Navman’s S200 is the company’s best in-car GPS system yet. But several flaws would stop me buying it.

I roadtested the top-of-the-line S-series model, the S200. Not all of its features are available in step-down models (see pricing and specs at the end of this post).
Here’s what’s hot and not in the S200:

HOT: Spoken street names
Like archrival TomTom (and Vodafone’s Compass), Navman’s latest adds support for spoken street names. So it now instead of saying “turn left in 200m” it says “turn left into Mt Eden Road in 200m”. A street name is useful info to have, especially if you’re approaching an intersection with different turn offs. Predictably, both the Aussie and UK accents on offer mangle Maori street names. Nevertheless, their intent is clear, and I never missed a street.
Niftily, there’s an option to wirelessly route voice instructions through your car’s FM radio.

NOT: No speech recognition
In some markets, you can bark commands at your GPS navigation system, in the same manner as you can use programs like Dragon Naturally Speaking to voice commands, or text you want transcribed, to your PC. It’s a much safer method of finding an address than pawing the touchscreen as you drive. (I know, I know, you’re supposed to pull over first.)
But not here, and don't hold your breath.
Nuance (the US company that supplies Navman with its speech recognition software) has always had trouble with the Kiwi accent with its Dragon Naturally Speaking. In some versions it's allocated New Zilinders with an Aussie accent, in others a UK accent. Neither fit our fush and chup vowels of course, and we're just too small a market to custom develop for.

HOT: Beating traffic blocks
A new feature lets you stab the screen when you see roadworks or some other traffic block up ahead. The S200 immediately recalibrates a route around the block. It’s a nifty little feature, and worked well around Auckland’s roadwork invested streets.

NOT: No real-time traffic updates
While the above traffic block beater is cool, you have to spy a jam yourself, then implement it manually.
Unlike most first-world countries, GPS systems in New Zealand get no live updates via GPS, which let your sat-nav know where the traffic is worst, then set a course around the worst jams. Real-time traffic updates are coming in the New Year, a little bird tells me, but the S-series will need an add-on dongle to receive them. Some may prefer to wait for the next model, which will no doubt come with real-time traffic update support built-in.

HOT: PIN security
You can PIN-protect your S-series Navman, so it’ll be disabled unless a their knows your personal identification number.

NOT: Smash-and-grab
Sure a thief won’t be able to use your Navman, but neither will you. You’ll only be able to stand their looking at your stoved-in windshield.
As I’ve written before, GPS theft is utterly rampant. At the S series launch, a Navman rep advised not just pocketing your GPS before leaving your car – even to duck into a shop – but to also remove its stalk AND to wash off the imprint that the stalk’s sucker leaves on your windshield (apparently crims look for the tell-tale traces of sucker mark, then smash your front window on the off-chance your GPS is stowed in your glove box).
Of course, no-one will go through that three-step security routine. And given that, who needs the constant stress about theft, or the jacked up insurance premium?. Along with the Ugly Factor (the S200 may look sleek, but its sucker and power cable are as ungainly as any), the smash-and-grab problem is what stops me buying an S200, or indeed any any in-car GPS unit.

HOT: Easy find; glidescroll
An enhanced “find” feature, which now lets you search for a business by name rather than address. It nicely takes advantage of the S-series new, iPhone-influenced “glide scroll” feature, which is a credit to Navman’s R&D team (still largely based in Auckland; with US company Brunswick having sold out, Navman’s latest owners are based in Singapore and Taiwan).

NOT: Green on white
The new colour scheme, featuring green roads on a white background, and greyish text, looks stylish but can be hard to read in harsh sunlight. I wouldn’t go as far as one reader, who emailed that he planned to downgrade from an S200 to his older model, but it is annoying – and you don’t want to be continually adjusting screen brightness on the go.
Many retailers now have live Navman models (and other working GPS systems) in-store, so by all means hit a Dick Smith and make your own judgements about he new colour scheme. Me, I preferred the old look.

HOT: Sleek design
At 13.5mm, the S200 is the slimmest Navman yet, and the company’s new emphasis on style makes it one of the best looking, finished in expensive-looking, solid-feeling brushed metal.

NOT: Just too damn shiny. Give me ugly buttons
Not wishing to sound too much like a grumpy bastard who insists on matching every hot with a not, but the top of the S200 glistens in the sun, looking fantastic but half blinding me when the sunlight hits it at the right angle, and making me pine for a cheap, matte plastic finish.
And while a minimalist approach is always a good aesthetic strategy, I’m not a fan of the S200’s lack of external controls. I know frequetly-accessed options like find-the-nearest ATM are just a few deft finger swipes away, but how much easier life would be if I could ignore the touchscreen and instead hit a dedicated Find ATM, Find Carpark, Find Home and Find Petrol Station buttons. And give me an external volume dial, too.

HOT: Petrol-saving routes
Intune with our credit-crunched, energy-starved times, a petrol-efficiency mode will pick out the route that involves the least stopping and starting, roundabouts and unsealed roads. Nice touch.

Those pricing details in full
(See, I avoided the tempation to type :"NOT: Pricing".)
The S-Series Platinum S200 sells for $649.

Two step-down models, the S150 ($549) and the S100 ($449) are just as slim (at 13.5mm) and share the S200’s roomy 4.3-inch screen, plus its intelligent search, pedestrian mode and fuel-efficiency route mapping.
But each has 1GB of memory to the S200’s 2GB. And neither possess the S200’s transmitter for beaming its spoken-word instructions through your car’s FM stereo.

At the bottom of the Navman foodchain sits the S35 ($349), which has a smaller screen (3.5-inch), thicker form factor (1.9mm) and lacks the new search, fuel and security features.

All models in the new S-Series will automatically log your mileage if you need to record it for expenses.

And all bar the S35 support Bluetooth for hands-free dialing utilising the Navman’s built-in speaker.