palmOne GPS Solution Zire 72 Edition review

GPS is something of a buzzword these days and it surely won't be long before it's a standard feature in many devices, from cars, to PDAs and eventually phones. It’s even touted as a major feature in the forthcoming Gizmondo handheld gaming console promising the concept of location based gaming.

What we’re looking at here however, is more conventional – an external GPS module for the Palm Zire 72 PDA. Oddly, while there are many GPS and PDA combinations, most of them are for the Pocket PC platform. If you’re a Palm fan however, your choice is more limited. There’s the Garmin iQue, which was actually the very first PDA to feature an integrated GPS receiver, and the popular Tom Tom Navigator software is also available for Palm, but for some reason is only available with the Tungsten T3.

Things are getting better though with the release of a GPS bundle for the Zire 72. Things get off to a good start as we reviewed this PDA here and liked it a lot. It sports a smart colourful design, and is well featured thanks to the likes of integrated Bluetooth and a 1.2 Megapixel camera. The box contains an external Bluetooth receiver made by Kirrio, while the route calculation and navigation software is provided by ViaMichelin’s MapSonic.

Set up was easy as the Mapsonic software containing the whole of the UK was preinstalled on a 256MB SD card, though the box stated this was a 128MB version. Simply insert the card and you’re asked if you want to load Mapsonic. The next step is to turn on Bluetooth on the Zire, and then switch on the power on the Bluetooth receiver. The software searches for local devices and finds the receiver, which you then select in the menu to connect to. Having separate components is less elegant than a one box solution such as the Tom Tom Go and Mio 168, but it does have some advantages. Some windscreens have coatings that block satellite signals but with a separate Bluetooth receiver you could just place the receiver on the back shelf.

The package includes a cradle to hold the Zire. This sports the Kirrio logo, which combined with the colourful blue of the Zire 72, looks, for want of a better word, rather childish. If you’re wanting a slick looking piece of technology to put in your Porsche, this isn’t it. There are three mounting options - a windscreen suction mount, one that plugs straight into the power adaptor, and one that clips onto an air vent. However, I found it tricky to get the Zire in and out of the mount. The PDA has to slot down onto a data and power connector and the latter is a very thin and I felt that I was in danger of damaging it every time I placed the Zire into the mount. To remove the device you release the holding clamps, which spring open at the touch of a button. However, I found that I pressed the record memo button on the side each time I took the Zire out.