Direction is very important in life, what more on the road. So let a GPS navigation system keep you on the right path.
THERE’S nothing like having a good gopher on hand to sort out the tedious details of life, for instance getting directions and sorting out your travel plans
Especially now with the rise in petrol prices, finding the shortest and fastest route to your destination is a priority. After all, no one wants to spend hours driving around, looking for an obscure address in Balakong if he/she can help it.
Well, there’s help at hand with the Gophers Tri-O GPS navigation system. This compact device is an easy-to-use 3.5-inch TFT touch screen mobile navigation system that boasts good build quality coupled with impressive features.
Like most GPS navigation systems in the market, it uses the reliable Samsung 400MHz, S3C32440A processor, and the SiRF Star III 20-channel GPS receiver.
The 65K colour display offers good resolution and contrast, and the operating system is the Microsoft WinCE.NET 5.0, with 64MB ROM on board, and 64MB RAM (with SD expansion slot – a must if you want to use the Tri-O for playing back movies, and as MP3 player and photo viewer – all features which this entry level device is more than capable of handling).
But a GPS navigation system is only as good as its interface and how up-to-date the map is. Interface-wise, the Tri-O is ready to use right out of the box, and a quick look at its quick start guide will get you off and running in no time.
You can set your destination by keying in the address (road name by area/state) or by picking the nearest points of interest (POI) – be it a bank, school, landmark, etc.
The Tri-O’s real selling point is its choice of two maps for users – Malsingmaps (East Malaysia and Peninsula) and Mapking (Peninsular Malaysia only). There’s also an option of including Singapore maps.
You can rest assured that these are the very latest maps, providing the most up-to-date information about routes and housing estates, and they are also easily updated via the company’s website.
You can select which route to take – the options include shortest, fastest, preferred motorway and avoided – as well as the type of display you want: auto scale, north up, track log and freeway info.
Once you are in navigation mode, you can see how far you’ve travelled, time lapsed, distance to destination and vehicle speed, distance to turn off, among others.
The voice navigation prompts you about any turn-offs coming up, and also – rather annoyingly – keeps reminding you to slow down. If you miss a turn-off or decide to ignore the route proposed, a little beep gives a gentle reminder before the device recalibrates your new route.
If I’ve any complaint, it’s that the time taken to recalibrate a new route is too long – in the space of 30 seconds, you would have travelled a fair distance.
Also, the satellite data restrictions on exact location means all your calibration is out by 10 to 20 metres – a problem in urban areas where multiple turns within short distances can lead you astray, if you are paying attention only to the voice navigation.
Luckily, the onscreen guide is clearer – offering the exact road name for you to match with your intended destination.
Overall, I found the Tri-O very handy, though the voice navigation did lead me astray once or twice (when I chose to ignore the proposed route).
But whenever I did stick to the selected navigation, I never got lost. The sometimes quirky interface requires a bit of getting used to, but that’s the same with most systems.
The 160g Tri-O (90x82x20mm) comes with built-in speaker, a 12V car adaptor, car windscreen mount, USB cable, Quick start guide and operation manual and an optional antenna (if your car’s windscreen is tinted).
The battery lasts slightly less than four hours on one charge, with 300 hours standby.
The Gophers Tri-O is priced at RM898 (with Malaysia map), RM998 (with Malaysia and Singapore maps). For details, call 1-300-888-GPS (477) or go to www.gophers.com.my.
THERE’S nothing like having a good gopher on hand to sort out the tedious details of life, for instance getting directions and sorting out your travel plans
Especially now with the rise in petrol prices, finding the shortest and fastest route to your destination is a priority. After all, no one wants to spend hours driving around, looking for an obscure address in Balakong if he/she can help it.
Well, there’s help at hand with the Gophers Tri-O GPS navigation system. This compact device is an easy-to-use 3.5-inch TFT touch screen mobile navigation system that boasts good build quality coupled with impressive features.
Like most GPS navigation systems in the market, it uses the reliable Samsung 400MHz, S3C32440A processor, and the SiRF Star III 20-channel GPS receiver.
The 65K colour display offers good resolution and contrast, and the operating system is the Microsoft WinCE.NET 5.0, with 64MB ROM on board, and 64MB RAM (with SD expansion slot – a must if you want to use the Tri-O for playing back movies, and as MP3 player and photo viewer – all features which this entry level device is more than capable of handling).
But a GPS navigation system is only as good as its interface and how up-to-date the map is. Interface-wise, the Tri-O is ready to use right out of the box, and a quick look at its quick start guide will get you off and running in no time.
You can set your destination by keying in the address (road name by area/state) or by picking the nearest points of interest (POI) – be it a bank, school, landmark, etc.
The Tri-O’s real selling point is its choice of two maps for users – Malsingmaps (East Malaysia and Peninsula) and Mapking (Peninsular Malaysia only). There’s also an option of including Singapore maps.
You can rest assured that these are the very latest maps, providing the most up-to-date information about routes and housing estates, and they are also easily updated via the company’s website.
You can select which route to take – the options include shortest, fastest, preferred motorway and avoided – as well as the type of display you want: auto scale, north up, track log and freeway info.
Once you are in navigation mode, you can see how far you’ve travelled, time lapsed, distance to destination and vehicle speed, distance to turn off, among others.
The voice navigation prompts you about any turn-offs coming up, and also – rather annoyingly – keeps reminding you to slow down. If you miss a turn-off or decide to ignore the route proposed, a little beep gives a gentle reminder before the device recalibrates your new route.
If I’ve any complaint, it’s that the time taken to recalibrate a new route is too long – in the space of 30 seconds, you would have travelled a fair distance.
Also, the satellite data restrictions on exact location means all your calibration is out by 10 to 20 metres – a problem in urban areas where multiple turns within short distances can lead you astray, if you are paying attention only to the voice navigation.
Luckily, the onscreen guide is clearer – offering the exact road name for you to match with your intended destination.
Overall, I found the Tri-O very handy, though the voice navigation did lead me astray once or twice (when I chose to ignore the proposed route).
But whenever I did stick to the selected navigation, I never got lost. The sometimes quirky interface requires a bit of getting used to, but that’s the same with most systems.
The 160g Tri-O (90x82x20mm) comes with built-in speaker, a 12V car adaptor, car windscreen mount, USB cable, Quick start guide and operation manual and an optional antenna (if your car’s windscreen is tinted).
The battery lasts slightly less than four hours on one charge, with 300 hours standby.
The Gophers Tri-O is priced at RM898 (with Malaysia map), RM998 (with Malaysia and Singapore maps). For details, call 1-300-888-GPS (477) or go to www.gophers.com.my.
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