I did extensive research on GPS units that offered various abilities… it seems the market is driven by unique needs…

I chose this unit for its robust MPS storage and GPS data storage…It does suit the requirements…

what makes this suffer is what it lacks, that even botton bollar units include.

These shortcomings start with the most important, Readability. Even cheap Garmin units have good screen dimming functions. In short, the 3 brightness settings offered on this allow you to go from still too bright to see at night, to still too dim to see during the day… never gets there.

The next big shortcoming is the lack of features on GPS side. Does not have a speedometer, or altimeter… although these formulas should be in the software somewhere, Clarion chose not to accent the unit with these. Then you have a very big glitch in programming where everytime you switch functions from GPS to any other… it wont just switch back…Instead it restarts the GPS navigation again (takes awhile, and restarts any routing). This makes it extremely difficult to play with the music screen and switch back and forth between choosing songs and using navigation. It does contain a narrow bar that controls the music on the GPS screen, but that bar only allows skip forward and skip backward… when you have over 500 songs on the unit, it becomes laborously difficult.

Now for the strong points…

Onboard FM modulator is pretty good and conveniant… didn’t get much static at all.

Optional backup cam is cool but requires additional wiring.

GPS layout and view angle choices are cool

Seems to have endless POI’s

Route guidance is great.

Holds lots of music with nice GUI.

Allows external video to be played on it (DVD,Videocamera, ect)

it is fairly well priced if you dont want an inclusive DVD player.

In retrospect, I chose this unit against a comparable priced Sanyo GPS DVD mp3 player that had a terrible mount system, and against a premium Eclipse in dash unit that was a little more money.

I wish I would have gone for the Eclipse… at least i could have used it at night.

For GPS alone… Garmin units work great, and include many features, but not many onboard POI’s

In closing… this unit would be near perfect if it could dim more, and brighten more. I wouldn’t suggest buying it until they improve the display. On an average 24hr roadtrip, you could only see the screen about 8-12hrs… voice only commands from then on.
Rating: 2 / 5

If you value your peace of mind, don’t buy this product. It’s all eye candy.

The N.I.C.E unit does provide navigation, satellite radio, video, and MP3 player functionality. However, the amount of frustration you have to experience to get these features is unreasonably high, especially considering the unit’s price.

These are a few of the frustrations users of this unit will encounter:

1. The interface is atrocious, both in design and response. Very often the unit registers a press of a softbutton on the screen with a highlight and a beep but doesn’t actually perform the action. You have to press the softbutton again. You’ll find this very frustrating when entering addresses in the Navigation component.

The interface is also not consistent between modules. Although less serious, this problem makes it difficult to learn the product’s functionality.

2. The SIRIUS radio component has major problems. The two N.I.C.E. units I’ve had constantly present a annoying alert (accompanied by a loud beep) named “Song-Seek Alert.” In the first unit, the alert was there from the start. After I got a replacement, the second unit worked fine for about two months but then started to constantly show the alert, too. The alert (shown in one of the customer images for this product) goes away by itself after two seconds, then the module goes into the Song-Seek List view, which lasts about five seconds. Listening to SIRIUS radio with this problem is a frustrating experience. Curiously, the alert (and the annoying beep) don’t occur when you use the SIRIUS module and the Navigation minimodule at the same time. The user manual makes no mention of this alert; therefore, you cannot determine what causes it. I believe this is a debugging aid used by Clarion (TM) engineers.

The second major problem with the SIRIUS module is that it doesn’t remember the band you were using after you turn off the ignition or after changing modules. This is frustrating because I keep my favorite SIRIUS radio stations in separate preset groups-called bands in N.I.C.E.-depending on the kind of content each station provides: I keep news/talk stations in band A and music stations in band B. While I’m listening to music-on the way to the mall, for example-I set the band to B. On my way back home, when I press the 1 preset softbutton, I get NPR instead of Area 33. This is doubly frustrating when I’m listening to SIRIUS radio and need to use the Navigation module. When I switch to the Navigation module, I need to activate the SIRUS minimodule and change the band before I can use my music presets.

The third serious problem with the SIRIUS module is the constant blinking of the SIRIUS logo. You cannot deactivate or overcome this blinking without losing the ability to change stations (by using the Channel List view, for example).

3. The Music module is terrible. This module makes it impossible to navigate a large music library while playing a song because it insists on going back to the song being played on the list. That is, if you’re playing the 25th song of a 100-song list and scroll to the 45th song, five seconds after you let go of the scroll button (to read the song names displayed on the page), the unit takes you back to the page that shows the 25th song. And, when you go to this module (either by restarting or by switching from another module) it always restarts the song that was playing last. This is a HUGE problem to people who enjoy listening to long tracks.

