Review: T-Mobile MDA Compact III handheld and sat nav

While handheld computers are getting smaller, they're also becoming more versatile. Long gone are the days of impressing friends with an electronic contacts book and mini Excel documents, today's pocket rockets have evolved.

The MDA Compact III is a prime example. Not only will it make calls, play multimedia files and organise your life, it's also adept at getting you from a to b, courtesy of its Copilot Live 6 sat-nav software.

Similar to the MDA Compact II, the Compact III is chunky but surprisingly light (160g). Despite its bulk, it's a nice size to work with and fits comfortably into a palm and pocket.

The screen is clear and big too – taking at least two thirds of the phone. It can also switch between landscape and portrait views, depending on the program being used.

To get around the menu system and programs, the MDA Compact III employs a mini trackball surrounded by a silver scroll dial, which is similar to use as Apple’s iPod wheel.

Putting the device into ‘mouse mode’ allows the Compact III's trackball to be used like that of a notebook computer. In practice, however, the trackball is so sensitive that the curser ends up flying around the screen, which takes time and patience getting used to.

The satellite navigation functionality can be accessed through one of the eight buttons surrounding the scroll wheel.

As previously mentioned, the handset comes with the Copilot navigation software comes stored on a microSD card. The battery and SIM card have to be removed to get at the slot and we found that the SIM card wouldn’t sit properly on top on the microSD card, taking a good few minutes of re-jigging before we were able to get the phone working properly.

The Copilot software was easy to use and the integrated GPS receiver picked up a signal immediately. Plotting a destination means inputting an address, town or point of interest. You can also pick a place from a map. On its first outing, the GPS took a good ten minutes to find enough satellites to establish a signal (common for sat nav devices), yet once recognised, it planned the route quickly.

We used the MDA Compact III to get us to a well known shopping centre, listed within the points of interest section. However, a journey that would have taken us 45 minutes with the route we use, took an hour and a half using the route the Co-pilot chose. What's more, a five minute journey up the road quite literally took us around the houses.

However it does come with some nice safety features, such as planning routes with multiple stop off points for resting. There's also a 'walking' option for reaching destinations by foot.
It comes with an in-car battery charger and a windscreen mounting kit. However, when fully juiced, it lasted a good ten hours.

As a handheld computer, the MDA Compact III has 28MB of internal memory and a 2-megapixel camera. The FM radio, which is tuned by using the supplied earphones as an antenna is also a nice extra. The ‘web and walk’ function allows users to surf the internet and send emails too.

Also consider:
Destinator 6 with Trafficsam GPS software
A decent satellite navigation option for those who already have a compatible PDA

Route66 Mobile 7
Not as easy to use as standalone sat-nav systems, but a good alternative if you want GPS on your mobile.

Mio C710
Mio’s high-end satellite navigation device comes packed with a wealth of features

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