it is a steal as it is normally selling at RM1299. The promotion is only valid until 15 March 2009. He ordered a GPS-BAY 3303 GPS navigation device through fax and the item was delivered within a week. Here is my review on the product after using it for few days.

GPS BAY 3303

The GPS BAY 3303 is a stylish, pocket-sized device combining GPS-based portable navigation with full featured entertainment functions. Whether you are heading across town or across the country, the GPSBAY is the perfect travel companion. It has everything you need to get from A to B easily.

The SiRF Star III built-in GPS receiver is really good, picks up the satellite signals very quickly within a minute. The processor running at the speed of 370 MHz and 64 MB internal memory put it up there with some of the bigger GPS names.

GPS BAY 3303 main menu

The voice navigation software included is MapKing. You can expect some cool features like zooming in automatically on roundabouts and tricky maneuvers. The route re-calculation is lightning fast and gets you back on course following a wrong turn. There is information on the screen to state how far is the remaining journey and estimated time of arrival at the destination.

Two version of Malaysia maps is included with this unit; MapKing G12 and Malsingmaps (Sept 2008 version). I would think Malsingmaps have more point of interests (POIs). Unfortunately, you can’t simply add in other maps. You can get free updates of Malsingmaps from GPSBAY website but you need to pay for MapKing G12. There is a workaround, which is to install Garmin Mobile XT to load maps from other countries. I might make a post regarding this soon.

gps bay 3303 complete package

The battery in the GPS-BAY 3303 will last for around 2 hours or so depending how often the voice is talking from the built-in speaker. In any case, it comes with in-car charger. So no problem using it while on a long road trip. The package comes with normal wall charger as well. You have a choice to charge the battery either in the car or at home through the USB port.

GPS BAY 3303 with car mount

Besides the built-in speaker, there is a 3.5mm audio port on the right side of the device. You can easily plug in any headphone to listen to your favourite songs. When plug into computer through USB cable, the interface is just like a removable drive, which you can simply drag and drop your files into it.

A worthy mention is the included stylus. A stylus is usually not required in normal operation of the GPS device since most of the buttons on the touch screen are large enough to press. The stylus proves to be quite useful when you are dealing with the hidden Windows CE operating system. One situation I can think of is when you need to use the stylus to poke on the virtual keyboard to enter words or commands.

A sample of Win CE screenshot

The GPS-BAY 3303 offers all the functions you would find on the more expensive units for a fraction of the cost – making this GPS sat nav the best entry level unit. And with MP3 & MP4 player included, you can also listen to your favourite music or watch your favourite videos whenever you want. This device is definitely worth the money, especially when you can tweak the device to install other programs and games!

There are other pricing available but for the RM399 package, it comes with 3 months warranty, free delivery and Malaysia map. I would think the cheapest option is good enough. I managed to tweak the device to install my own software and games as it is running on Win CE Core 5.0 operating system.

GPS-BAY 3303 Product Features:

* Full map of Malaysia inside 1GB SD card
* 3.5″ TFT colour touch screen
* Long-life rechargeable battery at 900 mAh capacity
* User friendly software and interface using MapKing
* Instant route calculation – make a wrong turning, instant route re-calculation
* 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
* Earphone port
* Portable unit – it works great in your car as well as in your hand

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 2:19 AM and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.