Product Reviews

Like Mio's A201 (opposite), Asus's MyPal A636 is a PDA with a built-in SirfStar III GPS receiver. It is supplied with the Pocket PC version of Destinator's mapping software.

The A636 looks big, but is almost the same size as the A201. It's heavy for a PDA at 186g and not particularly attractive, but it feels well built apart from the slightly rattling antenna. Unusually, the antenna folds out to the side rather than up, but it sits flush with the back of the PDA so you can use it on a desk without a wobble.

The A636's screen has the standard 240x320 resolution but is incredibly bright, so it's easy to see the screen even in bright sunlight. The viewing angles aren't as wide as Mio's A201, though.

Below the screen are the speaker, the directional pad and short cut buttons. The speaker is the loudest we have heard on a PDA, so you should be able to hear navigation directions over the car stereo or with the windows open. The directional pad under the screen is

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easier to use than a joystick, but the short cut buttons are too small for people with large fingers.

The Destinator PN mapping software is supplied on a 256MB SD card, along with UK and Ireland maps. The size of the supplied card means there is no room for more maps, but at least the A636 has 49MB of built-in storage available, compared to the Mio A201's 12MB, leaving some room for documents and media files.

Like all GPS systems, Destinator PN lets you navigate to an address or a point of interest. Entering addresses takes a while, as there aren't separate buttons for each letter and you have to enter text using a similar system to a mobile phone. As with the A201, you have to enter the city or postcode first, followed by the street name.

The A636 takes only 30 seconds to get a GPS fix, and was quick to calculate our test routes. It took just 13 seconds to plan a route from central London to South London and 27 seconds to plot a journey from London to Edinburgh, which makes it one of the fastest GPS systems we have seen.

The navigation screen has tiny icons, so it is not possible to change from 2D to 3D views when driving, but there is plenty of room for the large and clear navigation display. The Destinator software is excellent, giving clear directions and coping especially well with complicated junctions.

Asus's A636 is a competent PDA with slightly fiddly but accurate mapping software. It is harder to use than Mio's A201, but much faster, although its 256MB SD card and lack of European maps mean it can't compete on value.