Customer Reviews
Beware! 
2008-01-27
The Nextar X3B is actually pretty darn good out of the box. However, it can never be updated and the screen freezes (minor annoyance). The problem is the USB cable doesn't work. After 30 e-mails and pointless phone calls I found out you aren't even supposed to connect it to a computer. They claim you can update it with a SD card. That is a fallacy. The maps are missing streets that have existed for 5-10 years (we are talking MAJOR urban streets). So, be careful, I would invest a little more and buy a unit that can be updated as needed.
However, the Bluetooth works pretty well. If you have an IPOD connector for your car, it is awesome because you can use the car stereo to hear voices. The microphone is adequate and some distortion but not bad. I like the MP3 player, but again only useful if you have an IPOD port. The photo viewer is a waste. It will do a slideshow of your pictures once and then stop. It is too time consuming to bring up pictures. So, don't buy it if a picture viewer is a selling point for you.
I paid less than 200 and I am okay with it. But, customer service is a joke. It is farmed out overseas and they will send an automated response only if you e-mail over and over. I actually got frustrated and sent the same e-mail to them 15 times simultaneously before anyone would read it. The folks on the phone know nothing about their product and simply refer you to the useless e-mail.
GPS, Bluetooth and MP3 All in One is a reasonable price 
2008-01-12
This is the first GPS I have, so I cannot compare it with other popular brands.
I am very quality sensitive user. So far I am very happy with it. Less than $200, I can have GPS (pretty fast response), MP3 player and Bluetooth for free hand call. Again more important thing is so far I feel its quality is good.
What the problems I have,
1) its POI is not very huge (Maybe same to other brands. It cannot show a 500 feet away Mobile gas from my home.
2) it has an external antena port, but in the manufacturer's website, actually it does not make this antena accessory.
3) No any CD software included, no any software for future update implied. (It comes with a USB port cable, I think it can talk with PC. It also has a small reset button on its back.)
Anyway, in general, I am very satisfied with it.
Lacking in POI's...Good Otherwise 
2007-11-26
I was thrilled when I received this unit, but after testing it for less than 2 hrs, sadly I decided to return it because the POI's are lacking...I was sitting in a store parking lot (surrounded by stores of all types: Best Buy, Target, Old Navy, Weis Mkts, Kohls, etc.) and it didn't pick up any of the stores I was near...only ones about 3 miles away. I'm really disappointed because I really do like the other features it offers and would recommend it to someone who's not interested in the POI's (or maybe it's just a Pennsylvania thing!?!?!).
To be fair, the good things it offers are: good screen size (3.5 is larger than you'd think!), speed alert, mp3, rerouting/avoidance options, voice prompt, touch "pencil" (I've found using fingers only leads to incorrect buttons, which can be frustrating), self-explanatory operation & more - Like I said, I really am disappointed, but I need the POI's! :(
Satisfied 2007-10-17
This X3B is the best with its price. I got it about $200 with TTS, bluetooth, MP3 player ... etc.
It's a play-and-go PNA right out of box. The satellite acquiring time is fairly short within a minute. It even got the Sat. locks in my living room. Once it locks, it never lost the signal.
I can select a quickest, a major, a shortest, or a local to route my address. The POI is sufficient enough to find what I'm looking for.
The TTS is working great that I don't need to look at the screen. It even makes a sound to inform me to turn. The speaker is loud enough to hear even with listening the radio.
The bluetooth privdes me a hand free connection to my cell phone without a hassle while navigating.
I highly recommend this GPS.
Very good GPS Navigator System 2007-10-17
This is the first GPS system, I am using. So I am not in position to compare this with others. This is just my opinion and feelings after I have used it for a month.
The unit is slick, lightweight, comes with a carrying pouch. Display is bright enough to see clearly under the sunshine. The volume is loud enough to be heard clearly even in rough road condition and noise of engine.
Entering and saving data into the system is pretty easy and intuitive. When entering data, the software provides auto completion of city and street names and suggests address range once the street and city entered. In one word, entering the data, navigating to an address is pretty easy. After the system is powered on, it takes couple of minutes to be able to connect to satellite system for GPS signal and becomes ready for navigation withing 1 to 2 minutes.
