FineDrive 400 featured with NAVTEQ map

[Source: GPS NEWS - Online news about GPS receivers, mapping, software and accessories] quoted: FineDrive 400 featured with NAVTEQ map NAVTEQ leading global provider of digital maps for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, has signed a lic…

I picked up this baby at Staples in their Thanksgiving sale for just $400 (it wasn’t on the shelves at my store, had to ask an associate to fetch it from the back) and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve used a few GPS units and this does everything I could want. It picks up the satellites well (better than the handheld magellan I use for hiking) and quickly initializes from cold or warm start. It tracks with great accuracy and the directions are useful, detailed and timely. The screen is bright, navigation via the touch screen is simple and intuitive. The spoken directions are loud and clear, and the pitch of the voice cuts through road and radio noise without being grating. Overall: a great budget unit.

Thanks for your useful post Carl. Some good real infos for peoples looking at Finedrive 400

I agree with Carl and got the same deal at $399.00. I tried to buy it on staples website first but they said it was out of stock when I tried to place an order. I went to one of their stores and couldn’t beleive they had one in stock. The price is great when I compared all the features. I am trying to find accessories for it but have had little luck. The manual doesn’t explain what all the inputs are for or what I can attach but it may be because it is too new. Overall, I love the unit and ease of use. Very fast response time. I am only worried about support because since their web site is of little help. Website is finedigitalusa.com.

I am interested in getting the 400 unit. I am doing some comparison shopping and the finedrive 400 doesn’t have much memory. Are the maps as up to date and have as much information as compared to a unit with a 4gig hard drive?

Also if you miss a turn does it recalculate automatically and give u new directions?

I also bought the unit at Staples for $399. I have been using it for about a week now. I am mostly satisfied with it. The display is bright and readible in all light conditions. The display automatically reverses a night so you don’t have to manually adjust the brightness.

To answer Kevin’s question, I believe the maps are up to date. Even in rural areas the show all the streets including the new ones in my area. While there are millions of points of interest in the database, a lot is missing. I suppose this is necessary because of the 2 gig card. Banks, ATM’s, Grocery stores, Libraries, restaurants are there. If you need a hardware store or Radio Shack for instance they are not in the database. If you know the address, you can put that in it will route you to it.

If you miss a turn, the unit will recalculate a route within 2 to 3 seconds.

There are ports on the bottom for usb, sound (an external speaker if you want one) and A/V. Supposedly you could display video on this unit, but that is not documented in the manual.

It will play MP3’s on it. These can be sent to your car stero on any FM frequency you choose. In order to use the MP3 capability you need to remove the 2 gig map card.

All in all it is a good unit. I am only concerned about support since it is not from Magellan, Garmin, or Lowrance.

I have talked to the technical support and they promise map updates once a year.

for $399, I think it is a very good value.

Pete,

Does a 2gig card come with the unit or does that have to be baught extra?
The price at staples is $499 in New York on 11/30/05. It sounds like everyone got it for $399. Did you guys have a coupon or were they running a special or something?

Hi, I bougth the finedrive 400 for my husband for christmas and would like to use for both our cars . Can I buy an additional hardward kit ?

thanks

Kevin – The 2 gig card comes with the unit. Staples had a two day sale on the unit on Nov 23 and 24th for $100 off. So I paid S399. As far as I know it was only good for those days. The regular price is $499.

Machelle – go to http://www.finedigitalusa.com. There is a link there for a site selling accessories like another windshield mount or another 12 volt adapter. I don’t know what other hardware you are looking for.

Pete

Kevin – I just noticed that Buy.com had the Finedrive 400 for $399. It is only $375 with a Buy.com Visa Card.

My unit doesn’t work. I got it from Staples’ sale, too. I hadn’t tested it until tonight when I finally took it for a test drive. Strangely it always displayed a map of an address in California. GPS info showed some data but altitude was unknown, and satelites were “0/8″. Does that mean it’s not getting any GPS signals? I tried different ways to reset it and restart it but got nowhere.
I’m gonna return it tomorrow.