4. The Video module needs to be more usable and flexible. When I parked my car under a tree and tried to enjoy videos in my iPod, this module keep thinking that I was driving. This caused it to display an alert every couple of minutes during playback. For videos that use the widescreen format, you cannot clip the top and bottom black bars, with a zoom function. You can only stretch the display. Having been released in the era of widescreen video, this is unacceptable.

5. The mounting arm is not strong enough to hold the unit in place. While driving, the unit bounces too much to be usable as a navigation aid. You have to add extra support to work around this problem. I used a small pack of napkins.

The Navigation module is the best one of the unit, which isn’t saying much. It has a few minor glitches and the user interface responsiveness problems mentioned earlier; but, overall, it’s OK.

These problems, especially the Song-Seek Alert problem, tell me that Clarion performed very limited testing under actual usage conditions, that is, inside a vehicle being driven and parked as a regular person would do. Clarion offered customers an relatively expensive device expecting us to conduct the actual testing. As a gadget-savvy customer, this offends me. As of 2006-02-12, Clarion has published no software updates for the N.I.C.E. unit.

I had always associated the name Clarion with sophistication and quality. This association no longer stands. This is my last Clarion purchase.

If you value your sanity, I strongly advise you to stay away from this product.
Rating: 1 / 5

This is a good product to have if you are looking for the benefits of GPS navigation and Sirius Satellite Radio in one module. Includes a suction cup window mount but it is recommended that the unit be installed professionally to avoid poor performance. I have had this unit for almost 2 years and I am completely satisfied with it’s performance.
Rating: 5 / 5

Unit won’t detects any satalite. No signal at all. I power it up every month and still fail. Called support and asked me to go to http://www.clarion.com but clarion.com has no email or anything to contact with. So cannot get any live support by person from Clarion. Brought it to a couple repair centers and they said they don’t konw how to repair it. The worse product and support! I won’t buy any clarion products from now on since no support at all.
Rating: 1 / 5

The Sirius have problem,navigation have a problem and don’t have update map,is descontinued product.I bought and had a Clarion NICE about 2 years and a half ago, at an authorized retailer, and for the first few months it worked well. I had the MP3 output hardwired into my AUX port on my car stereo and it works great. I bought this device because of the screen size and its integrated MP3 capabilities.

The start up is easy enough. Typical for most Nav systems, you have to tap on the “Accept” button to get the Nav to work. The system takes a few seconds to bring up your last known location and then begins to search for satellites. You can choose to bypass the Nav system by pushing the “Music” button on the lower portion of the unit and a player will appear. The MP3 player is pretty straight forward and easy to use.

I don’t utilize the video inputs or the Sirius Radio portion. I received a free 30 day trial for Sirius when I purchased the unit, but I let it expire since it was not a necessity for me. However during the 30 day trial period the Sirius Radio worked as promised.

To review:

I bought this system because:

1) Big Screen for the Nav

2) MP3 integration into my stereo

3) Navigation

These will probably be the same reasons any consumer would look at this device and in the showroom it all worked as I wanted it to.

Then I got it home.

Having owned this very pricey system for a year and a half, here is my opinion.

The navigation system is horrid. At freeway speeds it lags and is inaccurate with directions. I can’t count the number of times it has recalculated my route after making a turn it told me to make, started yelling at me to make a “U-Turn”, only to have it recalculate again in 10 seconds, once it caught up with itself and realized I was in the right place. Another down side to this Nav system is the total lack of options for Navigation. Almost all of the other units I have used since have the ability to stay off toll roads, quickest time vs. shortest route (programming in average speeds for street type), or even surface streets only. You just get what it gives.

The MP3 player does not have a well thought out user interface considering it will be used while driving. After many attempts to customized folders and create individual play lists (per the manual), I have been relegated to just leaving it on random play and pushing the next song button on the screen.

The touch screen is not very sensitive to my finger/stylus/pen/ or any other item. I average 2 or 3 touches to get the system to recognize that I touched it. I wonder how it would respond to a baseball bat tapping the screen? The sound quality is fine, but getting the song I want is too much work. There is not an intuitive search mechanism. Just keep pressing next, next, next, next until you get to the song you want to hear.

