User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Just Dont do it, you will regret it.

There are Garmin Nuvi’s for about 99 bucks that you can get that are far superior to this item. My father and law has the nuvi 205w and I didn’t really like how deep the POI’s were or the graphics so I went with this one, regrettably. I really really wanted to like it too but it fails miserably at the core functionality of a GPS unit. Mine might have been glitchy but I suspect it wasn’t and that the product is a horrible GPS unit. Sure it has a lot of cool extra’s like the split screen but those are secondary to the basic functionality of GPS.

I updated the GPS via the metro download system and did the round of updates. Despite those updates, there were many times that it showed me driving a different way (off the road) for several yards before it got on.

(home area testing) It showed roads on the map but told me to get back onto the express way when i was sitting on the exit to get off on the next exit and come back to the exit I was on, even though it did in fact show the exit I was on with all the roads and ramps right there?!

Another annoyance was if it tells you to turn and you don’t the blue arrow icon shows you actually turning like you are actually on the correct path and driving correctly even though I am not because I know of a better way to go. This is horrible in my opinion because what if you didn’t quite understand and you were basing your driving on that image?! You would say okay,based on the GPS blue arrow image I am driving correctly when in fact you arent! Why the heck does it do this!!? You are driving the correct way,, not!

As I drive past the road it shows me turning on, it all of a sudden will freak out not show the blue arrow and loose the route taking several seconds to recalculate some kind of path and show the blue arrow again. Then the path it recalculated told me to go down and turn around and come all the way back and not take the road that I knew was a better path and shorter route up ahead (yes it had the road clearly displayed on it’s map). Then when I got to that turn and turned onto that road the same thing happens again. The blue icon shows me actually making a U turn and starting to drive back when I am not and then it glitches up again loosing the blue arrow and path.

My father in laws nuvi shows the car facing the correct direction ALWAYS and if you veer off the path it shows that to!!! It truly gives you play by play action as it happens every second. This to me is so vital and the core functionality of a GPS. Especially on confusing exits and interstate crossings. The Nuvi knows exactly where you are and what you are doing at all times and reflects it perfectly. That and tt doesn’t freak out when you go off the path either, it practically instantly recalculates and while it does it still shows the car icon and which way you are going perfectly.

Another small disappointment was those cool 3d buildings you see in the description of this GPS are not part of it, they are something you have to pay extra for and download from motoextras, I think it was like 29 bucks.. unbelievable.

I really really tried to like it and like I said maybe mine was just a bad unit but I highly doubt that and the problem is the poor functionality along with poor or little satellite uplink. I think the GPS is programmed to show the blue arrow driving on the route path and it has to periodically update to check itself rather then a constant connection like a Nuvi would have.

The one good thing about this unit is the Point of interest split screen. If you are not 100% dependent on the GPS and need a unit that shows things around you well then I guess maybe this unit would be good for you because you can see a list on the left of the upcoming food and gas places and their relative distance (not very accurate) while viewing your route and blue arrow on the right side. The Nuvi has this ability as well but I found it was something that was buried under a few menus that you had to stop and dig for, not something you can just click once and have instant access too, much less a running list and definitely not on the map. This one feature made it really hard for me to return this GPS, but at the end of the day, I did. I just cant stick with a brand new GPS that doesnt know which way I’m going and shows false and incorrect data.

p.s. I got this unit when it was 99 bucks in mid august of 2010, I see the price is up to 160 today as I write this review. Please know, that even at 99 bucks this thing is a severe disappointment. I would say if it was 50 bucks then maybe grab one. Me personally I would rather not waste the cash and hold out for something better.

1 Stars horrible do not buy

I purchased this product and when i received it, the gps unit fell from it packaging into the box where it was suppose to be kind of bolstered to display upon opening.

Connection time to the gps satellite was probably the only thing i was okay with. It was faster than the navigons which were super slow.

But this product disappointed me in so many ways.

I thought I should maybe give it a try instead of getting a Garmin or Tomtom and try to be unique.

(there is a reason why everyone purchases those mainstream brands)

when trying to type in the address, i have to wait at least 2 minutes for each letter because it takes so long (no joke)

i think it is searching for POI’S while typing in an address but when i’m trying to go somewhere quickly i would rather look on googlemaps and jot down

directions instead of using this.

I had this product for about 3 weeks. I used it once and didn’t touch it until 3 weeks later. And for some reason it broke all of a sudden, when i tried turning it on

it couldn’t connect to the gps satellite.

so i returned it to amazon and took forever to give me my refund and even took of 20 dollars so i only received 80 dollars back for a defective unit.

very unpleased. do not waste your money or time trying out this product.