Raymond – If you are getting satellites “0/8″, you are not getting any GPS signals. This may seem like a stupid question, but are you sure the antenna is attached?

I got the unit @ Staples too. The antenna is also attached. Two days ago on a clear day, my satellite count was 0/8. And on another cloudy and rainy day, it was able to navigate without problems.

Does anyone know what size SD card comes with the unit. I have heard 2 gigs and i have heard 128mb. I am worried that the maps fore the finedrive 400 are not as up to date.

Those of you that have the unit does it crash a lot?

Pete – Its antenna was attached per instruction. I exchanged my unit for more than the reception problem – the touch screen acted funny. Intermittently it would act as if someone were touching the screen, with the clicking sounds and the screen switching to one another. So I got another one from Staples.
After two days I have to say there is still some problem with FineDrive’s reception of GPS signals. After coming out of the garage, (I guess that’s what “cold start” means) both units had difficulty initializing even within 10-15 minutes. This doesn’t seem acceptable – how can I wait 15 minutes every time I leave for somewhere?
I wonder if other navigation systems are different…

Raymond – you should not have to wait that long. My unit took about 5 minutes to initalize the first time. Since then within about 15 to 20 seconds of leaving the garage it has locked on to the satellites. Just drive and let the unit find the satellites on the run.

John – the unit does have a 2 gig card. The maps are the latest according to NAVTEQ.

One thing everyone should be aware of is that there are two types of Finedrive 400’s out there. Mine has an A/V port on the bottom and can accept video such as from a camera. Some units don’t have this feature. I guess that Fine Digital became aware that you can’t have video in the front seat in the US.

Hey Ramond. I had the same problem. It only showed up as Calafornia untill I figured out that the SC Card was not inserted all the way. Turn off the unit, pop out the card and then make sure it is in all the way. It should click in. Once I did that and turned it back on, I got a sattelite and curren location in about 30 sec.

I don’t think this Finedrive400 have any problem with the GPS signal, When the first time I used it, I got the signal right away. I noticed if you put your gps devices below the dashboard away from your top of your dashboard, it will weakend the signal. Now I put it at the top of my dashboard and make sure nothing is blocking the GPS antenna and have clear sky to the device. Then you wont be dissappointed and you never get lost.

Note: If you have a tinted windscreen… that would be the problem. Cos if i use it with tinted windows, You will hardly get a signal or sometime none. which is happened to me when i used it on another car which i tinted my car entirely.

So the rules of thumb,,,…. make sure your antenna is position facing the clear sky and nothing blocking it. Im sure will you be vary happy with this GPS device.

Well, to be honest, for those who are wondering is the map are updated. The answer is no… based on my own experience with this unit, i would said 90-95%. Which I think good enough.

Summary, I never regret i got this unit. Great GPS device

Like George, I am trying to find accessories (mine didn’t come with a stylus), and I would also like to know how to use the inputs on the back. Can you power the unit anyway except through the cigarette lighter? I love the navigational features.

I bought this unit Sunday from Staples and had it up and running in minutes right from the parking lot at Staples. The menu screens are pretty intuitive and easy to navigate. Does anyone know what the little symbol on the lower left screen is used for? Seems like it’s SUPPOSE to save the current location to your favorite places! A feature I would like to be able to store. Comments/suggestions?

The Finedrive 400 is a good unit. 4″ screen is excellent and makes a difference when compared to 3.5″ on other units. Also brightness is superior. Detachable antenna is not so convenient. Expandable power cord is very neat and out of the way. Maps are ok and not exactly up to date. Tech support for me was quick and very knowledgeable. I would prefer an internal battery for more portability, but the cost allows one to accept no battery. I hope map updates are timely and either free or reasonalbe cost. We’ll see.