Software works alright. It provides road names at every turn point so that i do not have to look at the gadget. When i go out off the suggested route it immediately recalculate the new route. In one case, when I did not connect the unit to power, it died because battery was out while I was driving; but as soon as I connected to vehicle power and switched on, it asked me whether I want to continue with current navigation and once I hit "Yes", it continued guiding me. That was great. I mostly traveled around tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for a month, but I was always impressed with the result.
Additionally it beeps an alert when car speed exceeds speed limit and there are two modes for that speed limit alert - you can configure manual alert or you can select automatic one - but it is very easy to switch.
The manuals talks about software update, but i did not find any ways to do that. i did not call their customer support yet. I did not try the other features like music, blue tooth, etc. yet. I will post an update when i use them.
Disappointed 2008-06-13
Just used the Nextar twice. It wouldn't holde a charge. It went down while we were programming it in less than an hour. When we really needed it on our second trip it quit just as we were exiting the turnpike and froze. The unit wouldn't come back on. It was plugged in and should have been charging as we were driving but it ran completely down then stopped. When we tried to recharge it, it wouldn't turn off and wouldn't recharge with the electric charger. I was going to try another one but after reading the comments I think I'll try another brand.
It worked fine before the battery went down but then it died.
Taking a map is more dependable. 2008-04-27
I bought this GPS system because we were making a trip from Alabama to Camp LeJeune to see our son arrive back from Iraq. The GPS worked very well when we made the transition from I85 to I20 in Atlanta but we began to have problems on the last leg of our trip. The roads can get very confusing in North Carolina so we needed the GPS to make sure we did not miss any turnoffs. The route given to us by the GPS was completely different from any we had seen on any of the online maps. Relying on our memory, we were still able to get to the motel. If we had taken the route given to us by the GPS, we would have traveled backroads and would have arrived much later to our destination. We discovered the reason for the strange directions when we were on the last major highway of our route. The GPS showed us to be off-road for at least 20 miles so I knew the GPS was giving us directions from an old map. The road must not have been built when the map used had been made. I don't know when the road was built but my son has traveled on it for the past three years.
I had already contacted Nextar for updates in February when I discovered the POI's were out of date for our city. I was told there would be an update this spring and I would be contacted by email when it was offered. Well, spring is more than half over and we still do not have any updates. I'm not too concerned about POI's but I would think an annual map update is not too much to ask.
If you rely on this system to get good directions, don't count on it. Make sure you take an atlas or a map with you and be prepared to stop and ask for directions. Better yet, spend a little more and get a GPS system from another company.
Very Good Navigation System 
2008-04-24
I purchased the Nextstar GPS navigator because I am a directional dummy! I have not gotten lost yet! I was even able to drive myself into NYC in traffic, through the Lincoln Tunnel without getting lost. The directions are clear, accurate and easy to understand. I will never be without one again, in fact, purchased another for my daughter. Directions are one less thing I have to worry about now! Well worth the investment.
Please Do No Buy!!! 2008-03-29
Well first of all I ordered this product and it arrived very quickly.. But when I tried to turn it on it would not go past the loading screen, and froze up... I even tried pushing the reset button about a zillion times and it did nothing, so I sent it back and they sent me a new one. The new one worked fine with no problems, had excellent features for the price, and gave clear directions.. However after only about four weeks of having the second one it did the same thing as the first one and froze up. And no matter how many times I pushed the reset button, it still would not work.. Better off spending the extra money for a Garmin or a TomTom!!!
Unpredictability 
2008-02-29
For the first two months of having this GPS unit, I was pleased outside of wishing for a louder volume setting. Many other units I've used have easily been heard over the radio when set at a very reasonable volume level.
My unit was very unpredictable with how long it would take to make the initial satellite connection. This was inconvenient on several occassions, taking up to 5 minutes to connect. Finally, after about two months, and right in the middle of a trip out-of-state, the unit froze on a particular screen and never regained "consciousness". It didn't respond to the power adapter in the car, nor would it turn off when I hit the "off" button, nor would the reset button work. I let the battery die on its own and then tried recharging it before turning it back on, but at that point it was still frozen on the same screen.
I called customer service to report it and they gave me instructions to package the unit and send it to them for repairs. It's still under warranty, but they won't cover the cost to send the unit and they say it will take 6 weeks before they get it back to me. UNACCEPTABLE.
I do not recommend this GPS unit to anyone who doesn't want a serious headache.
