Review: Uniden iGo 50 GPS

By Branko Miletec

GPS units are dime a dozen these days – if I had a dollar for every new GPS unit that has released in the past three years, I would be a very rich man. Uniden, for their part, are a company with a long pedigree in the area of communications of which GPS is now an integral part.

The company’s brand new GPS is called the iGo Series. The iGo 50 was the one I reviewed, is an interesting unit.

First, like all GPS systems, it comes with upgradable maps, 3D-style map layout and the demure, soothing – and dare I say delicious voice – of ‘Karen’ to guide you through those hard-to-find suburbs.

Second, iGo 50 uses what it says is green routing software, which will calculate the best fuel and carbon emission routes for you to use. And if you don’t care about that, the Uniden iGo 50 will also show you the fastest or easiest routes.

The device also uses a feature called Rent-A-Map, which allows users to access international maps without having to buy them outright. After all, not many people living in Australia would need to keep their road map of Honduras—so renting these when and where you need them is a far more sensible idea.

Starting at under $160 for the 3.5-inch screen model, the iGo GPS Series certainly deserves a long hard look. Being no thicker and only a bit heavier than an iPhone 4 also makes this unit appealing for those that want to use it when walking or trekking.

After trailing it over one entire weekend, I found my test version, which used the 5-inch screen, to be easy to set up, simple to use and even easier to change routes without the whole system going all funny on you.

About the only complaint- the cradle for the windscreen holder was fiddly to set up and took some time to affix properly. If it were not for that, it would have scored almost 5 out of 5 in the rating.

Pros: Good interface, responsive software and user-friendly all-round features.
Cons: Windscreen cradle hard to set up.

Rating: 4/5