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Gadgetell Quick Review:

What is it?

The TeleNav Shotgun is the first stand alone GPS unit from TeleNav, known for their on-phone GPS

Pros:

Connected search, superior POI, smart traffic updates,  beautiful screen, Best mounting I’ve seen in some time, future possibilities

Cons:

No ETA, only time to destination and quarterly updates on POI information.

I’ve mentioned before that I use TeleNav on my Windows Mobile phone and am quite happy with it.  For me, it is the simplicity of one device that is always with me, smarter than many stand alone boxes that I love.  I wasn’t sure how this review would go, given that bias.  Would I abandon this box or is there something here that is different enough to make this box stand out?

Well connected

Being a gadget guy, I love being connected.  Having a GPS that isn’t connected these days, just seems dumb.  So, I was keen to see how this feature would get on.  Searching on this unit was super easy for me.  Maybe it is my familiarity with the TeleNav menu tree, but I find most others cumbersome to search for businesses.  Take the local Ikea as an example.  Navigon wants me to enter in the state, city, business type before I can even enter the name.  I hate that.  I want to treat a search like Google—enter in as much or as little as I want and let the data come to me. 

The Shotgun behaves more like Google.  You simply hit “Business” then nearby and you are off and running.  While I hope they continue to get more Google-like in their searches, this one is at the top of my favorites for searches.

What I love the most about this device is I’ve found it to be the most complete and up to date POI database out there.  There isn’t a GPS out there that I found that surpasses TeleNav’s database.  It is that good.  The database is updated four times a year.

Darn that traffic jam

Traffic is no fun.  That is why the Shotgun goes out and checks on traffic every five minutes in route.  One thing that does annoy me about TeleNav’s phone GPS service is the “Checking for traffic” audio that tells me when she is making the call out for traffic. 

One thing I really like is the Shotgun’s ability to touch and drag the map around, so you can check traffic on other roads with ease.  Of course, the unit will suggest reroutes as well.

Bread and butter

As a GPS device, the Shotgun speaks turn by turn directions as well as street names.  As you advance to your turn, the screen counts down the miles, then feet until your turn.  That works pretty well, though I do like Navigon’s graphic of a metered bar graph that lets you know when your turn is instead of relying on your ability to apply yardage to your visual surroundings.

Another thing I like about TeleNav is its audio notifications.  The “dings” let you know you’ve moved off your suggested route and the unit is working on a reroute.  Other units don’t give you notification they are changing your directions and just show you the next move.  The immediate notification the Shotgun provides is quite handy and lets me know where that turn I missed is instead of having to guess at it again at tricky intersections.

The screen deserves special mention here, it is top notch.  Bright colors, clear display, and simple on screen keyboard make it pretty simple to use.  I found the sensitivity to be good and had the usual spelling issues I always do on GPS devices. 

I found the Shotgun less needy than the phone GPS.  GPS makers have to decide how needy their drivers are.  Do drivers want to be updated you are on the right road every 5 minutes or 10?  How long is too long without any notifications?  Is “turn onto highway entrance ramp” enough to imply get on the highway or does a “merge onto highway” needed when you have no other option?  The Shotgun did an excellent job at allaying my misguided fears while the phone steps over this line and updates me too much sometimes.  That is a fine and personal line, I am sure of that.

Make no mistake, the Shotgun performs basic GPS functions well as well as any other out there.

Future plans

While many units have current gas prices (which I always find out of date with today’s volatility in gas prices), TeleNav is working on some fun things that will integrate into Shotgun, making it an even more feature rich device.  They are looking to add in simple things like weather and restaurant reviews, as well as functional things like address share and commuter alerts.  There is much they are working on.

Costs

While the unit costs $299, the connectivity fee is as much as $11.99 per month.  To sweeten the deal on Cyber Monday:

Customers who purchase a TeleNav Shotgun on Cyber Monday, December 1, and use Cyber Monday coupon code ‘sgcybermonday’ (case sensitive) will automatically receive six free months of TeleNav Connected Service - three more than they would normally receive if they purchase the TeleNav Shotgun on another date or without using the Cyber Monday coupon code.

So, am I a convert?

If any box was going to do it, it was this one.  While the Shotgun works as well as (if not better) than my cell phone version, I still like having it on my phone.  Natesh Sood (Gadgetell’s GPS expert) tells me I am an odd duck for this line of reasoning, but the fact remains there is no chance of someone smashing my windows to steal my GPS.  I don’t leave my phone behind and therefore always have GPS with me.  Obviously, I am one of the few that feels this way as GPS unit proliferation is at an all time high.  If I were to get a stand alone, it would be the Shotgun.