Just 'GPS' No Brand

by John Fidler
(Brisbane, Australia)

I purchased a cheap GPS from China three years ago with all the bells and whistles for $250 $AUD. It had a 4.3" touch screen, FM modulator, Bluetooth, SD card, could play MP3 and videos and had Route 66 maps installed.

It was a no-name brand just called "GPS." It worked well for 12 months then the internal battery gave out and you can't replace it and now it only works when its plugged in to the car. About the same time the touch screen became a bit dodge and often got stuck on a screen and wouldn't leave that screen until you turn off the GPS.

The Bluetooth did pair with some of my cell phones but the mic on the GPS was almost useless, I am sure that the person receiving the call could hear me yelling from the car rather than from the phone. The navigation instructions were so basic that I sometimes I did not know which turn to make.

One night I got so frustrated with it that I took it out of the cradle gave the screen a good punch and was about to throw it out the window, when I remembered that it had a good 2Gb SD card in it so I retrieved the card and dumped the GPS.

Since then I have used a Tom Tom to get around France and England unfortunately I did miss one turn and ended up in the Fatherland and I now know that GPS units do not work in the Black Forest if it is raining.