Preliminary stuff...

A. Interface

1. Every thing you need for North America is included on the 2 gig Mini... (Ships with an adapter).
Tap and hold a POI and a context menu pops up with among other things, a web link. If the device has a connection and the POI has a web site, the app will use it to find additional info.

2. There are three color themes (for lack of a better term); regular, bright sunshine, and nighttime. All are easily switchable and work in 2D or 3D.


There is no appreciable performance hit between 2D and 3D views.


3. There are 3 English voices to choose from; Christopher (older dude with English accent), Sara (perky, grade school teacher type), and Todd (American used car salesman).


Sarah is the best, IMHO but she can get testy at times

5. All menus and text inputs are geared toward finger input with the exception of the initial settings screens.


B. Navigation

1. The map view scales based on vehicle speed at about 5 mph increments.


There are also 3 route modes; car, bicycle, and walking.


2. Three warnings for turns are usually given based on speed...

"In 1 mile, exit right"

"In 1/2 mile exit right"

and

"Exit right"



3. Additional direction is also added if necessary.

"In a half mile exit right then in 2 tenths of a mile merge left."

or

"After the next intersection, move to the right lane"

4. Rerouting is painless and happens in about 3 blinks of the eye once the decision is made by the app.
Going off the planned route will provoke "turn here" instructions if you missed a turn until that option is no longer physically available. Then you will hear "Try to make a U-turn". If you do not, this must prompt the app to re-calculate a whole new route if appropriate.

(The "U-turn" message seems to be at the point of no return.)

5. At any point in the route you can calculate detour directions around segments.


C. Other

There are 3 volume levels for voice volume (plus off).
Sarah seems to work well over the din of a moving auto. I imagine the English dude would be nice while walking. And, the staccato, used car salesman would be right for cycling.

Other apps including media players can run concurrently with no perceivable performance hit. Voice directions are heard over music tracks but do not pause play back or lower player volume.