6. The Main Menu

Figure 26: Main Menu 1

Once a home address has been set, you can tap the Home icon to have the Blackbird route you home. Notice the down arrow: tapping on the down arrow shows page 2 of the main menu (shown below).

Figure 27: Main Menu 2

Tapping on the down arrow on the Main Menu brings up additional buttons. From this page you can view software version information (Information), manage the Address Book (Edit), and configure system settings (Setup).

7. Navigating with the Blackbird

Figure 28: Entering a Destination

The Blackbird has multiple options for entering a destination: you can enter a street address (Address), list recently found destinations (Recent), search the POI database (Places), enter longitude/latitude coordinates (Coordinate), navigate to an intersection (Intersection), or choose a saved address from the address book (Address Book).

Most of the time you'll probably be entering a street address, so let's try that method first. From the main menu, tapping on "Address" brings up the "Find Address" menu, shown below.

Figure 29: Entering a Destination

Address entry on the Alpine Blackbird is a cumbersome, problematic, three step process: first you enter the State, then the street name, then the city name (these can be entered in any order).

Figure 30: Entering a Destination, Choosing the State

Tapping on the "Change" button next to the state name brings up the state selection screen. This has to be one of the least efficient methods for choosing a state I've ever seen. Instead of being able to type in the name of the state, you have to scroll through a list of all states until you find the desired state. Even worse, the scroll button only scrolls one line at a time. If you live in Wisconsin, this is going to get annoying fast. I was amazed there isn't even an option to scroll one page at a time; you actually have to scroll one line at a time, slowly scrolling until you reach your state. Terrible user interface...

Figure 31: Entering a Destination, Entering the Street Name

Once the state has been set, you enter the street name for your destination address. Similar to other GPS units, the Blackbird grays out letters as your type, only allowing you to select letters that will spell valid street names. This is a handy time saver that also reduces errors when typing out names.

Figure 32: Entering a Destination, Entering the Street Name

One you've typed out enough of a street name, a list of possible matches is displayed for you to choose from.

Figure 33: Entering a Destination, Confirming the Destination Address

Once you've entered the destination street address, you are presented with the address confirmation screen, shown above in figure 33. From here you can either tap OK and proceed to the Map view to have the Blackbird begin routing you to your destination. Alternatively, you can tap MAP and view the destination on the map. Tapping on "Change Method" allows you to change the routing method, and option allows you to save the address or set it as a waypoint.

Figure 34: Changing the Routing Method

Tapping "Change Method" on the destination confirmation screen, shown above in figure 33, takes you to the the "Select Method" screen. From here you can choose the routing method the Blackbird uses to determine the route. "Quickest Route" is the default routing algorithm, and is the equivalent of "Shortest Time" on other GPS units.

The "Shortest Route" option sets the Blackbird to route using the shortest distance. "Maximize Freeway" tells the Blackbird to use highways as much as possible, and "Minimize Freeway" eliminates highway travel whenever possible. Alpine has included two additional routing options: exclude tolls and/or ferries.

Figure 35: Destination Address Options

Tapping on "Options" from the destination confirmation screen (shown in figure 33), brings up this menu. From here you can set the destination address as a waypoint, save it to the address book, search the POI database for points of interest near this address, or set the destination as the home address.

Figure 36: Calculating Route

Tap on "OK to Proceed" from the destination confirmation screen (shown in figure 33) and the Blackbird starts calculating the route it will take. Route calculation times on the Alpine Blackbird was relatively quick, although not quite as fast as Garmin's nuvi or StreetPilot series.

Figure 37: The Map View

Once the route has been calculated, the Blackbird takes you to the map view and is ready to start navigating. When approaching a turn, the Blackbird displays the split arrow / map view. This view displays a large arrow and larger next-street-name font along side a map screen.

Figure 38: Map View

Alpine's map view is pleasing to the eye. I found the color scheme easy to look at, and there's a lot of information presented in a clean interface. One of the features I really liked was the ability to tap the "Time Remaining" icon and toggle between time remaining and arrival time. I also liked having the GPS signal strength indicator on the map view -- something I really wish Garmin would also implement. Strangely enough, the map is not represented in 3D -- odd since that has become more or less a standard feature on all new GPS devices.

Figure 39: Adjusting the Map Scale

Tapping on the "Map Scale Bar" (shown in figure 38) allows you to adjust the map scale. The default value is 500 feet.

Figure 40: Viewing Satellite Signal Strength

Tapping on the "GPS Signal Bar / Battery Status Indicator" (shown in figure 38) brings up the satellite tracking page. In addition to displaying the number of satellites that are being actively tracked, this page also displays your current latitude and longitude coordinates, current speed, altitude, and the current level of GPS accuracy. The Blackbird requires a signal from a minimum of 4 satellites in order to accurately fix your position. In the example above, the unit is tracking 6 satellites and is claiming an accuracy of 19 feet.