Acer P630 Portable Navigator review
A few weeks ago we started looking at the Acer P630 portable navigator. The P630 is a stand alone GPS navigation device similar to the Tom Tom Go units.
Regular visitors will have seen our P630 unboxing video so will have some idea of what you get with the device. In the box you’ll find:
Part of the P600 series, the P630, is an all new Personal Navigation device from Acer. This slim and ultra-portable designed unit incorporates a clear and bright 4” display, perfect for navigation, viewing photos and accessing MP3 audio files.
With the built in SiRFStar III GPS receiver, satellite acquisition is fast and reliable. Put this with ALK’s CoPilot Live 6 which uses the latest Navteq map data, and you have a winning combination. Simplicity is guaranteed thanks to the intuitive interface and the powerful features that this software incorporates.
Make calls safely whilst driving, the P630 has on board Bluetooth connectivity allowing you to connect your mobile phone, using the Acer as a speaker and microphone. Also listen to music stored on an SD card with the devices integrated MP3 player, which will play music whilst you navigate, without interference!
This is the first time that I have used CoPilot, in the past I’ve used Tom Tom navigator. I have to say that I am really impressed with CoPilot, the maps seem a lot more accurate than those provided by Tom Tom. We recently took a long trip across country and during the entire journey it only got one one bit wrong, coming up to a junction it said bare-left rather than turn left. Not a big problem though.
The GPS built in to the Acer P630 is a 12 channel SiRF StarIII low power and high sensitivity chip. It picks up a signal pretty quickly and tracks accurately. On our recent trip it displayed our position on the map quite precisely.
The CoPilot software is easy to use and is accessed via the large, 4″ touch screen.
As the P630 screen is fairly hi-res (480 x 272) and is widescreen there is plenty of room on the screen for all the information you need while driving. As you can see in the screen shot below the map is displayed in the main area along with a count down to the next turn or road, with the next turn/junction shown in an overlay on the left hand side. At the bottom you’ll find your current speed, current road you are traveling on, arrival time and overall distance remaining.
The supplied mounting bracket is the windscreen kind that uses a ‘sucker’ to attach. It has both tilt and swivel adjustment.
Overall the Acer P630 portable navigator is a decent piece of kit, I found it to be much better than the Tom Tom equivalent. The added Bluetooth and MP3 playing features are a real boon too! I highly recommend this device.
Acer P630 Specification:
The Acer P630 is available to buy now from Clove Technology for just £239 (inc VAT).
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Acer P630, Satnav, navigation, GPS, Tracy & Matt]
About the Author: Matt
More than 20 years in the IT industry. Blogging with a passion and thirst for new technology since 2005.Subscribe
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