Clarion N.I.C.E 430 Navigation System

The Clarion N.I.C.E 430 is just the latest stop on my winding journey to find the portable GPS unit that meets all my needs.

The trade-off on this one was Text-to-Speech, which it doesn't have. My thinking was that it wasn't a deal-breaker, as the GPS will announce turns, so who cares if it reads the street names or not.

But, after using other GPS units with this feature, I feel now that it IS a deal-breaker. Hearing the street name helps keep your eyes on the road, instead of reading the screen. It may not seem like much, but after continued use you REALLY start to miss it.

The other problem, that really IS a deal-breaker, is the sluggish response from the unit, surprising since it sports a pretty hefty 400Mhz processor. Route calculation is slow, but more importantly, on-the-fly route correction if you miss a turn is REALLY slow, so much so that you'll regularly miss a quick turn after re-calculation. This, partnered with very slow satellite aquisition sealed the deal for me, and I returned the Clarion.

Strike three was the Bluetooth function, which is spotty at best. It lost the connection to my Blackberry numerous times, and the worst is that THERE IS NO PHONE DIRECTORY. A fatal omission, I thought the idea of handsfree was to avoid fumbling for phone numbers?

A shame really, because of all the GPS units that have come before, the Clarion definitely has the most robust software. You have complete control over editing the route, and the turn-by-turn itinerary is great, and even includes major streets you'll pass to your next turn. The screen is also easy on the eyes, clear and vibrant. Unfortunately, the map screen renders the text very small, making it hard to read street names on it.