1 Stars Substandard engineering, poor support. Motorola should exit this market segment.

My wife and I purchased this device through Amazon before starting on a cross-country trip. Although initially happy with the device, six weeks worth of use made us rethink our purchase. The Motonav handles all of the basics very well–it will get you where you’re going– but the device has been engineered so poorly that I would recommend almost any brand (and we’ve used Magellan, TomTom and Garmin) over the Motorola. Even at $99, the device is a poor value. Among the problems:

Poor User Interface: Some genius at Motorola decided that instead of the intuitive input process used by most navigators (enter city, then street, then number), the Motonav would use an “autolookup” feature. Thus, the address expects you to select a city, and then type in an address like “144 Streetname,” and the device provides a list of options it thinks might be the right address. Note that the autolookup feature for Canada is particularly finicky, with inconsistent abbreviations for provinces. If the Motonav had a sufficiently powerful processor, this autolookup function might work. As it is, the device “helpfully” attempts to guess what the user wants after every tap, and pauses painfully while doing so. For instance, if you want “Washington Street,” it will pull up every address and point of interest with “wash” in it (including car washes, washing services, etc.) as soon as you enter the first four letters. Thus, merely entering in an address–the most basic and frequently used function of a GPS–is a time-consuming and frustrating process.

Heat Buildup: Apparently no one at Motorola expected that this device would be attached to a windscreen and used during the day. Even with our air conditioning pouring out of the front windscreen vents directly the unit, it overheated after about an hour in the noonday sun. Forget putting it in the glove box while parked in order to deter theft: we religiously hid the device every time we stopped for lunch because fifteen minutes in direct sunlight would require a significant cooldown period before it would even turn on again.

Appalling Customer Service: About a week after we purchased the device, the pin on the car charging unit that connects to the back of the device broke. Apparently, this part is not sold separately from the unit. We contacted customer service, who assured us that a replacement part would be sent within a week. Two weeks later, no part. After another call, the representative informed us that the part could not be sent separately, and we would have to send the whole unit back. There was no apology for failing to live up to their initial promise: yes, they had a note in the computer that they had “resolved” our issue by promising to send us a part, but that just wasn’t policy. An issue is “resolved,” it appears, when Motorola promises to fix a problem, irrespective of whether they actually do it.

Sending the whole unit back was pointless: we needed the Motonav for the road trip. Thus, we charged the unit slowly each night through the USB connector and returned the device in early August. Supposedly a new unit was to arrive within two weeks. It is now September 12, and the device has yet to be returned to us. We have sent two emails, received automated replies, but had no answer from a real human, and still have no device, fixed or otherwise.

Bottom line: the Motonav is tempting because it offers top-of-the-line features like Bluetooth (which did not work most of the time) at a bargain basement price. But the unit functions poorly as a navigation device, is Faberge egg-level fragile, and you would be better off spending a bit more money elsewhere. And if it does break, Motorola does not appear capable of standing behind its product.

3 Stars unboxed

when the package arrived the unit was not in the proper slot of the product box, the shipping box was fine. The GPS worked long enough for me to discard the boxes, about a 12 days. Called motorola, was sent a new unit, just cost the shipping. So far the GPS performes great. Maybe the first unit was used or a second,

2 Stars Loaded with features that don’t work

From only *reading* the specs and features of this piece, I was impressed. But in actually using those features, I was very disappointed. Here are my top major disappointments:

(1) Extremely sluggish tap response: In a device like this, about a second of delay between a tap and it’s action is really way too slow. It is super annoying and unnecessary added distraction.

(2) Bluetooth phone: Do not expect to use this reasonably at all on the highway, and expect more than normal effort to use it elsewhere. There is so much road noise interference when driving at high speeds and even it mid-speeds that the speaker and the mic on this thing become completely useless. I’ve tried different settings, but no matter what my voice isn’t heard on the other side clearly at all, nor can I hear the other side clearly.

(3) User interface: Out of all the colors of the rainbow, they only decide to use 2-3 colors in all of their user interface design (I’m not talking about the actual map display, but rather everthing else besides that).

(4) Useless speed limit display: The highway is the least important place where you’d need to know the speed limit, simply because you generally have a solid idea of what the limit there is. However, the highway is the only place this PNS shows the speed limit. It will never show up on the streets.

(5) Nearby POIs: You cannot demand-search for nearby points of interests for a specific address or for your destination. When you read the destination it will show them. But that’s terrible for trip planning. I want to be able to search for something around a given address, which this cannot do.

This is one example of where the product ratings are very misleading. It has good reviews, but I’m guessing many people have not used another brand (i.e. Garmin) that excels in all those deficiencies I listed above. Should have just bought a Garmin….