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Geode
Wednesday February 7, 2001 - 12:00 AM EST - By James Hromadka

Mapping portion

Hold your breath!Ok, we have our compass calibrated and our maps loaded.  Time to work with maps.  After tapping the globe icon from the Home screen or Reader portion, you have a map screen with selective icons at the bottom.  The large "g" icon lets you configure the content categories that will be displayed: Recreation, Culture & Learning, Shopping, Entertainment, Routes and Tours, Dining, Lodging, Services, Events, and Buildings.

Plenty of things to do, so get out of the houseEach content category has a nicely descriptive icon.  You can also select what sources you want loaded.  By checking only needed categories and map sources, you can increase the time it takes to finish drawing a map on the screen.

Next to the "g" icon are quick-access icons to the Home screen and Reader screen.  It would have been nice to have a Geode Info icon (a satellite maybe?), as the only way to get to the Geode Info application is to select View | Geode Info.

Map navigation is done by tap-and-drag to pan the screen and using the arrow icon next to the minus sign for zooming in on a specific area.  Tap the arrow icon then draw a box on the screen where you want to zoom into.  This is very handy, as you can actually zoom out almost 6,000 miles!  You can zoom in to slightly less than 1,000 feet.

If you only want to zoom in or out, you can also tap the plus or minus icons.  There is also a "slider" that lets you adjust the zoom control more quickly.  I put quotes around slider because it is not a true sliding control.  Tap and it zooms to that point.  This isn't very intuitive to me, and it's easy to accidentally zoom out so far that your map becomes a tiny speck.  I would rather have the slider removed or let it become a true slider control.  I would also like to see the Visor's up/down hardware buttons used to zoom in/out.

Rounding out the icons, the far right icon lets you collapse the toolbar so that you get basically a full-screen mode.

Think different toolbarsDon't like the toolbar?  Go into Options | Preferences and change it.  Here you can change the Map Control from the Default to a Corner design that was used during the Geode's beta testing.  The controls are the same, but it's nice to have a choice.

Using the Map >>  

Story Sections
Geode
Geode Info Application
Satellite Status
>Mapping portion
Using the Map
Usability


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Product Details
Name: Geode
Company: GeoDiscovery
Size: 2.4" x 4.3" x 1.2"
Weight: 5.7 oz. w/ batt.
Memory: 3 K on Visor when inserted (GeoView maps take extra)
Map Storage: on Visor or MMC
Accuracy: 2-3 m
Color: No
Hard Cover Compatible: No (special cover included)
Price: $289.00


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