Navman PIN 570 PDA Sat Nav

This article reviews the Navman PIN 570 which is a combined PDA and sat nav system. It is at the budget end of the market. So how does it compare to the more expensive models?

Here is a brief rundown of the technical specifications:

• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003
• Pocket PC versions of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet Explorer
• 3.5” touch screen panel
• Samsung 266MHz processor
• 64Mb RAM
• Integrated SiRF GPS receiver
• MMC/SD (SDIO) expansion slot
• TeleAtlas maps
• Navman SmartST 2005 version 3.50.0510 navigation software

Inside the box you will find the following items:

• Navman PIN 570 with integrated GPS receiver
• Memory card with maps of local country preinstalled
• 12V DC in-vehicle power adaptor
• 100/240V AC mains power pack for indoor use
• ActiveSync USB cable for synchronization with your PC
• Protective carry case
• Vehicle windscreen mounting bracket
• User manuals
• CD-ROM containing Microsoft Outlook 2002

First Thoughts

The PIN 570 has a nice rugged feel to it which is just what you want for a device like this. It looks like it is built to withstand being dropped and the materials used in construction don’t look like they would scratch very easily.

The PIN 570 comes with a protective case which will offer good protection against the screen getting scratched. Many sat nav systems today don’t come with any carry case included so it is always nice to see a system with this included at no extra cost.

There are four buttons on the front of the PIN 570 for quick access to common functions. These are:

• Navigate
• Calendar
• Contacts
• Today screen

These is also a 4-way toggle button in the middle which, depending on the application you’re using, enables you to move up, down, left and right.

On the back of the PIN 570 is the GPS receiver which you flip out when using the navigation features.

Pocket PC Setup

When the device is first switched on you are guided through a few initial setup screens to get things configured correctly.

The enclosed CD-ROM contains Microsoft ActiveSync and Microsoft Outlook. You will need to install both of these applications onto your computer if you want to synchronise data between the PIN 570 and your computer.

Once both applications are installed onto your PC the ActiveSync software will automatically synchronise data between the Pocket PC and your computer. If you already use Outlook on your computer then your Outlook calendar, email inbox and contacts will be transferred to the Pocket PC. There is also an option to create a shared folder on your computer for synchronising other types of data, such as Word and Excel documents, between your computer and the Pocket PC.

The whole setup process from start to finish went very smoothly.

Usability

You can navigate around the PIN 570 using either the provided stylus or by using one of the quick access buttons on the front. I preferred to use the stylus most of the time but the quick access buttons are there should you need them.

The 266Mhz processor was fast enough for using applications like Word and Excel. These applications loaded quickly and I didn’t observe any delays navigating from screen to screen. I did find the processor sluggish when using the navigation features, entering address details often being a slow and somewhat tedious process at times.

Office Software

Outlook is probably the best piece of software on the PIN 570. I found it straightforward to check my emails, manage my appointments and lookup contacts.

In my opinion the screen is too small to work effectively with applications like Excel and Word. This is not a criticism of the PIN 570, it’s a problem with any Pocket PC like this. I just find it too fiddly to use.

If you open an application like Excel, just displaying the toolbar and row and column headings take up a large chunk of the screen, leaving little room to view anything else. You can configure the view to hide unwanted features like the toolbar but I still found it too small to use.

If you just want to use the PIN 570 for storing documents or for transferring documents from one PC to another, then it will perform fine.

When using applications like Word and Excel there are several options available for entering text. You can either use an on screen keyboard or use one of the handwriting recognition methods. I found the Block Recognizer and Letter Recognizer methods very difficult to use. I found the Transcriber Only method easier to use. I found this method much more natural, more closely resembling using a pen on paper, although still a bit fiddly at times.

Connectivity

Connectivity on the Navman is limited. The PIN 570 can receive an infrared beam from another Pocket PC or similar device but that is it. There is no bluetooth or wireless support out of the box. No wireless support doesn’t surprise me but I was disappointed to see no bluetooth support either.

Bear this in mind before purchasing. Once the PIN 570 is disconnected from your computer you will no longer be able to receive new Outlook email messages and meeting requests until the PIN 570 is reconnected to your computer.

