Maxtek MNT-7T 7" TFT Wide Touch Screen GPS Navigation System with Picture Viewer, MP3 Player and GamingItem#: D158-1706  |  Model#: VXA-2000-110P-50

There are a few concerns, but quite a few pros. The biggest concern is this product is actually a discontinued product manufactured by Plenio. In fact when I turn over the unit, the P/N number is VXA-2000. You can do a Google search on both the VXA-2000 and the VXA-3000 (which is also sold here at Tiger) to find out the differences between the two. To be honest, there aren't two many, and the 2000 actually has at least two features that the 3000 does not have (it has a port to add a TV att and it allows the user to easily delete favorite destinations. The 3000 with the current upgrade (as of today's date) does not allow more than 4. They also can not be delete.) Did I stay with this unit? No, I did not. The reason I did not, is because of the most important concern, support. This unit is no longer supported and may not have any more updates. However, the 3000 will be updated again before the year is out.

Unit has a very large screen for its price. Upon receiving the item, I needed to upload Northeast maps myself to the unit. The software included seemed to want to connect to an external server even if I didnt tell it to and ''unable to connect to server'' popped up a few times, but I got the maps loaded in about 15 minutes. *No SD card slot, maps fill up internal memory* Make sure you select US English language in addition to your region to get voice. It doesnt have many points of interest for central VA, I'm not sure about other areas. When using GPS guidance, the unit alerts you several times before you need to do something and reroutes you fairly quickly if you miss it. The terms it uses might take some getting used to. ''Change the Highway'' means exit. For I-64 it didnt tell me exit 118B, it only said 118, so this might be confusing. External video input doesnt work correctly with a mini a/v-rca. Touch screen is nice and mount is good. External GPS cable is about 18'' long.

First the good things about this unit: Its feature set is unparalleled for its cost. The screen is huge and easy to read, the directions clear and easy to understand at highway speeds, it acquires satellites quickly and tracks your position and speed accurately. Now the bad things: Forget about getting this to sync with Vista. what a PITA. I had to use a thumb drive to get the durn northeast maps loaded, and it took HOURS. You lose a lot of functionality out the gate like that. I also found the memory restrictions to be... restrictive. This unit also needs to come with an A/C adapter. One more bad thing: The routing logic is awful. It'll get you there, but it cannot choose the shortest path well at all. Whenever I select a destination, It seems to find the scenic route; it will insist on its choice for a while, too. Hopefully, this can be fixed in an upgrade soon, because this is a fantastic unit, and all things considered, I love it.

I cannot say how disappointed I am. I fell in love with the product, but after having it in my posession for 24 hrs I am still unable to acceess any maps. It comes with maps of the western regions but not the northeast and when down loaded onto a cruiser it is impossible to upload to the nav because it tell you there's not enough memory. You are given the option to replace the maps which I did and then upload those for my region. The system tell you to reboot, which I did and then it wipes everything out. Called c/s and no response after 24 hrs. Definitely a return.

Cons: Bright sunlight display washes out. Antenna cable is very short. NE Map and POI is so large, you will want to have no MP3 or photos in the internal memory. Pros: Price. Utility. Real Good Mount. USB Flash is cheap right now! Appears to be based on Windows CE. and I can access on my laptop using synch cable. Maps2Go is taken over by a phone manufacturer, so updates and possible new maps. Antenna appears to be the GPS unit, so 6 pin mini-din, is the cable with I believe TX-RX and + and - power. A keyboard or mouse extension cable can be used for big vehicles. (Is it waterproof????) Plenio unit's use flash cards, but MAYBE newer software will treat USB like FLASHCARD. Memory upgrade???? Find out when it's out of warrantee. Someone got a service manual and schematic for download??? Still learning all the features. This review is 1st impressions. WE need a blog! Over all, a very good value. Grumpey1946