Home > Consumer Reviews > Nextar 3.5-Inch Touch Screen Bluetooth Ready GPS Vehicle Navigator With MP3 Player

This is the first GPS system, I am using. So I am not in position to compare this with others. This is just my opinion and feelings after I have used it for a month.

The unit is slick, lightweight, comes with a carrying pouch. Display is bright enough to see clearly under the sunshine. The volume is loud enough to be heard clearly even in rough road condition and noise of engine.

Entering and saving data into the system is pretty easy and intuitive. When entering data, the software provides auto completion of city and street names and suggests address range once the street and city entered. In one word, entering the data, navigating to an address is pretty easy. After the system is powered on, it takes couple of minutes to be able to connect to satellite system for GPS signal and becomes ready for navigation withing 1 to 2 minutes.

Software works alright. It provides road names at every turn point so that i do not have to look at the gadget. When i go out off the suggested route it immediately recalculate the new route. In one case, when I did not connect the unit to power, it died because battery was out while I was driving; but as soon as I connected to vehicle power and switched on, it asked me whether I want to continue with current navigation and once I hit "Yes", it continued guiding me. That was great. I mostly traveled around tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for a month, but I was always impressed with the result.

Additionally it beeps an alert when car speed exceeds speed limit and there are two modes for that speed limit alert - you can configure manual alert or you can select automatic one - but it is very easy to switch.

The manuals talks about software update, but i did not find any ways to do that. i did not call their customer support yet. I did not try the other features like music, blue tooth, etc. yet. I will post an update when i use them.

This is the first time I am writing a review on Amazon, as I don't see any reviews written.

I was pleasantly surprised with this small machine. I have had this for about a month. Used all its features. Text To Speech is very useful to have. I got it for 180$ for a brand new unit, which I think is a good deal. Navigates well. Shows relevant POI's. Used it in 3 states (OH, NH and VT). Worked great!

Pros: Works great, recalculates directions well. Bluetooth works well. Speed alert is great feature. Good battery life. Good screen brightness.

Cons: The photo viewer takes forever to load photos. Hopefully Nextar will come up with new firmware/software upgrade to resolve this issue.
Can't search for some specific things, like bowling. Have to find through entertainment categories.

This X3B is the best with its price. I got it about $200 with TTS, bluetooth, MP3 player ... etc.
It's a play-and-go PNA right out of box. The satellite acquiring time is fairly short within a minute. It even got the Sat. locks in my living room. Once it locks, it never lost the signal.
I can select a quickest, a major, a shortest, or a local to route my address. The POI is sufficient enough to find what I'm looking for.
The TTS is working great that I don't need to look at the screen. It even makes a sound to inform me to turn. The speaker is loud enough to hear even with listening the radio.
The bluetooth privdes me a hand free connection to my cell phone without a hassle while navigating.
I highly recommend this GPS.

This is the first GPS I have, so I cannot compare it with other popular brands.

I am very quality sensitive user. So far I am very happy with it. Less than $200, I can have GPS (pretty fast response), MP3 player and Bluetooth for free hand call. Again more important thing is so far I feel its quality is good.

What the problems I have,
1) its POI is not very huge (Maybe same to other brands. It cannot show a 500 feet away Mobile gas from my home.
2) it has an external antena port, but in the manufacturer's website, actually it does not make this antena accessory.
3) No any CD software included, no any software for future update implied. (It comes with a USB port cable, I think it can talk with PC. It also has a small reset button on its back.)

Anyway, in general, I am very satisfied with it.

Almost everyone who rated this product below a four complained about frozen screens, which seems about right. The company had issues with freezing in the earlier models, but I have two and neither one has frozen once in the months that I have owned them. I've driven in MA. FLA. RI. NH. ME. NY. NJ. CA. OR. and TX. and have not had one frozen screen. Sometimes it lags, (especially when dragging maps) but that is no reason to discredit all the greatness this piece of equipment has to offer. Everyone complaining it's not up to date need to figure out how to log onto the computer with it. It's simple to do, and free for the first time. Everyone complaining about hardware failure (IE, USB cables not working), can go cry. They will replace anything that doesn't work, and USB cables are like, five bucks.

The Pros, (to name a few)
-Backlight screen easy to read day and night
-Headphone Jack so directions can be quieted for sleeping co pilots
-Speed Limit Warning
-Easy to carry, small compact (compared to Garmin, or Tom Tom)
-Price

Cons
-sometimes is slow
-can't use MP3 and GPS at same time
-have to pay to update

Honestly, this thing is pretty solid. Compared to other major brand GPS there is no competition. My mother, and sister both have the other brands, (Garmin, TomTom). I used them both in trying to figure out which one to go with. Both of them lost signals in the middle of trips to the point where I had to pull over and wait. That hasn't happened with Nextar. Both are huge and not easy to transport. Meaning your not going to pop it out of the holder and stick it in your purse or pocket. This thing is about the size of an Iphone. Your getting an out of dash unit, you don't want to leave it in your car on some occasions, It's so much easier with this unit. The best thing for me was the price. It's one of those things that you get what you pay for. I got mine for $80 on sale. So the customer service is not as good as Garmin's. The POI is not as accurate with stores, (Hospitals and gas stations 100% of the time though, priorities), the price is worth the slight quality drop. Believe me, I've gone toe to toe with all three contenders, the difference is not worth the price difference. Anyone trying to tell you anything else has not done a side by side comparison.
Keep it out of the sun and out of hot or cold cars. Extreme temperatures can cause frozen screens, it's never happened to me, but I know how to take care of my equipment.