This may not be an issue if you only want to synchronise the PIN 570 with your computer once or twice a day, but if you want to perform tasks like checking for new email throughout the day, then you will need to look at purchasing a separate bluetooth or wireless card.

Windows Applications

The PIN 570 comes with the usual Pocket PC applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel. It also includes Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger, but you will need a working network connection on the Pocket PC before these will work. This is typically done by purchasing a separate wireless card to plug into the SD/MMC slot.

Navigation

So much for the Pocket PC side of things but what about the navigation features of the PIN 570.

GPS Signal

The GPS receiver on the PIN 570 is adequate although not as strong as other sat nav systems I have tested. Many GPS devices today can establish a satellite connection when situated inside a building, this can be useful for planning routes indoors, but you will need to stand outside for several minutes before the PIN 570 picks up a GPS signal.

This is probably not an issue for many people, but a strong GPS receiver can be beneficial, especially in urban areas where tall buildings and tunnels can make reception more difficult.

Mapping Software

The PIN 570 comes pre-installed with TeleAtlas street level maps of the UK. There are also 3 CDs included which provide street level maps for several European countries. You can install any of these additional maps using the SmartST Desktop software that comes with the Navman installation CD. The free European maps are a welcome addition to the PIN 570, but it falls short of the coverage offered by the Garmin Nuvi 250W.

Overall I’m not a big fan of TeleAtlas maps, although other people have reported them to be reliable.

In my tests I came across 3 main issues:

• Map data not comprehensive enough. When navigating to a destination the PIN 570 was unable to recognise several street names, even established streets which have been around for years. This only happened in a few areas, but I have not seen this problem with Tom Tom, Garmin, Mio or Sony devices when navigating to the same destination.
• Map data inaccurate. The PIN 570 suffered the same problem as the Navman N40i in displaying the wrong road name on the map. This only happened in one area but it was a bit disconcerting and again was not seen on either TomTom, Garmin, Mio or Sony systems.
• Map data out-of-date. The maps on the PIN 570 are several years old which means it will not recognise recently built roads. I found this a problem when driving along a bypass built in March 2004. The PIN 570 map showed me driving through a field which was quite funny to look at.

Issues like this can normally be sorted out by updating the mapping software but Navman no longer produce software for this device so support is limited. The PIN 570 product range is now discontinued.

Navman are able to offer though, on request, a map update only to SmartST 2006SE as used on the Navman iCN 510/520. This is an improvement over the 2004 map data, but it is uncertain whether you can upgrade the map data any further after this.

If there is no upgrade path beyond the 2006 maps then this will further reduce the PIN 570s appeal.

Routing Options

The PIN 570 supports the typical routing options you get on most sat nav systems. You can plan routes by either the quickest or shortest route. There are also options to avoid motorways, unsurfaced roads, ferries, toll roads and urban areas.

Points of Interest (POI) Options

A basic POI database is included with the PIN 570, although it falls well short of the likes of Garmin in this department. This is understandable given the cheap price tag of the PIN 570.

You can decide which POI categories to display on the map. This is a good idea if you’re only interested in certain POI categories, such as restaurants or petrol stations. It avoids the map being cluttered with too many POI icons.

Sound Options

This screen allows you to adjust the voice instructions volume. There are also options to sound an audible alert if you exceed a certain speed or if you take a wrong turn. For example, you can tell the PIN 570 to sound an audible warning if you exceed a preset speed such as 50mph or 70mph.

It’s a shame the PIN 570 doesn’t support dynamic speed warnings based on the road you’re currently driving along. Several sat systems will recognise the speed limit of the current road and automatically warn when exceeding the speed limit of that road.

The PIN 570 speed warnings are preset to a fixed speed which makes the usefulness of this feature rather limited.

Navigation

Many GPS systems allow you to set the navigation mode, such as pedestrian or bicycle. The Navman PIN 570 does not support these different modes. It assumes the vehicle being used is always a car. For most people this is probably not an issue but bear this in mind before purchasing.

The PIN 570 only supports partial postcode entry (5 digits) rather than full postcode support. This means you’ll need to enter most of the address details manually using the on screen keyboard.

I found entering the address details cumbersome and awkward to use. The user interface is not that friendly and the system can be very sluggish at times when entering data. This makes entering address details frustrating at times.

