Mio Technology Moov S501 GPS Device

At least the search options let you focus on a specific area. A keyword search feature can help you zero in on well-known chains (like Starbucks) in locations you specify. But here again, the device has some puzzling defaults. if you don't specify a town, the default arrangement is to list keyword search results alphabetically by name of city, which I rarely found useful. You have the option of seeing results listed by proximity to current location, instead--and that would have been a better default.

In my tests with a shipping unit, some keyword searches worked better than others: When I typed Peets into the search field, the Moov S501 returned addresses for Peet's coffee shops in several Bay Area cities, but not for the ones nearest my home in downtown San Francisco. Searching for 'Peet' without the 's', however, produced an option to look for all Peet's Coffee and Tea stores, which did lead to local outlets.

The text-to-speech feature worked pretty well: Only twice did I have difficulty understanding a street name. Lane guidance was helpful, too, and the routing was generally sensible. A new Explore options shows you points of interest near your current location--a useful option for road trips to unfamiliar locations.

Though the Mio has no built-in real-time Internet connection, you can hook it up to your PC via a supplied USB cable and use the included MioMore desktop software to download such updated data as fuel prices, new maps, destinations plotted on Google Maps, and geo-tagged photos (which you can then navigate to). Of course, taking advantage of this option typically means carrying the unit back and forth from the car.

People who rely on real-time traffic information to cope with a daily commute can pay an extra $100 for an optional add-on module (the price includes a year of service). But if you don't mind syncing with an Internet-connected PC from time to time, the Mio covers a lot of bases at a moderate price.