Compassionate Minds

Designed to compete head on with bigger, bulkier and albeit more ponderous systems such as the Vitas or Tibo, the Compasseo 600 manages to retain its composure even in today’s saturated market that is oh so full of global positioning navigational devices.

Another first that will strike the quality freak in you, is that this GPS looks tough. It feels tough as well, with the necessary electronics finding themselves at home inside a tough plastic casing.

No, it doesn’t not look outlandish, nor might it stand out from the crowd when you do a “fantastic” comparison of form, but fix it inside your car and you’ll start to value it’s function over the mere thought of having it look beautiful.

The 600 utilises the “SiRFStarIII” navigational chip that also plays MP3s and displays your JPEGs.

The LCD measures 3.5” across, and it has a resolution of 320x240. That’s clear enough given its small size, and it definitely allows for small text to be read during your daily course of driving (not that I would recommend this though).

What you get bundled in the box, is a cigarette lighter plug, a ready to use holder, software suite and a USB data/charger cable

On board, crammed into a 512MB micro mobile card, are two maps that are fairly updated and ready to use – one map of Singapore, and another of West Malaysia.

Of course, map updates are and will be continuously available on the internet, where you will be able to download and update your Compasseo. The 600 picked up the signal pronto. There was very little time wasted from my moving off, and for the signal to be established, along with tracking information.

This was impressive, considering I was in congested areas and in underground carparks most of the time.

The touch screen, unlike some rivals, is wonderfully accurate, and calibrating it is a sinch.

The menus on the Compasseo are very much driver friendly – they are big enough for the clumsiest of fingers, yet they won’t make you feel clumsy while working through it’s myriad of functions.

To plan the route of travel, you simply enter the postal code (where available) or the address of your destination. Next, all you have to do is follow the Compasseo’s lead!

I particularly adore the colours on the maps. They make various road types very visible, even in complicated over/underpasses such as the KJE-PIE road interchange.

What is cute though, is that the Compasseo is able to tell you should you encounter a speed camera. Sometimes it does make too much noise for its own good, as I am not a huge fan of voice commands being read out by a synthesizer.

Thank heavens then, that the volume control works like it should!

That’s simple – if you venture up north often enough, and you have a wife or kid that isn’t too “adventurous” in finding their way home, then you need this. Enough said. This is one of the best GPS systems for its price range that I have come across!

Credits: Kaiser Wilhelm