There are options though to store frequently used destinations and the PIN 570 stores a list of recent destinations too. This allows you to bypass the fiddly job of entering the address details again when navigating to frequent destinations.

Once out on the road the PIN 570 did a pretty good job. Apart from the map data being several years old, it managed to navigate me correctly to each destination. It was also able to handle taking wrong turns, automatically recalculating the route as necessary. It also did a good job of selecting the right type of roads for each destination, using the same route I would have taken had I not been using a sat nav system.

I’ve seen more expensive sat nav systems choose what I consider unorthodox routes of getting from A to B, but the Navman I felt did a good job with the road selection.

Apart from the traditional map view, the PIN 570 also supports a turn by turn screen. The instruction list screen will show the current turn and the next 5 turns after that. I like this feature on sat nav systems so it was good to see this feature available.

The map layout and display is not as good as other sat nav systems I’ve tested. It is starting to look a bit dated now, but for a cheap and cheerful system it does the job adequately.

Summary

The Navman PIN 570 is not a bad performer from a navigational viewpoint, but it is let down in too many areas for it to be considered a good buy in my opinion.

The Navman PIN 570 is starting to look dated compared to the competition. The mapping software contains some minor bugs with road names and is several years out-of-date. There is also limited upgrade potential due to the product being discontinued by Navman.

This coupled with the fiddly on-screen controls and cumbersome user interface makes for a product that can be irritating to use.

If you can put up with these points then it performed reliably from a navigational viewpoint. When you consider it also includes a decent Pocket PC (albeit with no bluetooth or wireless out of the box) then it isn’t all doom and gloom. The cheap price is arguably the best aspect of the PIN 570. You will be hard pushed to get a combined Pocket PC and sat nav system any cheaper than this.

I would take a good look at the competition before settling on the PIN 570. Spending a bit extra on an alternative system would in my opinion be money well spent.

Pros

• Pocket PC and PDA system all in one
• Cheap price tag

Cons

• No bluetooth or wireless connectivity out of the box
• Mapping data out-of-date and inaccurate
• Full postcode entry not supported
• Sluggish performance
• User interface cumbersome and fiddly to use
• Discontinued product with limited support from Navman

Where to buy

Buy the Navman PIN 570 from Lemon Digital.
Quote “Technical Itch” when ordering to receive a special price discount.

Buy the Navman PIN 570 from Amazon.

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GPS software

TomTom announced a software update to a handful of its portable navigation devices. The updates aim to make these devices more customizable and easier to use. Models include the TomTom x50-series (including the XL 350 and the XXL 550) and the XL 335 LE, SE, and LM models. Users can access the updates for free by connecting their devices to an Internet-connected PC and downloading the software using the TomTom Home application.

TomTom software update (photos)

New features include route detail options that appear after choosing a destination; user customizations to the map screen's status bar; more granular route planning and display brightness options; and a new option for speed sensitive volume control. We've documented most of the changes in our photo gallery; click through to see the new software in action alongside the previous version.

ACR ResQFix 406

The ACR ResQFix 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is 35% smaller than previous PLBs, and has a streamlined case that easily fits in your pocket.

• Attachment clip allows PLB to be mounted a PFD
• Comes with a floatation pouch
• Can be worn using included bungee lanyard
• Cons

Category II - manually activated

Description

Typical operating life is 40 hours.

Integrated GPS receiver.

Used by professional rescue organizations.

Guide Review - Marine Electronics Review: ACR ResQFix 406 Personal Locator Beacon

The ACR ResQFix 406 GPS PLB transmits an emergency signal with your unique digitally encoded distress message on 406MHz via COSPASSARSAT satellites for a minimum of 24 hours. The internal GPS acquires your position with 100 meter accuracy, sending your position along with your digitally encoded distress signal to rescue officials within minutes, cutting down the time to rescue drastically.

Wi-Fi iPad 2 Gets GPS With iPhone

Wi-Fi iPad 2 Gets GPS With iPhone 4 Connection Sharing

Still haven’t decided which iPad 2 to buy? A new report claims the iPad can get GPS info in addition to a network connection from an iPhone 4 via the iPhone’s new Personal Hotspot sharing feature. That could factor into which model you end up deciding to buy.

