Living in a new city means being introduced to a whole new learning curve when it comes to finding new restaurants, knowing where shops are like hardware stores, pharmacy’s, grocery stores, etc, etc… In Perth it seemed so easy to find what you were looking for, but I guess it comes down to the fact that we lived there for over 10 years.

So anyway, ever since coming here I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a GPS (Global Positioning System) to help us with directions since Vancouver is so much bigger than Perth… but I never ended up getting one because I couldn’t justify the cost. Most units made by the popular manufacturers like TomTom and Garmin start at about $300 and go up to $2000!!! Ever since I got my Samsung Blackjack I’ve been able to use Google Maps and Windows Live Search, but let’s face it… trying to read a 3.5 Inch screen while driving isn’t really the safest thing to do…

Enter the Garmin Mobile 10 GPS. This GPS receiver is designed to be used with PDA’s, Smartphones and laptops. You install the software onto your device, pair the GPS receiver using Bluetooth and you’re set to go! I couldn’t believe how simple it was to get up and running… and what blew me away was the functionality. The unit has all the premium features of the top of the range dedicated GPS systems that are on the market these days minus text to speech (reading of road names). These features include, a comprehensive Points of Interest database of shops, petrol stations restaurants, trip tracking, live weather, petrol prices and traffic updates etc. In addition to this, it has turn by turn voice navigation so no more concentrating on the screen trying to read the next direction while driving! I typed in the name “Ebi Ten” (our favourite Japanese restaurant located downtown) and within a few seconds I was given vocal instructions on how to get there. I went off route deliberately and the software re-routed the destination and I was back on track again.

Fair enough you have to have either a laptop, PDA or smartphone to run the software with the GPS… but the way I see it, I don’t want to have to worry about getting my car broken into because I forgot to take my GPS console with me when I parked the car. Since its running on my phone I just turn off the receiver and take my phone with me and I’m not stuck with a bulky item to carry around with me… 

Here’s a couple of screen shots of the software and the Garmin Mobile 10 GPS receiver with my Samsung Blackjack:

 

Garmin Mobile 10 GPS receiver

 

Samsung Blackjack running the navigation software - Garmin Mobile XT

 

Map screenshot & Trip Statistics

 

Points of Interest & Live Weather

 

All in all I’m really happy with the GPS setup and I would highly recommend it to anyone that has a smartphone/pda and is on the market for a GPS solution…