Hema Navigator

Hi

I too was interested but the price was a bit high so I tried a cheap Chinese import from Brash Imports (no affiliation yadayadayada).

I have had it for 6 months and am very happy considering it only cost around $250 for a 5 inch screen with Ozi land, Ozi marine and IGO street nav. Sure it might not last as long but I can buy 3 and still be in front.

Cheers

Hi Monty

I have had my HN5 for around 2 years and for me it is fantastic. To be very honest I only ever use it in the OziExplorer Mode and it has never missed a beat. It has been out in some very remote and rough tracks and just like a full size laptop running Ozi, you know exactly where you are at the glance of the screen.

I know that they have since updated the units and are supposed to be using a far better City Navigation system.

Would I buy one again for the money.....YES


Cheers



Stephen

Hi,
I have the HN5 and just finished 3 months of touring around Western Australia. Starting from Sydney and heading west via the Anne Beadell Hwy.
The pros are that once you understand ozi explorer mode it is easy to use. Handy off road with all the tracks available. Don't need GPS points to set up track route. The cons, route 66 complete waste of time used the Tom Tom around the cities. Still need paper maps. Not as accurate as using GPS data in my Magellen. Far too expensive for what it is, they need to give up trying to be all things and bring out a cheaper one with just ozi explorer. A nice toy but not essential to navigate any of the major tracks.

We also own a two year old Hema Navigator which was purchased after information gathered from forums such as ExplorOz,LCOOL,My Swag etc. The Navigator is used for city street directions,Outback Tracks,and as a portable guide and map when walking or hiking in National Parks etc. We have found that it is far behind other navigators in city locations and directions. In the Outback map section it has excellent maps and it is fantastic. For walking or hiking the battery would last from new approx 5 hours, which meant if you were lost you could back track to your base safely,or if you neede assistance you had GPS coordinates for that time. After two years the battery had run down to where it would only operate the navigator for 5 to 10 minutes.(It was OK plugged into pwer).No good if you are lost etc. Ours has been returned to Hema for updates and minor problems twice prior to the battery issue and they have given excellent service. It was returned for a battery replacement, (which after 2 years I believe is fair), however the new battery only lasted 2hours 30 minutes on three occasions and then would not accept charge at all.It was retuned again to Hema as we were not happy about this and are still awaiting results from them. Would you spend around $900 on a product that would only do what it was supposed to do for 2 years ?. Will keep you informed on this matter.

We have several GPS systems. We have an in-dash one which is a "cheap" Chinese import, a top of the range NavMan (which we won) and the Hema. The Hema is by far the best for information ... I love all the bits of information that we get about the area we are travelling through from it. It will label ruins and all sorts of other things so we get so much extra information from it.

But as a navigational aid it sucks. It took us 2 hours to travel a 20 minute route using it as a navigational aid in Melbourne. It takes you on the dirt back roads rather than using highways etc etc. Quite simply, we NEVER EVER use it as a navigational aid.

Also, after 13 months, the stupid thing just died. Working perfectly one day, dead the next. No apparent reason. We contacted Hema and they said, "No problems, send it back and we'll fix it." A few weeks later came the email telling us, "Ok, we've fixed it. You'll need to pay $$$ to get it back." Then a second email, "Sorry, it's unfixable. We'll sell you a new one at a discounted rate." I had a dummy spit, and emailed them to say that I was rather unhappy and would not respond further until we had contacted Consumer Affairs for legal advice about the implied warranty. They told us that the implied warranty was rubbish, then rang us back a few hours later after seeking their own legal advice and asked where to send the replacement demo model, without charge.

For the last 11 months, the replacement demo model has worked beautifully. No reason to complain. They honoured the implied warranty for such an expensive item. It took us only a few days to clear it all up. Overall, happy with the product, and I'm glad we've got it.