I argued in a previous post that the iPhone 4′s Personal Hotspot sharing feature (and similar sharing on other smartphone devices) were making a 3G-capable iPad less of a necessity for users. Geoffrey Goetz recently pointed out that along with 3G capabilities came true GPS, a feature not natively available on the Wi-Fi-only iPad. But according to TabletMonsters.com and multiple commenters at Cult of Mac, GPS does make the leap from iPhone to iPad when sharing your iPhone 4′s connection either with Personal Hotpspot or the jailbreak-only app MyWi, which for most users might be enough incentive to opt for the Wi-Fi model over the 3G variety.

I tried this out on my 3G-capable iPads by turning off cellular network services and connecting to my iPhone via Personal Hotspot. It definitely seems to make a difference, and looks like it’s just as accurate as the GPS on the iPhone 4 that’s sharing the connection. As a result, it might even be a viable option for use with turn-by-turn navigation apps. At the very least, it provides much better data for finding your exact location in spots where mapping via Wi-Fi towers alone won’t provide accurate results, which could considerably improve the experience of a number of iPad apps. Reports suggest it works on first-gen iPad devices, too.

GPS for iPhone via WiFi

iPhone 3G came with a very new and important feature, the GPS capability, which is integrated along with Google Maps. The GPS technology along with iPhone software, together would present a totally different mobile mapping interface.GPS means Global Positioning System. It uses information from earth-orbiting satellites to find your present location. A receiver estimates the distance to GPS satellites based on the time it takes for signals to reach it, then uses that information to identify its location. But there is more. iPhone 3G uses not only the GPS technology, but A-GPS , i.e, it tracks your location through the Wi-Fi signals and the information from cellular towers to determine a more accurate location. Thus, in a sense , the GPS technology helps us get a better location.

In iPhone 3G, if GPS is available, the iPhone displays a blue GPS indicator. But if you’re inside — without a clear line of sight to a GPS satellite — iPhone finds you via Wi-Fi. If you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, iPhone finds you using cellular towers. And the size of a location circle tells you how accurately iPhone is able to calculate that location: The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location.

The GPS feature is also integrated with Google Maps, that means you may never be lost. You may find your location, get directions, and see traffic — all from your phone. Maps on iPhone 3G combined GPS, with the Multi-Touch interface , makes user experience wonderful. You can also search for locations, or places. Like if you need the nearest Pizzeria, just search Google Maps for Pizza and tap! you get the nearest one.

The GPS-powered location inputs can be used by applications to innovate and utilize through them. For example, Take a photo with the camera, and iPhone can geo tag it with GPS location information. That way, when you share photos online, friends and family can see where every snapshot was taken. And you can shop the App Store for GPS-enabled applications such as mobile friend finders or interactive city guides.

Disadvantages

The Google Maps, are downloaded as and when you browse a location, and are not generally stored. Hence, data charges, might shoot out.

Though the Iphone, actively switches on and off the GPS chip, as used, still when active for a long time, it might be a big drain on the Battery. You might look out for Battery Extenders or Rechargeable battery.

The iPhone location feeds have been used in a lot of application and over 300 apps use the location look ups. Over 50 apps out of these, can be found in Navigation Category, so the GPS feature is being actively used. Still there is no TomTom for iPhone currently. TomTom says they have a working app but Maps by other 3rd party application developers are still not allowed it seems. Obviously, a TomTom app with GPS would be the icing on the cake for Apple.

So, some of the apps that have become really popular are GPS tracker, Traffic Info, Speedometer etc. Some other interesting apps include CamsAhoy and G-phone.

InstaMapper GPS Tracker: InstaMapper is a free real-time GPS tracking service. The object you track is a moving dot on the Google Map and positions are updated as often as every 5 seconds. It can store up to 100,000 positions per device — enough for several months of 24/7 tracking. You can map your positions and upload them to your Facebook too.

TrafficInfo: It gives normal traffic info using the ZIP code or you can find local traffic reports using Yahoo Traffic Services. From any incident on the Traffic Info app you can click and it will directly take you to the location in Google Map.

Speedometer: It is an entertainment app basically and uses GPS data to give you your Current Speed. You can also get average speeds for specific times etc.