For those that are wondering what those unidentified ports under the unit are; In Korea, where finedigital is based, people are able to hook up their cell phones to one of those two data ports and get real time traffic data (to route avoiding traffic jam), locations of cheap gasoline stands, police speed trap locations, and much more… Obviously, those things are not available here in US and the manual doesn’t mention anything about them.
I’ve seen a unit with Korean map and it had 3D rendering of most buildings on the streets… very cool..
Also, finedrive units are regarded as one of the best portable GPS units in Korea. The 400 unit was selling for about 300USD over there. You have to keep in mind though that in countries like Korea or Jpan, GPS units are much more widely used with tons of competition.

Happy GPS’ing!

I bought my son the 400 for Xmas. Worked fine for a few weeks but now, every time he shuts his car off, it goes back to the default factory settings. ie: 2 dimensional view and he has to tell it where he is going again when he is on a trip. Anyone else having problems like this.

My husband bought the Finedrive 400 for my birthday and it is great most of the time however, I go to many new home areas and developments and the maps in the 400 are way out of date. I am very dissapointed that I can’t seem to be able download updated maps.
JHenke, Portland Oregon

I’ve had my 400 since the day after Thanksgiving. It’s worked great up until today. For whatever reason all I get when the unit turns on is the FineDrive splash screen. No warning screen. No OK button. Just the name. There is no mention of reseting the unit in the manual or on the website. I called tech support and got a recording to leave a number. That was in the middle of the afternoon when they were supposedly open. My guess is that if they can’t answer the phone, they probably won’t fix my unit very quick either. So I guess I’ll do the switcheroo at Satples for a new one.

In any case, the unit works great overall. As for the maps, they are a little out of date but you have to remember that Fine Digital does not create the maps, they merely purchase them from NAVTEQ. NAVTEQ updates their maps quarterly. Fine says they offer updates annually, which seems typical for some GPS vendors. The map date on my unit is 10/15/05 so I can only assume I won’t see an update for awhile. Just keep checking the website for the updates. When they have them you can get them.

If anyone has any ideas about the units locking up I would love to hear about it!

[...] WindSpring, a data miniaturization innovator, today announced that Fine Digital USA, has licensed the patented WindSpring technology for integration into its FineDrive 400 personal navigation devices (PNDs). WindSpring technology will improve mapping application performance and enable Fine Digital to reduce the overall cost of devices for consumers. WindSpring’s patented Data Miniaturization Technology (DMT(TM)) shrinks and transforms large mapping and data files into a Micro Data Format (MDF(TM)). The MDF format allows the data files to retain all original data performance attributes while enabling high-speed access and full manipulation of data, including high-speed seek, search, edit and display in the miniaturized state. In addition, MDF is uniquely suited for space-constrained applications such as GPS Navigation, where large amounts of data can slow system performance and data access. [...]

Do Not buy this system (400) you will get a WIN CE display and no gps . the worst part of it is there is no tech support from company
i think there out of buisness

I have been reading much on the 400 and am very close to purchasing one due to the reviews as well as the magellan my brother in law has and the handheld magellan explorist 300 that I have, which are pretty good but I like the features that this finedrive has.

I have experienced the same problem of contacting FineDrive as some have expressed, however, today I tried to call them again and started to leave a message after the tone and I guess I talked too long because the phone beeped again and told me to press 0 to reach an operator. When I pressed 0 the operator answered and I was able to ask for technical support and got a real person to talk to and actually had all of my questions answered.

Bottom line, stay on the line long enough for the system to kick out of the voice mail and get the option to dial the operator extension and then you can talk to a real person because e-mail isn’t answered in a timely fashion.

My Finedrive froze and quit. Very dissapointed in the maps. Were not current.

MINE LASTED 4 DAYS THEN THE SPLASH SCREEN FROZE THAT WAS IT …BUSTED…TOOK IT BACK TO STAPLES AND THE MANAGER SAID IT WAS REAL JUNK AND TO BUY A BETTER UNIT. NEEDLES TO SAY I WAS PISSED AND DEMANDED MY MONEY BACK AND LEFT IN A HUFF. NOW I ASK DIRECTIONS

Anyone out there have an SD card with pre-loaded maps of the contiguous United States for the FineDrive400 unit?

My daughter left her 400 with me when she left for the Navy.Is there a certain way to turn this thing on?Or is mine broke already.