by bellsracer

Pros: Tons of features and abilities to keep you entertained on the road
Cons: Lack of Bluetooth and Full Text-to-speech

For $799, many people would shun at the unit with it's 4" touchscreen... They don't know what they are missing.

The NVXM1000 is a fast GPS running on a Windows based platform. However, contrary to what people would think, the unit is a fast, responsive system. (I even tried to get it to lock up to no avail) The only button on the unit is the "Home" button that leads to the main menu that you see when you first start up the unit. A remote control keeps control at your fingertips even if you are in the backseat or packing in the cargo area.

It is bulkier versus other 4" GPS units out there, but none of the other units will let you walk around and get not only navigation but also XM radio simultaneously (if they offer satellite radio at all).

The feature laden GPS will give also you 8 GB of storage for your MP3s and WMAs plus an SD card slot (I've put a 2GB card in there so far with no problems; I have yet to test it with an SDHC 4GB+ card), so your music selection is expanded even further for your portable entertainment needs. People who got a hold of the early releases will be treated to a 12 GB hard drive. Don't forget you also have a picture viewer built-in as well so those photos you just took on your digital camera don't have to stay in the camera.

To get sound, you are not limited to just the on-board speaker, but it has an audio output and FM transmitter built into it, so just about any car stereo can get sound from it. The on-board speaker is no theater system but it is loud and clear enough for getting the job done.

Installed on an optional powered dock in your vehicle, the NVXM1000 expands even further to support backup cameras to see what is behind you. The image clarity is very clean and bright even in direct sunlight.

So now to the nitty-gritty of a GPS, Navigation. With 11 million points-of-interests built-in as well as maps of Canada to complement the US maps.

I took it on a drive to California's San Juaquin Valley and to the Washoe County valleys in Nevada to give it a test run. Route planning was actually faster than my friend's leading manufacturer GPS and found the exact same routes for even the out-there locations. Voice prompting was clear and gave you sufficient warning before a turn comes up, when you are approaching a turn, and tells you when to turn. In the case of freeways and highways, the type and number is specifically stated (interstate 80 or highway 654 for example) Split screen abilities allow you to see a 3D map as well as seeing a 2D map simultaneously. Programming a route is very intuitive and easy to use. The keys are sized ok so even those with larger fingers will have little trouble with typing. The key filters reduce mistypes and make it easy to type in where you want to go.

Rerouting was very fast and quick to detect if you go off-course. I even found a couple of roads I did not know existed and that cut my time trying to find my way around by quite a bit.

Overall, the system is great. Even though there is a lack of Text-to-speech or Bluetooth on it, the added features more than make up for it on this GPS, XM Radio, Picture viewer, MP3/WMA player, optional Backup monitor system.

Features at a glance:
8GB HDD (12GB on early birds)
MP3, WMA, JPG support
XM Radio ready (Requires XM Mini-tuner and subscription)
SD Card Slot
4" Touchscreen
Built-in Speakers
FM Transmitter built-in
11 million POI
Remote Control
Voice Prompting to keep your eyes on the road
Canada and US maps
Windshield and Dashboad mount included
Backup camera support with optional powered dock
USB2.0 interface for fast transfers
Lots of languages