G-phone: G-Map can show you the way wherever you go, even with no Wi-Fi connection or in dead zones up in the mountains, out on the ocean, or even in an airplane. G-Map is a stand-alone electronic map. So once it’s downloaded, you can freely search your location and get directions without an internet connection, anytime, anywhere, even when you’re on the move and can also provide detailed information of the searched location such as address and phone number.

The website says it will be available by mid December and pricing has not yet been disclosed. But this is one app you can use for all your traveling needs. On the negative is the, the massive Map database would take 700MB+ of space , so you can be out of space pretty soon.

The GPS capability of iPhone and can provide alerts when a photo enforcement device such as speed cameras or red lights cameras are approaching. This one is specifically amazing for Europe, which is swarmed with speed cameras and thus there are many databases documenting where they are down to the centimeter. Cams Ahoy comes pre-programmed with over 22,000 camera locations... Thus, with GPS apps tracking and mapping is made much more easier, and adds a new edge to iPhone experience!

LucidTouch

Microsoft had released a new technology called LucidTouch. The LucidTouch lets you control a handheld GPS system with your fingers that are behind the screen by using a technology called “pseudo-transparency” which lets you see your fingers as a shadow in the screen and navigate the system. Currently the prototype uses a webcam to capture the location of your fingers but you can be sure Microsoft will find a better way to do this when designing an actual product.  With the Multitouch revolution already in full swing, a number of different companies have been coming out with multitouch devices that have made the people that purchase them very happy indeed. Microsoft has of course come out with the Surface and now they have come out with LucidTouch, something that addresses a very real logistical problem with a lot of handheld multitouch devices.Microsoft LucidTouch

While multitouch devices are great because of their high functionality, they all do have one inherent problem to them. If a person needs to very quickly interact with the touch screen, then a problem that arises in many multitouch products or demos is the person not being able to see the different areas of the touch sensitive screen to press. In other words, if a person were typing on a virtual keyboard through pressing the screen, on many smaller devices the very act of pressing the button on screen can serve to diminish their view of the other keys and therefore it can cause a lot of frustration amongst different users.

Well, Microsoft's solution to this very real problem was the development of LucidTouch, which many news organizations have referred to as being a pseudo transparent device. The use of a webcam in this device allows the monitoring of finger positions on the back of the device, thereby allowing you to place your fingers on the back of the device and still use them to activate the commands. LucidTouch has multitouch technology on both the front and the back of the device, meaning that you can learn how to manipulate controls from the back of the device and in doing so still be able to see all of the commands which are now not blocked by your fingers.

G-FI

G-Fi GPS

Geolocation is where it's at, as the kids would say, but can that really be true and how do you get your gadgets that aren't GPS-enabled to give you a geolocation? One device is hoping to solve that and help you find yourself at the same time. The PosiMotion G-Fi is a small black box that is independently powered via an in-built rechargeable battery, that when turned on, creates a mini Wi-Fi network for any Wi-Fi enabled device to connect to.

Once connected (the range is pretty good) it then shares its GPS signal with your device allowing you to either boost or provide a GPS signal to anything you want such as the iPod touch, Apple iPad or your laptop.

What that means is that for around $99 (£60) plus the cost of a GPS software package (£25 from CoPilot or £29.99 from PosiMotion) you can turn your iPod touch into a full-blown GPS satnav unit.

In practice and it's as easy as it sounds with the G-Fi turning on and finding a GPS signal virtually instantly.

There are three status lights on the front of the unit letting you know what's what (Wi-Fi, GPS, and Power), and all that's left for you to do is connect via the Wi-Fi settings on your machine or gadget.

Once connected, you can then run GPS software or geotag photos and beyond it just working straight out of the box, there isn't much to the unit. We tested it with a laptop and some HTML 5, an iPod touch and an iPhone. In all cases the G-Fi worked seamlessly either giving us a GPS signal for the first time (in the iPod touch) or helping boost the accuracy of the GPS signal (in the iPhone). It noticeably helped with TomTom on the iPhone for example in our tests allowing for more accurate positioning.

Verdict

There isn't much to the G-Fi. You charge it up, turn it on, and connect to it over Wi-Fi. It then gives you a GPS signal back. It really is that simple. With zero setup and zero install hassles, if you are looking to improve or give GPS to a Wi-Fi enabled device this is the gadget to do it with.

