Editor's Note: Since our original review, Netropa has updated the product to feature a nonreflective screen and improved POI searchability with three radius options (within 5, 10 and 25 miles).

The Intellinav One, software manufacturer Netropa's first branded product, was notable for offering a number of high-end features, such as text-to-speech conversion, at a budget price. Now, Netropa is turning up the heat on the competition with two new low-priced GPS devices. The Intellinav 2 ($279.99 list) and the Intellinav 3 ($329.99)—which I review here—may have all of the GPS features you need at a price you can live with.

These two new GPS devices are more evolutionary products than full-fledged overhauls. The Intellinav 2 is essentially an updated Intellinav All-in-One with some minor tweaks to the software and the user interface. In contrast, the Intellinav 3 adds some cool twists. It measures 4.0 by 3.2 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.8 ounces with the built-in 1,100-mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery. It's slimmer, trimmer, and weighs less than its first-generation predecessor. As on most entry-level GPS devices, the screen measures 3.5 inches in diameter and offers a QVGA (320 by 240 pixels) resolution. I was disappointed that it had a reflective surface. Nonreflective displays typically provide for easier viewing in bright, sunny conditions. The Intellinav 3 also includes a 266-MHz Samsung 2612A CPU, the Windows CE 5.0 OS, and a SiRFStar III GPS receiver.

The Intellinav 3 now has a more conventional bracket with two thumbwheel screw adjustments. This is a definite improvement over the All-in-One, which had several buttons on the bracket, making for difficult adjustments. This new design still has volume up/down buttons on the right edge of the case—a feature I like. It's easier to adjust the volume with a physical control instead of having to sift through several menu screens. The top of the unit has a standby switch, and the right-hand side has a cover that opens to reveal an SD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack. On the bottom are an on/off power switch, a reset hole, and a mini-USB connector. The Intellinav 3 ships with both a DC power cord and an AC charger, as well as a protective pouch.

There really is a large difference between the "2" and the "3" product iterations—one big enough to make springing for the additional $50 almost a no-brainer. For instance, the Intellinav 3 has a 2GB memory card that contains an expanded database of six million POI (points of interest). The NavTeq map database has also been expanded to include Canada. In addition to "quickest," "shortest," "major," and "local" routing options found on the Intellinav 2, the Intellinav 3 adds pedestrian and pattern routing profiles. Though it does not offer live traffic reports, it does store historical traffic patterns (such as, for instance, the fact that Route 3 near your home is always backed up during the morning rush hour), and you can use those for calculating routes. Departure- and arrival-time tools are also able to show you four time and distance options, and you can choose one of them based on those traffic patterns.

The Intellinav 3 also includes some new, unique features. In addition to the speed alert feature found on the Intellinav 2, it has an alert to let you know when you are nearing a school zone, a fatigue warning that announces your "fatigue message" at one-minute intervals to keep you from nodding off on the road, and a fog advisory that announces when you are approaching an intersection. Another cool function is the emergency locator. When it's activated, a tap of the car icon on the map view displays your location, the nearest cross streets, and the latitude/longitude, along with one-touch icons for the nearest hospitals and police departments.

Navigating the Intellinav 3's interface is pretty straightforward. The main menu has six choices: Destination, Itinerary, Information, Settings, Shortcuts, and Tools. The destination icon takes you to a submenu with the usual "find" choices of address, intersection, favorites, recent, points of interest, and city center. Just like a number of GPS devices, such as the Navigon 7100, the Intellinav 3 gives you the option of entering either the city or the street first. As you tap in your selection into the alphabetically arranged on-screen keyboard, a two-line scroll box with current matches appears. After you enter the complete address, you have options to start navigation, show the destination on the map, or add it to your favorites. Once your route has been calculated, you can view the route list, simulate the route, choose to avoid specific roads along the route, or add an additional destination to your itinerary.

The POI database is arranged in 13 top-level categories. There are some weaknesses in this method, however. First, you can't search across all categories—you must first select a top-level category. Within each category you can search across all subcategories, but you need to know which top-level category your POI falls within. Second, you can't search for POIs near a specific address or near your destination. The default search is nearest to your current location, but you do have the option of selecting POIs within a specified city. Navigon-based GPS devices such as the Navigon 7100 have the same limitation. The Intellinav 3 does make it easy to find the nearest common POIs. From the main menu, the shortcuts menu brings up one-touch access to ATM, Hospitals, Gas, Parking, Restaurants, and Tourist Information, as well as to your predefined "Home" location. The categories for shortcuts are preset, and you can't change them. Personally, I think it would be nicer if you could define your own shortcuts.

I found the map view of the Intellinav 3 virtually identical to that of its predecessor. You have the traditional 2D north up, 2D track up, and 3D track up views, as well as a 3D north up view. The map view has "+" and "-" zoom keys, a speaker mute icon, and, in the lower left-hand corner, the menu icon. Actually, the physical menu button found on the Intellinav All-in-One has been eliminated on these new models. The menu icon is easily accessible, but it does take up screen space. Across the bottom of the screen, the current time, remaining trip time, remaining trip distance, and current speed are shown. The street that you are on appears above the information bar at the bottom of the screen, and the next street on your route is displayed at the top.

Approximately 600MB of the 2GB card is available for your MP3 and JPG files. Be advised: The MP3 player is very simple. Your only choices are "random" and "repeat;" playlists are not supported. The picture viewer is likewise very simple. You can play a slide show of all photos or view them individually.

On the road, the experience of using the Intellinav 3 experience was identical to that of the All-in-One. The text-to-speech engine did a good job pronouncing street names at appropriate intervals prior to a turn. The Intellinav 3 generated the same routes to my test destinations as the All-in-One, and for that matter, most other NavTeq-based GPS products.

My only serious disappointment with the Intellinav 3 was with the reflective screen. Nonreflective screens are easier to view in bright sunlight, but they also drive up the cost of the product. Overall, however, the new features (such as the alerts), along with the expanded POI database and multisegment routing, make the Netropa Intellinav 3 a good choice for the budget-conscious consumer.

Compare the GPS devices mentioned above side by side.