All in all it was a huge investment for a Navigation system that doesn’t have updated maps, an MP3 player with a mind of its own, and a catalog of POI that will really challenge you.
Rating: 1 / 5

The pn-30 is good for back-tracking Good for basic geocaching. Not so good for multi-caches. It will only get you to the first goal. The Garmins will let you manually enter waypoint coordinates directly into the gps The Delorme does not. You would have to connect it to a computer to send new waypoints. this is no help if you are out on the trail. The maps are nice. the display is good. I do like it.
Rating: 4 / 5

Visited the delorme store in maine spoke to a clerk who snowmobiles and atv told him of my intended use for the gps that other units could not provide this unit finds trails that no book or local maps have makes for a save and adventures riding Thanks for a great product
Rating: 5 / 5

I purchased my PN-30 about a month ago, and I have been finding every excuse to pull it out and use it. I’ll start out with what I have found out about its ability and functions so far.

1.First Look: I was looking for a GPS unit for use in the military primarily. I studied a lot of reviews, prices and versatility. I came to the conclusion that I would end up either getting a Garmin model or the Delorme. I was looking for a gps that was under $300.00, ample memory (or at least upgradable), and good mapping software. I know there are alot of GPS units that you can purchase pre-programmed memory cards with maps already on them, but I’d rather prefer to put what I want exactly on my unit. and be able to switch them around.

2.Mapping software: The Delorme PN-30 (and apparently all Delorme PN series gps) come with the latest TOPO USA map software, and DVD software containing street and trail maps of the entire US, as well as streets, roads and POI’s in Canada, and main roads in Mexico. (I have not looked at all of it yet). It is true that it takes a little bit extra to learn how to use and upload the maps to the unit, however, once you get it figured out it is very remarkable. I was also pleased that the unit came with a 2GB SD card, which can hold quite a bit of maps. The maps are very nice to look at on the unit, from black&white to color aerial imagery, as well as topographical and standard street maps. I also like the ability to layer various maps on the unit so I can see the “drawn” streets and trails over the aerial images. One thing some people complain of, or boast of, is regarding the maps that you can get online from delorme’s site. You do have to pay a subscription fee of about $30.00 for a year, but you can download any of their maps and as many maps as you want. That is well worth the price considering what you get, or can get. Because you can bet I’ll be downloading that $30.00 worth and then some. I would have to probably pay about $200.00 anywhere else just for the maps I have already downloaded. (Another plus to the unit was the $40.00 credit you get to purchase maps from their site just to try them out). I contacted Delorme to ask if I could use the credit for the purchase of the year subscription, but they won’t let you. But, using the $40.00 credit to download some of their maps shows just how much you would spend elsewhere for such stuff. No, their maps are not overpriced just to make you think they are cutting you a break with the subscription. If you check, you’ll find that Delorme has been about the best map publisher in the world. They have always produced some of the best around. Now you can get them on the web and your GPS. The Delorme maps you download are also yours to keep. they don’t just disappear. Any changes made on the maps may make any you download somewhat obsolete, but having a $30.00 yearly subscription can easily fix that.

3.GPS unit: I purchased the “realtree” camo version and I quite like it. (Just a quick note: the Realtree version is unique to each unit made. that is no other realtree unit out there looks exactly like mine–I know useless info but hey…).

The unit does take a couple of minutes or so to find the satellites the first time, or if the unit has been moved a ways from the last time it was on, or if you are moving, say in a car and you just turned it on. However, I found that the unit picks up satellites within seconds, (I mean 10 to 30 seconds) if you turn it back on in the same spot, within 20 feet, from the last time it was on. I personally don’t understand how some people seem to have, (or at least they say) a hard time getting satellites and tracking them. I have turned mine on in my house, (and I live in a two story house), and I can pick up satellites very quickly and with at least 10 to 12 feet of accuracy. I’ve done this on the first and second floor. I have also used it to geocache and my gps got me within 2 feet of the geocache. Another thing I find great is the screen. many people talk about the screen being small, but compared to many gps units, and most older ones, it is just fine. I guess if you compare it to the type you use in your car, then yeah it has a small screen, but it is a handheld unit. It wasn’t designed for mounting on your dash and sitting way back in your seat and using it to navigate somewhere on the road. That being said, it does work great for road navigation, however it doesn’t give you voice directions, just a subtle “whistling” like beep/s. (In my opinion I get tired of some voice telling me to turn somewhere I don’t want to go or telling me in several sentences to make a u-turn). The Delorme will also ask if you want to re-calculate your route because you may have turned somewhere it wasn’t telling you to turn, and therefore create a new route rather quickly. You can also tell it to get you “Back on Track” in case you have to go around some blocked road or trail and you want to return to the road/trail you started on to your destination.