Hi Monty
I use a Garmin Nuvi for street navigation and a generic Chinese unit running OziExpCE for all other mapping.
I get all my generic gps units from Deal Extreme
You can also get them to run other gps programs with a menu system like this
Cheers
Neil

Hi Monty,

I have an original HN5 and posted a blog on it.

In short, like Stephen, I also only use it in OziExplorer mode for country wide travel and it is excellent.

Even if both the original (Route 66) and current (iGo) city navigation applications were OK, you can only run one mode at a time and this is the only negative I have with the unit.
When I was using a PDA with OziExplorer and CoPilot Live, you could run both applications at the same time and flip between them. As this is not possible with the Hema (and Route 66 is a dog) I use a TomTom for city navigation.

In OziExplorer mode the Hema is an excellent navigation tool, although the updated EziOzi currently provided is not as practical (for me) as the "default" OziExplorer.
EziOzi is a customised set of screen menus which maybe "user friendly" for some folk, but I preferred the standard setup as I was familiar with them.
The one diapointment I have with EziOzi is that you cannot tap the screen to record a waypoint when you a travelling and instead need to select a button. (Second one down on the vertical menu options).

The original Hema Navigator had a problem in interfacing with 64-bit Windows 7.
The fix was a physical hardware upgrade which required the unit to be returned to Hema Support. If anyone has problems with connecting to a PC running Windows 7 64-bit, this is the problem.

Overall, I believe the Hema HN5i (current model) is a worthy device worth considering for country wide travelling. What you see on the screen is the same as what you see on a hard copy Hema map, but with the moving map feature on the Hema, you know exactly where you are lost.
There may be cheaper options around, (eg chinese imports) but the Hema is preloaded with everything you will ever need in the way of maps for all of Australia and is ready to go as soon as you "bring it home".

What else can I say?
The Hema is so desirable that you need to ensure it is secured (eg hidden from view) when you leave the vehicle unattended.

Hi Monty, we have just purchased the new Hema and as yet have only used it whilst navigating my way to and around Melbourne. We have not used it off road yet but I have "played" with it a lot and I think it will be great - I guess time will tell.

We haven't owned a navigator previously so can't compare but it is easy to read and easy to use. As yet it hasn't taken us out of our way.

We managed to find ours cheapest online (I can let you know where if you would like) and all with backup and help as needed. It was delivered within 2 days so we were pretty happy with that.

Sorry can't tell you too much more at this stage.
Cheers

I don't own a Hema as I tested the HN5i in the car first to see how readable the screen was. In my opinion the screen readability in the car on a normal sunny day was poor. Not quite as bad as a Chinese unit I tested previously but not good enough for the money they charge.
If you want something to run Ozi off road then I recommend an Android tablet. It will give you a 10" screen that is a decent size to see the small tracks and surrounds on Topo maps and will last 9-10 hours on battery if you want to take off the car charger. Handy for discussions with other people at their car or around the campfire makeing plans etc. The price for a tablet has now come down and should be a lot less than the Hema. Don't get the Ipad as at this stage Ozi will only run on PC, CE, or Android. You also get the added advantages a tablet can offer. The tablet will also run on-road navi such as Sygic and it's great on the big screen but it's less useful really as too hard to mount a 10" tablet where u can see it for on road direction . For On road I would go a Garmin as they have a good navigation engine and have the best readable screen in my opinion with some navman units not far behind. There is a new Navman due out shortly called the 'My escape" which could be worth a look. Not much info yet but you can find some on a google search.

Direct opposition for an all in one unit would be the VMS brand. I have a 430 touring at the moment which is OK but the screen is a bit small. It's handy for me as I run 2 rear cameras into it, but trying to read Topo maps on a small screen while bumping along in a 4WD is beyond my eyesight .The 600 seems to have had a few reliablity issues? and the new 700HD I couldn't see the screen at all in sunlight. Don't confuse the marketing blurb with the newer HD 800x480 screens as they being any more readable in sunlight. The picture is sharper..sure is, but only if you can see it.
It can be an all sing all dancing model BUT if you can't see the screen it's worthless in my opinion (and dangerous as you tend to spend more time trying to read the screen rather than concentrating on the road ahead). Do yourself a favour and ask the sales person to let you take the demo model to the car to look at in sunlight. If they feel you are genuine they will normally let you. Most of the sales people have never seen these things in sunlight in a car themselves and can't reall offer guidance. I have a closet full of mistakes and hope my opinions will help you.

