GPS module works great, but included SW will make you mad.

"Don't know what these other users are complaining about!", I think this is fantastic! The only down side that I can think of is having to upload your trips beforehand. But that is a limitation of the handheld, not this device. I took a trip from Upstate NY through Philly to the Jerey shore. And back. Another trip to Washington DC. This performed flawlessly for what it was designed to be. Beeped a little before my turns or exchanges. Tracked pretty well and only lost signal a couple times, ony to regain it moments later. I bought this along with a rebate and the deal was great. I recently bought the laptop version as well. That is how much I like this item. Unless you are nitpicky or expecting something this is not, you'll be pleased.

"Works for me", I read a few of the reviews before I purchased this model, some good, most bad. I had a few reservations about the item myself @ first, and initially rated it only a 3. But after using it alot locally, and then travelling South with it, I find nothing wrong, with this GPS, or the software. I recently travelled to a town called Littleton, NC, where only about 700 people live according to the 2000 US Census. All of the local roads, where there. If a small town like that has that kind of detail, then the software is pretty good. BTW, did I mention I live in NYC, and downloaded most of the city to my Palm. All of the local streets appear. Inferior software would not be so detailed. There are other Software compatible with this unit, and I will eventually try, but for now, this works for me!

"hardware is fine, software [is bad]", To start with the positive: The unit actually does a good job getting a gps position and displaying it on the map. I use it with the Palm m515 and it was a very tempting combination given the low cost of the unit (100 USD, now it's even cheaper). It came with a device for mounting it on the windshield of the car and a recharger that fits in the cigarette lighter and that all works fine.
It seems an obvious thing to combine a gps receiver with a color screen palm pilot that has both memory and processing power to do a decent job as a navigation device. However, the software is terrible. As noted by others, the Rand McNally software can only find directions if you are online, and it often picks strange routes. It will only do directions to and from a given address, not just a waypoint on the map.

But the worst part is actually the part of the software that is installed on the Palm Pilot. It does not display simple (and useful) pieces of information such as instantaneous speed and direction (other simple gps units do without a problem). It frequently tells you you are off route even if you are not, and every single time I have arrived at my destination, the software has frozen up and crashed the Palm so I had to reset it through the pinhole in the back. I don't know of a single other Palm application that is this poorly written.

I should say that if you just ignore the false 'off route' warnings (this requires you to have studied the directions in some detail before you go), it will guide you reasonably well to your destination (you'll know you have arrived when your Palm crashes). I have not had it give directions that were flat out impossible, just ones I wouldn't have picked myself. So it is reasonably useful. The mapping features are not bad, either. You can zoom in or out and recenter the map relatively quickly, and that is useful if you get lost. Which you probably will if you decide to go someplace new guided only by this unit...

Addendum: inspired by another reviewer (thanks!), I bought the Delorme StreetAtlas USA Handheld 2004 software, and things work much much better.

1. ***Complete GPS solution with mounting hardware and vehicle power adapter* It comes complete with everything you'll need to set it up. I highly reccommend a color PDA because the color maps are wonderful and the backlight function on the Palm m515 is awesome especially at night.

2. ***Rand McNally StreetFinder® Deluxe mapping software*
The mapping sofware is good. It allows you to create and download maps unto PDA. It also allows address-to-address direction mapping which you can also download to the PDA. I noticed that you cannot create address-to-address direction maps on the PDA itself, this has to be done on the PC and then downloaded to the PDA. In addition, if you want to reverse the directions you'll have to create another map and download it. As in all mapping software, it is not perfect so one has to be careful.

3. ***Turn-by-turn directions with audible prompts*
I love this feature! It works when you create create address-to-address direction maps and download them to the PDA. I was able to drive and navigate well (and responsibly) with this feature. It is especially useful at night when you cannot read dimly lit street signs.

4. ***Over 1 million points of interest and business locations**
This is another very useful feature of the mapping software. It allows you to mark points of interest on the map and download them to the PDA. The other day one of my co-workers wanted fish and chips for lunch and since I had downloaded restaurants (as points of interest) with a map of the area, I was able to find restaurants serving fish and chips with ease. The co-worker was impressed!

I have to present both sides of the coin, so, while using the Navman I have encountered an error which has occured a couple of times. It happened when using the address-to-address directions after I had arrived at the destination. It seemed as if the software was confused about whether I had arrived at the destination or not. It presented a message that I was off the route. Then the PDA locked up with a memory error and I had to reset it. Notwithstanding, I am enjoying the Navman a lot. It is just so cool. For those of us without nav. systems in our cars... this is it!