The Acer c500 takes a slightly different approach from the dedicated unit. In this case, the company employs a Microsoft Windows PDA and uses the included Papago software and GPS antenna to do the work. The styling is pretty neat, and it is certainly small enough to stow away in a purse or bag, with the obvious advantage of being able to run other software on top of the navigation functions. As ever, there are trade-offs to be had between small size and large display.
The downside of multi-functions is that the device is not quite so good at pure navigation, and forgoes the touch screen interaction in favor of stylus-led input. This is all very well when sitting at home planning the route, but mid-journey adjustment becomes more difficult when poking around with a stick on the small 2.8 inch screen. However, Papago is arguably the most highly developed mapping software for Taiwan, and it is likely to pick up on many of the charming intricacies of the road system.
The rapid growth of smart phones has, no doubt, squeezed the PDA market a great deal. As a result, for a little more money, it is possible to get a similarly-sized device that can also place phone calls. For those migrating from PDAs without GPS functionality, however, this would be a very handy upgrade.
Regardless of which device you choose, the next generation will carry not memories of parents battling with maps and road signs, but with an inanimate bit of plastic.
Jonathan Biddle is head of Industrial Design at DEM INC
RSS