Product Face-Offs
Medion Gopal P5235 TMC
 | |||
| Dimensions / Weight | 141 x 94 x 19 mm / 260 gr | ||
| GPS Chipset / Antenna type | SiRF Titan / Intégrée | ||
| Screen size / tactile | 5 pouces (12,7 cm) / Oui | ||
| Autonomy | jusqu'à 6 h | ||
| Software / Maps | Medion GoPal Navigator AE 4.7 / Navteq | ||
 See all specifications | |||
| Memory card / Countries included | Carte SD / Europe |
| Radar warning / Traffic info | Oui / TMC RDS |
| Multi-destination routing | Oui |
| MP3 player / Photos | Oui / Oui |
 Hide specifications | |
Vincent Lheur
Test date: June 03, 2009
Test date: June 03, 2009
Parking meter and parking space alert
Medion is highlighting two unusual features on this sat-nav: a parking meter alert and referencing of your parking space. The first tells you when your ticket has run out and the second remembers where you’ve parked your car in a car park.
However we couldn’t find any trace of the parking meter alert in the menus. In fact, it’s simply the alarm feature that does this! So really, nothing revolutionary.
As for the system that helps you find where you’ve parked your car, it is in fact no more nor less than a memorisation of where your car was when you parked it. This is a function that almost all sat-navs have! Moreover, it doesn’t work in the numerous underground car parks that exist… and these are exactly the car parks where you spend long minutes looking when you've forgotten to make a mental note of where you parked your vehicle.
However we couldn’t find any trace of the parking meter alert in the menus. In fact, it’s simply the alarm feature that does this! So really, nothing revolutionary.
As for the system that helps you find where you’ve parked your car, it is in fact no more nor less than a memorisation of where your car was when you parked it. This is a function that almost all sat-navs have! Moreover, it doesn’t work in the numerous underground car parks that exist… and these are exactly the car parks where you spend long minutes looking when you've forgotten to make a mental note of where you parked your vehicle.
With the Gopal P5235 TMC, Medion is following the current trend in large sat-nav displays. A 5 inch display, this is one of the largest currently available. Note that the TMC suffix here signifies that the traffic tracking service comes as standard. The Gopal P5235 Tpro, that you pay an extra 25 pounds for, includes TMC Premium.
The kit
It’s largely because of its giant screen that this PND scores four stars on our rating. It also has pretty standard connectivity (USB, audio jack, jack for TMC aerial, SD reader with a memory card). We like the physical button for volume control. This allows quick access without having to fiddle with the menus.
It is however a shame that the TMC aerial is not built in to the cigarette lighter cable, as is more and more common with the competition. Also the suction mount is a bit big and dates from first generation GPS's. It has two large screws for horizontal and vertical adjustment.
Build and design
Although we found the front menu page slightly unclear, the screen for entering addresses was less confusing. Predictive text works well here with letters gradually disappearing from the display. You have the option of using either an ABCDEF keypad or AZERTY.
The difficulty with the menus on this PND actually comes from the fact that you’re presented with icons belonging to very different functions on the same screen:
Although entering addresses is pretty responsive, this isn't the case for the settings menu which was quite slow at times. Luckily, this menu isn’t used frequently.
Route guidance
Offering pretty effective route guidance, the Gopal P5235 has a few little gaps that make it an average rather than excellent sat-nav: no realistic photo display, traffic information limited to TMC, no equivalent to the IQ Routes system – the TomTom/TeleAtlas system; Navtech has developed an equivalent in Traffic Patterns -, no settings to allow you to anticipate speed camera alerts further in advance. The speed camera alert system isn’t very clear and the beep that sounds when you’re appraoching isn’t as loud as it could be, especially as this GPS sometimes makes other beeps for no particular reason.
Of course, these faults don't stop the Gopal P5235 from guiding the driver easily to their destination. It doesn't however have the same settings flexibility as the competition… but this is perhaps a good thing for the newbies.
Extra features
Along with the large touchscreen display, the fingerprint reader is the feature that makes this sat-nav stand out. It allows you to block the GPS so it can only be used by the driver. The feature works very well. You can also use a security PIN to block use, like on mobile phones.
This PND does not however have Bluetooth and cannot be used as a hands free kit. It does have Sudoku, an MP3 Player, Picture Viewer and FM transmitter that means you can channel it through the car speakers.
The kit
It’s largely because of its giant screen that this PND scores four stars on our rating. It also has pretty standard connectivity (USB, audio jack, jack for TMC aerial, SD reader with a memory card). We like the physical button for volume control. This allows quick access without having to fiddle with the menus.It is however a shame that the TMC aerial is not built in to the cigarette lighter cable, as is more and more common with the competition. Also the suction mount is a bit big and dates from first generation GPS's. It has two large screws for horizontal and vertical adjustment.
Build and design
Although we found the front menu page slightly unclear, the screen for entering addresses was less confusing. Predictive text works well here with letters gradually disappearing from the display. You have the option of using either an ABCDEF keypad or AZERTY.The difficulty with the menus on this PND actually comes from the fact that you’re presented with icons belonging to very different functions on the same screen:
The top of the screen displays recent addresses, the central part addresses and route guidance and the bottom options. A lot for a single display and first-timers will find it difficult.
Although entering addresses is pretty responsive, this isn't the case for the settings menu which was quite slow at times. Luckily, this menu isn’t used frequently.
Route guidance
Offering pretty effective route guidance, the Gopal P5235 has a few little gaps that make it an average rather than excellent sat-nav: no realistic photo display, traffic information limited to TMC, no equivalent to the IQ Routes system – the TomTom/TeleAtlas system; Navtech has developed an equivalent in Traffic Patterns -, no settings to allow you to anticipate speed camera alerts further in advance. The speed camera alert system isn’t very clear and the beep that sounds when you’re appraoching isn’t as loud as it could be, especially as this GPS sometimes makes other beeps for no particular reason.Of course, these faults don't stop the Gopal P5235 from guiding the driver easily to their destination. It doesn't however have the same settings flexibility as the competition… but this is perhaps a good thing for the newbies.
Extra features
Along with the large touchscreen display, the fingerprint reader is the feature that makes this sat-nav stand out. It allows you to block the GPS so it can only be used by the driver. The feature works very well. You can also use a security PIN to block use, like on mobile phones.This PND does not however have Bluetooth and cannot be used as a hands free kit. It does have Sudoku, an MP3 Player, Picture Viewer and FM transmitter that means you can channel it through the car speakers.
-
5 inch screen
-
Finger print reader
-
Sometimes a little slow
-
Suction mount too large
-
TMC aerial is not built into the cigarette lighter cable
A mid-range GPS that picks up points because of its 5 inch screen.
Check out all of our High Tech offers: TV, Computing, Camera, Gaming, Telephony, Blu-Ray DVD on Pixmania
