Saturday, June 18, 2011

Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)


Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)


I bought this but I have found several flaws. First let me mention that the unit that made me decide I needed GPS was an option in the 2006 Honda Odyssey that happens to be made by alpine.



My first problem with it was the altimeter; although most won't use it, it was a feature that I liked. Unfortunately it was completely worthless, my parking space in front of my house ranged from 120Ft one day to 0 feet 2 days later. I know my house or parking space did not move so that fault is on the unit. Also when driving the unit would claim you climbed 200 feet when you drove less than 50 feet forward sometimes.



My next problem was direction; it would take me on back roads rather than highways even though I said I prefer highways. And as you drove the screen did not flow, instead it would reload taking a second or two to reload the map and the icons. Both the Honda and my friends G35 flowed without this, and the graphics between the 3 the cobra clearly loses out. The graphics are substandard. Also the unit only calls out numbers for roads, if the road is not a road with numbers (IE a highway) it just says turn left or right, which when driving in the city can be frustrating as you cannot be looking at it constantly. Finally the house number portion was off quite a bit (1/10 of a mile or so).



Next was traffic, this was rarely right, not sure if any other GPS units are right, but this would say there was an accident at one place and it would end up being off 1 or 2 miles (This was in the Baltimore/Washington area), I ended up using the radio traffic people more times than not.



Next was the Points of interest function. On the Honda it showed signs for an Exxon, or BP. The Cobra does not, it shows an icon for Gas or Food, and while trying to drive you have to touch the area on the screen you are looking at, than press the screen at the top to get a listing of what was there. While driving in the city, and looking for a McDonalds this is not an option.



Last was the suction cup mounting bracket, for a unit of this weight it is under engineered to hold it. The first 5 minutes I drove with it, it fell. Agreeable it was right after I cleaned the windshield so it was not completely dry. The next time was the last time I did not take it off before leaving my vehicle. It was after a snow storm came through and the condensation that occurred between the windshield and the suction cup was enough to make it lose contact and fall again. For a unit that costs 800+ bucks this is unacceptable, if it were to break it would be on me due to a poor design. And I am not the only one who had problems like this, I have read of others with the same issue.



Needless to say I took it back, it's not a horrible unit but for the price there are better answers.


Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)





BUY Now Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

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