Where this wins over on the TomTom for iPhone docking cradle for example is that it's not dedicated to that one device. You'll be able to use it elsewhere in your gadget life, something that might not seem important now, but will future-proof yourself.

t-mobile gets GPS enabled nokia 6650

It’s good news cause the new NOKIA 6650 which is the new addition of t-mobile features an integrated AGPS. There’s no information about how t-mobile’s software runs a GPS system on the Nokia 6650 but there are other leak features such as the 2MP camera with flash, microSD card slot, FM radio. Nokia 6650 has a 2.2″ TFT QVGA screen and supports HSPDA networks. Overall it’s a tempting phone.

Nokia 6650 is the new addition T-Mobile’s Nokia lineup. The main features of 6650 is its built-in AGPS receiver (yay!) and multimedia player (who cares..). The phone was unveiled at CeBIT in Germany earlier this week and is said to be available exclusively for T-Mobile international customers.

No word on what kind of software T-Mobile will make available to utilize the GPS function but we know about other features such as the 2MP camera with flash, microSD card slot, FM radio. Nokia 6650 has a 2.2″ TFT QVGA screen and supports HSPDA networks.

QStarz BT-Q1000P

QStarz BT-Q1000P was just announced last month and we were lucky enough to receive a sample product for review. The BT-Q1000P is first off a dual function device: It can be a bluetooth GPS receiver to pair with your PDA or smartphone or you can use it as a standalone travel recorder. BT-Q1000P is already available for pickup from Amazon for $100 and it seems to receive good reviews from other users on the internet.

When we first picked up this bluetooth GPS receiver we charged it and put it in our vehicle. That’s all. We decided worry about the software later. We pretty much forgot about it for the rest of the day and were happily surprised to see it still blinking away about 12 hours later. That is actually normal – for it says it can last up to 32 hours on a single charge.

The software installed without any problems on our Windows XP machine and successfully started Google Earth and showed our recorded track very precisely. You configure QStarz BT-Q1000P with this software because the hardware only has two buttons. One to switch it between off, log, and log + navigation mode, and another button to record your immediate position. The software lets you configure the tracking by time, distance, or speed, and you can even set the frequency of each one to record a waypoint.

As far as hardware, the ‘P’ at the end of the BT-Q1000P says it is the ‘platinum’ version which means it can record up to 200,000 waypoints instead of 100,000. It uses a 51 channel MTK GPS receiver chipset which got a satellite position fix in less than half a minute during our review. BT-Q1000P has a high-friction padding on the bottom so it sits on your dash without the need for a mount which was a nice touch.

Now that we’re done with this bluetooth GPS receiver there’s a good change we’ll give it away to a Navigadget reader ;) Keep reading.

Gigabyte M704

Gigabyte has introduced its new gadget called the Gigabyte M704. It’s an UMPC with a 7 inch screen and an embedded GPS receiver. The screen on this one is an actual touch-screen though, meaning you can control everything from the screen. It’s small and it can be slide open for a QWERTY keyboard. There’s also a camera mounted on the front so you can do video conferencing.

The newest UMPC from Taiwan-based Gigabyte is the M704, a refresh of last year's U60 that features a larger display, faster processor, and redesigned controls. While not officially available in the US, the 7-inch slider has spent the summer making its way into the hands of importers like Direct From Japan, who was kind enough to send me the UMPC for testing and review.

See what the Gigabyte M704 is all about below.

System Specifications

CPU:	1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV (Esther)
RAM:	768MB DDR2-533
OS:	Windows XP Home/Pro, Vista Ultimate
Storage:	60GB (1.8", 4200 rpm)
Expansion:	SD card slot
Display:	7" touchscreen (1024 x 600, LED backlit)
Wireless:	802.11b/g wi-fi, Bluetooth
Size:	7.5" x 4.8" x 1.2"
Weight:	1.7 pounds

Box Contents

Included in the shiny gold box with the M704 are a zippered carrying case, three software CDs (utility driver disc, Japanese version of Windows XP Home SP2, and Nero 7 Essentials), AC adapter and power cord, extra stylus, and various guides and manuals.

A docking station, GPS module, and digital TV module are available separately.

Design

The M704 isn't the most stylish or aesthetically pleasing UMPC I've ever seen (I believe my initial thoughts were "ugly" and "too block-like"), but it's built well and has a nice, substantial feel to it.

