While the cables do tend to flop around in the car, as shown in Figure C, I'm really happy about keeping my CF slot open for map memory.

FIGURE C


While the extra cables are a bit annoying, I like the flexibility of this design. Roll over picture for a larger image.

This will become less of an issue as more and more devices work with Bluetooth, but I still like it -- and I like that the cabling system powers both the GPS receiver and the Pocket PC with one cigarette lighter adapter.

The GPS mounting bracket
As you can see in Figure D, I've mounted my Pocket PC on a mounting bracket that attaches to the windshield. This device is also available from Pharos, but I actually bought mine from PC Connection, not aware initially that it, too was a Pharos product. It's about $20 and well worth buying.

FIGURE D


This bracket holds the Pocket PC very securely. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The bracket actually consists of two pieces, the part with a flexible pipe and a suction cup that attaches to the windshield and the bracket that holds the PDA. I was quite impressed with how well the suction cup held.

There was one aspect of the mounting bracket that really bothered me (and, remember, I'm an engineer, so I get bothered by stuff most people wouldn't care about). The suction cup/pipe assembly attaches to the mounting tray assembly through a T-shaped bracket, shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E


Look closely at the notched section at the left of the image. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The way the product was shipped, the top of the T (the bar across) was on top. This meant that if there wasn't enough friction between the pipe section and the tray section, it could fall off. I decided to fix this, so I unscrewed the four screws shown on the back of the mounting tray in Figure F, and flipped the bracket around.

FIGURE F


I fixed it so the weight of the device made the connection more secure, not less. Roll over picture for a larger image.

It took about 5 minutes and has subsequently allowed me to feel very self-satisfied.

The software
We've given this software some serious road testing. First, we took it down to Florida and had it map our way from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and back to Fort Myers. More recently, we've been using it to navigate into New York City and longer trips into Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and here in New Jersey.

Our review process here at ZATZ is often different from most other tech magazine publishers. We go out of our way to make sure that the we have devices we review on hand for quite some time. This was very important for this review, because the GPS system's performance was measurably different on the wide, open road driving of our Florida trip from the instant, where-the-heck-do-we-go-right-now driving of downtown New York City. We've been using this device on and off for about four months, and regular use definitely helped give us a better feel for its strengths and weaknesses.

Overall, we were able to find our way when using the software, but sometimes with some serious stress. The main screen of the Ostia software is shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G


Here's the main screen of the Ostia navigation software, with some helpful callouts. Roll over picture for a larger image.