Motorola TN30 Review

Motorola has ventured into the portable navigation devices and Motorola TN30 Car GPS is their first offering in the segment. The unit looks refreshingly new comapred to the designs we have seen from other manufacturers. It packs in quite a number of features that will force potential customers to think about the device.

Motorola TN30 Car GPS specifications :

• Dimensions : 4.8″ x 0.7″ x 3.2″
• Weight : 6 oz
• Display : 4.3″ LCD with 480 x 272 resolution
• Speaker : Built-in
• Card slot : SD card slot
• Estimated battery life : 2.5 hours
• Bluetooth : Yes, integrated
• Approx. price : $250

Although the major structural design of the device is similar to its competitors, but the color sceheme and the curves make it looks different from the rest. It has an all black bezel and extra smooth curves with the shining Motorola logo at the top. The right side of the device has the SD card slot and the mini-USB slot. The left side is empty while the bottom has a recessed button for reset.

The interface layout has been well thought out. The home screen is simple and houses all the shortcut options to various functions of the device. The device has various options for entering the addresses, points of interest etc. The Call button takes you to the call screen that can be used to make calls.

The map buttons brings up the map of your current location. The map button has a shortcut button on almost every screen for quick access to your current location. The right side of the screen has been reserved for zooming function, accepting calls and displaying various information such as battery charge, bluetooth connection etc.

The speaker built in to the device is pretty much average and just fine for voice directions. Text-to-speech driving directions are enabled on the device. Some of the other features include lane assistance that puts you in correct lane, helpful during complex highways.

The performance of the device is good and it took less than a minute to lock to the satellite. It was accurate and did not lose signal even in narrow lanes. The voice navigated instructions were blurted out on time and recalculation was quick and efficeint. Overall the performance of the device is good.

Pros :

• Great display
• Intuitive menu
• Integrated bluetooth
• Text-to-speech directions
• Good performance

Cons :

• Buggy software
• Less features

Final Thoughts

The Motorola TN30 car GPS does a good job with its limited features. It has integrated bluetooth that can be used to receive calls. The display is good and the menu is intuitive but buggy. The performance of the GPS is good and overall it is a good device to invest in but beware of software glitches.

Rating : 3.75/5