The casing is made of three different kinds of plastic: smooth and glossy smudge-loving black trim around the display, smooth and matte silver around the keyboard and inside the black bezel, and slightly textured matte black on the back. The end result is a device that would likely catch the eye of passerby in public places, but mostly only because it's the largest two-handed slider they've ever seen. ("That sure isn't a Sidekick!")

The split keyboard, undoubtedly the most unique aspect of the unit's design, is discussed in its own section below.

Size

Other UMPCs with 7-inch screens sport slide-out keyboards too (e.g., HTC Shift), but none of their primary usage scenarios involve two-handed thumb typing. Every other 7-inch UMPC on the market is either meant to be used in tablet/slate or laptop mode. If anything, thumb typing is more of a bonus "not recommended, but possible with large hands" feature.

The split keyboard offsets the M704's size, as it eliminates any unnecessary thumb stretching, but it obviously doesn't cut back on the unit's weight. For a device designed to be held in two hands, 1.7 pounds gets heavy pretty quickly. To put that weight into some context, the Willcom D4 is 1.25 pounds (with extended battery)

The Wibrain B1H and Sony Vaio UX are 1.2 pounds, and the OQO Model 02 is just 1 pound. All of these UMPCs have smaller screens than the M704, but they're all meant to be used in the same way.

Display

Fortunately, the size and weight aren't deal breakers by any means. In fact, once you see the M704's LED-backlit, high resolution (1024 x 600) 7-inch screen in person, you may even forget about them completely.

As soon as I turned on the UMPC and saw the extra bright, colorful screen with very good side viewing angles, I understood why Gigabyte sacrificed pocketability for it. The display has a slight "fuzzy screen protector look" to it, especially against white backgrounds, but it still looks fantastic. 1024 x 600 is the perfect resolution for a 7-inch screen; it's close to becoming the minimum for a truly enjoyable web browsing experience these days too.

Inking

Though the display is nicely suited for viewing, it doesn't fare quite as well for inking. The passive touchscreen lacks any kind of palm rejection technology so vectoring is a major issue. The lightest touch from your palm will send the ink flying toward it, so to speak. Inking is considerably better when the screen is rotated into portrait mode because the top of the frame, which measures about three-quarters of an inch deep, can be used as a small handrest.

Unless you opt for a Vista configuration, which includes handwriting recognition but really doesn't belong on this UMPC (more on this below), Gigabyte includes Pen Soft Pro for your XP inking needs. The software isn't very good, in my opinion, but neither is inking on the M704.

Controls

A touchscreen is always handy to have, but since Windows is hardly optimized for fingertips and using the stylus requires readjusting your hands, a closer look at the hardware controls is in order.

The main controls are stacked on the right side of the display and lay flush against the frame. At the top is a snapshot button (for use with the 1.3-megapixel web camera) followed by the touchpad on/off button (to enable/disable the touchpad), the easy-to-use and slightly textured touchpad, Mobility Center button (for quick access to settings like resolution, screen brightness, and volume), and a convenient zoom button.

None of the buttons are configurable/re-mappable out of the box. I personally like the Mobility Center button and I'm sure that many will find the zoom and snapshot buttons invaluable, but an entire button dedicated to turning the touchpad on/off? Really? It works so well and is so generously sized that I don't understand why an on/off button is necessary.

On the opposite side of the display are left and right mouse buttons. Though thinner and longer than other UMPC mouse buttons, they are easy to press and give off a good click.

At the top of the screen are five system LEDs (Bluetooth, wi-fi, HDD, battery, power), two internal microphone pinholes, and the aforementioned 1.3-megapixel webcam. The slide-out keyboard is another important part of the M704's hardware controls, but since that has its own dedicated section below, here's a look at what else the unit's casing has to offer first.

On the left side of the M704 are a volume rocker, power/hold switch, SAS (Ctrl + Alt + Del) button, 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone jack, and power port.

One of two USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, and the docking station connector are on the bottom.

The second USB 2.0 port, an SD card slot, battery release switch, and battery lock switch are on the left side.

At the top (not shown) are an air vent and Kensington lock slot.

The back of the M704 is home to the connectors for the removable flip stand, the module port for use with the optional GPS or TV tuner accessories, two more air vents, the battery pack, and the stylus slot.

