Jensen NVXM1000 (Rock N Road) Review

It is truly a pleasant surprise to see Jensen make it in the GPS navigation competition, but are their products worth the buzz? Debuting this quarter, the NVXM1000, AKA “Rock-N-Road” is a portable GPS navigation device with lots of rare features.
You’ll notice its screen is the standard portable GPS size, measuring at 4”. It is an LCD touchscreen display and it is capable of displaying both maps and digital media information. The colors and contrast depth is pretty average, and not enough to impress. There’s just something about the color. It’s not bad, but it has rather that dull look. From our experience, un-contrasting colors and less sharp images on portable navigation devices tend to be hard to see in direct sunlight. This may be quite problematic for those who travel often during rush hour when the sun is right in the line of sight of the navigation device.

However, with that put aside, the NVXM1000 does present itself well with several interesting and useful features. You’ll notice that on its left side it has two slots: one for an SD Card undoubtedly, but one for another similarly-shaped port that’s slightly bigger. This larger port is for an XM Radio mini tuner, which acts much like an SD Card. The mini-tuner is sold separately, but to have this feature means that you instantly have the option to having an XM radio in your vehicle, or wherever you go, thanks to this XM Satellite radio ingenuity. This means that users will have 170 XM channels as well as XM NavTraffic—a feature that allow drivers to check local real-time traffic reports.

The navigation unit is a NavTeq based system with over 11 million points of interest. It has maps of the United States as well as Canada. However, we are a little bit concerned of its processor. The Rock-N-Hard navigation unit only features a 300MHz Atlas II processor. In our experience anything slower than 400MHz tends to perform sluggishly and would frustrate drivers in busy locations such as metropolitan areas. In addition, for a unit that boasts 11 million POIs in 8GB of internal hard drive space, it only features a 64MB RAM. So now you have a slow processor, with a ton of things to do and display.

Another bad aspect of the NVXM1000 is its awkward shape. It’s not a great symmetrical design, and makes mounting a harder task, especially for those of us who wish to have a more integrated look in our vehicles.
The NVXM1000 Rock-N-Road has great concept ideas, but needs to implement these ideas with better components and features. It’s also a bit expensive for its bulkiness. Its design appear to have come from the 1990s and doesn’t present itself to be impressive.

Garmin Nuvi 660 Review (nüvi 660)

The Garmin Nuvi 660 could be considered as one of the most popular portable GPS navigation available on the market.
Display
The Nuvi 660 features a now-becoming-standard 4.3" LCD touchscreen display. It's quite bright and easy to see in broad daylight, giving drivers highly visible on screen navigation in any lighting condition. It is also in widescreen resolution, capable of displaying 480 x 272 total pixel resolution. The unit is still considerably thin at just under an inch (0.9"). In addition, the unit weighs only 6.2 ounces so you can stick it in your pocket or take it with you wherever you go.

Navigation Features
Although Garmin claims to feature a large amount of POIs (Points-of-Interests), they never specified the exact amount of POIs it actually features. The problem here is then the difficulty you may have trying to compare and contrast between different units. Some customers have reported that to get an additional 6 million POI, users would need to purchase an additional add-on from Garmin in order to have the POI database. In addition, many have also reported that current gas stations and other points of interests have not been added to the Nuvi 660. Unfortunately, this presents a large problem for those who travel often to unfamiliar areas. But if you're just a common traveler, POIs may not even be significant for you. In addition, the Nuvi 660 could receive local traffic information and capable of displaying traffic hotspots nearby to your location. This is a great feature to have if you live in densely populated metropolitan areas, where traffic could always be a problem.

Media Compatibility
The Nuvi 660 does have a built-in MP3 player, audiobook playback, as well as a built-in picture viewer. Garmin designed the unit with purely navigation in mind, not media playback. However, the unit does feature an integrated FM transmitter that allows you to playback audio files into your existing FM radio in your vehicle. This means no messy wires connecting your GPS unit to your in dash receiver.

Built-in Bluetooth
If you live in California, this coming summer you may be in trouble. The law requires that drivers DO NOT speak on a cellular phone while operating a motor vehicle. For each offense, a driver could receive a $50 ticket, plus $100 additional fine for any repeated offense. The solution is Bluetooth interface, which is featured in the Garmin Nuvi 660. The unit is capable of displaying received call information, which may include phone numbers and phonebook names (if your phone is capable). You could speak hands-free with its integrated microphone and you could even make phone calls by using its touchscreen numbers. This is an excellent feature to have in order to maintain concentration and safety on the road. The Garmin Nuvi 660 is an excellent GPS Navigation, but some may say it's a bit overpriced at more than $320 for features that is increasingly becoming standard. But it does boast a 5-hour battery life, which is considerably longer than most GPS units out there. It does have Bluetooth and some media playback, but if you're a media junkie, you may want to pass since it only plays MP3s and audiobooks.