4. Computer interaction: I found that my gps is very easy to link up with my PC and download, or upload any maps, routes, tracks, or waypoints. I also like how easy it is to go to the “NetLink” tab and get more maps from Delorme. I found that the unit will also act as a GPS antenna for the TOPO USA program while it is running, so if you are in some vehicle and you have your pc and gps linked and running it will show your movement on both a overhead view and 3D like view on the pc screen. Now with something like my mini pc in the car, that will give you a screen that no other gps can beat. I can’t really go into all the details of the program, but believe me, it has alot to offer. You just need to check it out and learn to use it. If you’re something of an avid computer user, you should be able to have some real fun with the program.

5. Contents and final thoughts: The Delorme PN-30 comes with PN series maps on DVD’s (with both Topography, streets and roads, points of interest-and there are alot of them, bodies of water, public lands and much more).

A certificate for $40.00 credit to try out any maps you wish from Delorme’s website. ( Their customer service is excellent by the way. They will answer any and all questions).

A USB data transfer cable for PC/GPS data exchange. (The data cable will also power the gps unit while it is attached so you won’t run down the batteries. Also if you insert the appropriate re-chargeable batteries, the data cable will charge the batteries as well).

Two AA batteries.

A neck lanyard.

A 2GB SD card. (The GPS unit can handle up to a 32GB SD HC card).

A Quick Start guide.

Comprehensive User manual. (Although I will say that you need to play around with the unit for awhile to really get to know it and learn how to use it well.

TOPO USA Software.

I am really enjoying my gps unit. One other thing I forgot to mention was the battery life. I have heard several people complain of a short battery life. I don’t know why that is. Perhaps they are in areas that makes it more difficult to track satellites or they have been running their units for 10 or 12 hours over several days, or they are using cheap batteries, I don’t really know. I have only recently changed my batteries after over three weeks of usage consisting of three to four 20 minute road trips each week. A trip out geocaching that lasted almost 2 hours, and several times playing around with it in my house. Compared to some older units I have owned (Garmin Rino 110, 120 and eMap, Garmin 196, and a Magellan, Michelin road GPS) the battery life in this Delorme has been way better. So, my understanding is that even these people stated that using good rechargeables the power lasts much longer than standard alkaline batteries. Whatever the case. I always take an extra set with me on 1 day trips. Next time I head overseas, I plan to use this GPS unit quite extensively.

I don’t want to bash other GPS units, because I believe many are really good, it just depends on what you want out of it. I will say that although I have heard that you can download 3rd party maps onto many Garmin units, I have’nt seen where it has been done. Besides, I dont know that I would trust the accuracy of the maps on the system. With the Delorme, you’re getting great maps at a very reasonable price and much easier to install with accuracy that is nearly perfect.

Another nice thing is the base map of the world on the unit. Now not every road is in there, but main roads, and several cities are there as well in about every country. At least what I can see. (I’ve looked to see a few places in Afghanistan and Haiti).

I currently don’t own or use a “vehicle” type gps, because the roads tend to change over a short time, and it seems any gps unit out there requires a rather high price to update the software at least once a year. I figure at the $30.00 a year rate, I can keep updating my maps all the time without paying anything more.

I do often use my iPhone google maps to navigate with and it works great for that. Although my phone doesn’t give any voice, beeps or anything else to remind me of any upcoming turns. My PN-30 does alert me. Given that, and the nice accuracy of my gps, the Delorme does work quite nicely in my car, (even though I did state earlier that it isn’t really made for that kind of usage

I think I can say that at a price of about $200.00 (plus $30.00 for the subscription), I got a great, reliable, accurate and fun to use handheld GPS. I’d say it definitely beats many units costing $100.00 and higher out there.
Rating: 5 / 5

had this product for 3 to 4 weeks now it really really rocks. very accurite and easy to manuver
Rating: 5 / 5

I currently have several different GPS Units. I seem to buy a few new ones each year. Some for work, others for play.

This Unit is not my Favorite. I prefer the Garmin 60CSX over this unit.

And my second favorite is my location sending radios – Garmin 530 HCx’s. I have not been a fan of Garmin for quite some time, But, now that they have the fastest start up and can use the H-SD Cards. I have modified my thoughts towards Garmin lately. The Garmin 60 just locks up so fast. And Garmin menus are now too EZ to ad what you want or need.

The PN-30 unit is not that bad though. Id say it’s much better than my Magellan Triton. TRITON=HATE IT, I think that is the last Magellan I will ever own. It will be auctioned off soon.

All units mentioned take H-SD cards, and the extra maps are about the same in price. (Delorme might be the highest priced tho)

The graphics are Slighly better on the PN-30. If Slightly better graphics is what your looking for, and you can handle the slow start times and tedious menus. This is the unit for you!
Rating: 3 / 5