Keyboard

Arguably the most compelling and unique feature of the Gigabyte M704 is its split keyboard.

The 65 keys are unevenly separated (29 on the left, 36 on the right) by a 1.5-inch divider that houses four communication buttons (Bluetooth, wi-fi, webcam, GPS/TV module power) and VIA and XP stickers to lessen the lopsidedness.

The split layout takes some getting used to if you've never used a similar keyboard (split keypads are most notably used on the Pepper Pad 3, Samsung Q1 Ultra, and Wibrain UMPCs), but it becomes second-nature relatively quickly. The layout is good and the keys give back the same kind of audio/tactile feedback that the mouse buttons do. The keys themselves are rather small, though, so accuracy can be an issue if you're not careful. Typing isn't as good as I expected it to be, with two weeks of practice yielding a typing speed of only 39 words per minute (see how this compares to my other mobile device keyboard typing speeds). With more practice and extended use, typing should improve.

The space bar is split into two, but the right half on my review unit isn't mapped correctly. Instead of acting as a space bar, it does nothing. The Japanese printed on it suggests that the key is supposed to be used to toggle between katakana, romaji, and hiragana (forms of Japanese writing). This can likely be fixed with remapping software.

Performance

Though Gigabyte themselves list Windows XP Home as the M704's operating system, the review unit I received from Direct From Japan (DFJ) came with a fresh install of Vista Ultimate. DFJ will also install XP Pro on request, which is what I recommend doing if you're interested in this UMPC.

I actually prefer Vista to XP, so when I first turned on the M704 and saw that it was running Vista (I had just assumed it would've had XP), I was quite pleased . . . for the first few seconds. It's been over a year since I've used an XP-based UMPC so seeing the more attractive Vista UI loading was a nice surprise. But then I made the mistake of actually trying to, you know, use the device.

Not that there was ever any doubt about this, but it has to be said that Vista Ultimate does not belong on the same machine as a 1.2GHz VIA processor and 768MB of RAM. Downloading and installing the first set of Windows Updates rendered the system unusable, as it was using 100% of the CPU most of the time, and took 1.5 hours to complete.

I ended up installing XP Home as soon as I got the okay from DFJ, but it took me a while to find an installation disc so I spent a few days with a Vista-fied M704. It was fine for simple web browsing with Firefox 3, but that's about it.

Vista Ultimate Benchmarks

XP Home Benchmarks

When I finally got XP Home running on the UMPC, the difference in performance was so significant that I forgot about how clunky-looking the OS was. While the 768MB of RAM was a joke with Vista, it was a luxury with XP.

With XP Home, the M704 is responsive, menu items and icons load instantly, and online Flash video playback is pretty smooth. The system shuts down in 34 seconds, cold boots in 42 seconds, restarts in 80 seconds, resumes from standby in 7 seconds, and awakens from hibernation in 29 seconds.

The XP CrystalMark scores are similar to the Vista ones, but how the system feels and reacts is remarkably different. Whereas the Vista M704 requires an abnormally patient user, the XP M704 can take on Type A users with few problems. The unit stays very cool while in use, but the fan tends to get a little loud to maintain that. Though not noticeable in a room with white noise, the whirring is certainly audible in silence.

Battery

The M704's li-ion battery (7.4V, 3900mAh) is given a 4-hour battery life by Gigabyte, but real-world usage brings that down to about 3- to 3.5-hours of wi-fi time.

A fully charged battery loses about 4% of its capacity per hour in standby, so hibernation is a better overnight choice.

Conclusion

The Gigabyte M704 doesn't outdo other UMPCs in any one particular area (i.e., it's not the best at anything), but it doesn't have any fatal flaws either. While battery life, screen size/resolution, and keyboard are often cited as deal breakers for many buyers when considering other devices, none of these areas are in dire need of fixing on the M704. Many things could be improved, sure, but everything as it is is already really good.

That said, I have no personal interest in the device. Nothing impresses me to the extent that I actually want to keep the UMPC (design is usually what wins me over, and the M704 has no aesthetic appeal for me), but I can put my subjectivity aside and understand why others would.

The Gigabyte M704 is available now for $1049 from Direct From Japan, who offers free worldwide shipping and a 1-year warranty.