Dang! I alert you guys to a good deal and you get better deals than I did!
Make sure you upgrade the firmware to 3.02. Here's my experience with this GPS so far:
1. POI's need a major update. They appear to be at least 4 years old. I live in the 32907 zip code area and the closest Home Depot it found was 23 miles away, even though there are 2 long standing locations within a 10 mile radius.
Also it listed Conchy Joes as a nearby pub, but that went out of business years ago.
I could list several other examples I've discovered in only two days of ownership. There's no way to add to the POI database or import a newer version unless Sony releases an updated file.
The maps seem to be up to date, but, it listed businesses based on physical distance, not driving distance. I live along a river and it listed many businesses as 1 and 2 miles away, but they were 15 mile drives once you consider the bridges that would be covered.
2. It needs more robust street name identifiication when entering addresses. Example, I searched for a local street, Pepsi-Cola Drive, but if the dash is omitted between Pepsi and Cola, the location is not found. If I only entered Pepsi, it suggested Pepsi-Cola Drive.
Also, I tried to search for the intersection of US 192 and A1A in Indialantic, FL. I could not get it to find US 192. I tried searching for US 192, highway 192, SR 192, just 192, hwy 192, etc. Never found it.
So, then I tried searching for A1A. It did offer A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal, which was a good start, now to select the town of Indialantic...as soon as I enter the "I" of Indialantic, it comes back Not Found. The intersection of 192 and A1A is "downtown" Indialantic.
If it wasn't for the ability to search by town or via map scrolling, it would be very difficult to find that location and, I have to assume others.
I've learned not to search on specific data...example: I looked for a place called Malabar Mo's. It didn't find it, but once I searched for Malabar, it found all the businesses with Malabar in the name including the mis-named Malabars (that was what Malabar Mo's was listed as).
The mounting suction cup is probably the best on the market. It will attach to just about any surface. I've mounted mine down by the ash-try that I don't use.
I am impressed with tech support, though. I called tech support before buying to inquire about the price of Lifetime traffic, and was impressed that the techs actually spoke English and didn't read from scripts. BTW, lifetime traffic will cost you 119.95 or 49.95 a year.
I haven't had the opportunity to use the auto reroute with the traffic service yet, but was able to see where there were traffic incidents (but they weren't on my route).
It appears that Sony is constantly working on firmware/software updgrades. I saw on a Sony electronics blog that they're working on a map update for a Spring 2009 release. The link is included below.