I got the Hema to replace our Navman. About six months old and perfectly happy with it.

Recently got extra detailed maps and loaded in - but that wasn't difficult.

Haven't had any trouble using iGO around Sydney, Canberra and Country areas. Actually, find it is a big improvement over the Navman in it's user interface. Just so much easier to insert intermediate stops, or change routes while on the go. I like the way it shows lanes on multilane highways in Sydney. So far it has always got us to the right place via a sensible route. I can't say that for the Navman which takes a lot of persuading to use our preferred route between Canberra and SA. iGo wouldn't chart a route from home to Maree as it is 'isolated', Navman would. Lets be honest, I didn't need a GPS to tell me which road to use from Hawker to Maree. It is also surprisingly accurate in it's estimates of my arrival time (I mean it's original estimates, naturally the estimate gets better as you get closer ;-)

It doesn't give the traffic updates that Navman does, but they were mostly wrong and irritating anyway, so losing those is a plus. Important things like current speed are easy to read.

Like being able to select Camps 6 sites using iGo. That works well - it will navigate you right to the place without needing to find and input addresses etc.

Always use it plugged in, so no idea what battery life is like.

Use either iGO or OziExplorer depending on what I am doing. Will swap between them from time to time to check on things like arrival times - yes that can be slow, but the vehicle can keep moving while the navi pushes buttons, so it isn't a nuisance.

Also like that it is nice and rugged, so it stays put on the windscreen when you touch it too hard on a bumpy track.

Biggest downside for me is that some supplied maps don't have the (bitumen) roads I am using on them in OziExplorer mode - that happened a few times around Mildura area for some reason. The roads always reappeared before we needed to make decisions to turn, so it was mostly amusing. That actually has nothing to do with the device - it is a problem with the maps.

Ozi Explorer on a tablet or mini laptop might be a cheaper way to go, and may have extra advantages, but you need to be willing to put in the research and faffing around to get that set up. My dash does not make mounting stuff easy, either. This time around I am happy enough to just be able to plug in 'Nagivator' (as we call it) and have it work. Time poor.

The Navman hasn't been used in months, and is due to be sent off to parents so they can use it.

Bought a Hema from EO shop about 6 months ago, on special, and suckered in by the member discount too.

Can't comment on iGo, as haven't used it much, and usually know where I want to go, except in the city. Am rapt in the Ozi Explorer, and used it all the time going to Lake Eyre, and Yulara, earlier this year. Crossed the Sandover on way home, and reassuring to know there were bores not far off the highway, if we'd needed extra water, or a spot to camp.

My gripe is the screen on the Hema. Difficult to read, even on brightest setting, and the iGo screen colours look like the product of a reluctant student made to attend a art class doing water colours. Really wishy-washy compared to the bright, vibrant colours of the Garmin.

Can't comment on the battery life, as nearly always use it in the vehicle. However when I read this post & checked the unit, it needed charging, though it hadn't been used for sometime.

Overall, I'm happy with it

Bob.

We have hema -- route 66 is weak - oz explorer is good. At just over a year old the screen froze - took a couple of weeks to get a return authority number. It took a couple of weeks to be repaired. Nothing to say what was wrong - but nil to pay -- will see what happens
Ian

The HN5i uses iGo instead of Route 66 and is huge step forward, the supplied maps are what helps justify the price of the unit as these are expensive if purchased separately. I use mine a lot in VIC and have loaded the VIC Spatial Maps as used by emergency services. These are excellent Topo maps with heaps of detail.