Friday, February 4, 2005
Road Trip Reloaded: OCN All in One GPS Reviewed
Posted by Doug Raeburn in "HARDWARE" @ 10:00 AM
On The Road Again
Figure 11: Manual zoom mode
The OnCourse Navigator map display provides just about any type of navigation information that you might need, and can display them all simultaneously. Figure 11 shows the manual zoom mode, with the + and - zoom buttons and a zoom scale on the right edge of the screen. A tap on either of those buttons will zoom in or zoom out, and you can also jump to a particular zoom point by tapping on the scale. You can also zoom by using the stylus to drag a box around an area on the map. Whatever zoom level you specify will remain set until you change it.
Information shown in this mode includes distance to next instruction, next road, current road, scale, grade, compass, elevation and speed.
The controls along the top include zoom/scroll toggle, itinerary planning, north orientation and 3D view.
Figure 12: Autozoom mode
With autozoom, OnCourse Navigator dynamically zooms in and out depending on speed (zooming out at higher speeds to show more road and zooming in at lower speeds to show more detail). It also zooms in when an instruction about to be performed. This feature works quite seamlessly and the zoom levels selected seem quite appropriate for the speed. And if you'd like it to adjust the speed at which it increases or reduces the scale, settings for "high autozoom" (reduces scale more quickly) and "low autozoom" (increases scale more quickly).
Additional information can be displayed when using auto zoom mode. Note that the zoom controls have been replaced on the right. There are 2 sets of information in this case… the bottom box (just above the display that shows "Pilgrim Rd") shows ETA, time to destination and distance to destination for the next stage of your itinerary. The box just above it shows the same information for your final destination. If only the final destination remains or only one destination is specified, that information will appear in the bottom box and the top box won't be displayed. Any or all of these additional items can be set to display or not at your preference.
Figure 12 also shows the display when approaching a turn. The box on the left shows the direction of the turn with an arrow, and the box below (next to the street names) shows proximity to the actual turn. The closer you get, the more light blue bars will be displayed.
