8. Pros

• Verizon's cellular network has excellent coverage in North America
• Ability to exclude specific roads from the planned route
• Includes traffic, weather, events, fuel prices, and movie listings
• Maps always up-to-date. No need to purchase costly map updates every year
• Huge POI database (14 million)
• Natural sounding text-to-speech

9. Cons

• Follow Me map view must constantly download map information while you drive, causing unbearably slow panning and zooming, and slow map scrolling while driving
• 2D map mode is poorly designed. Voice prompts don't announce in this map screen
• No track-up option on the map screen
• Incoming calls suspend navigation
• No off-road or geocaching modes
• Searching for POIs can be slow, depending on network coverage
• Can't buy movie tickets directly on the phone

10. Conclusion

Verizon's VZ Navigator promises to turn your cell phone into a navigation device, delivering spoken turn-by-turn directions, an enormous POI (Points of Interest) database that contains around 14 million restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, parking garages, hotels, and more, and includes traffic, weather, movie listings, and local gas pricing that lets you find the cheapest gas at the pump. Unfortunately, the software is still too difficult to use, and lack a few key features found on most other GPS devices.

VZ Navigator, which is actually a re-branded version of Networks In Motion's (NIM) AtlasBook, lets you choose the fastest, shortest, or simplest route. Specific roads can be excluded from the route, and a new traffic avoidance feature lets VZ Navigator route you around traffic jams.

Cellular connectivity means VZ Navigator always has access to the latest maps and POIs. There are no map updates to purchase, or additional costs for services like traffic alerts, weather, and local gas prices.

VZ Navigator's text-to-speech quality is good; spoken navigation instructions sound natural and pleasant. I also appreciated the convenience factor of not having to carry a separate GPS device.

VZ Navigator's also includes several connected services typically found on more expensive dedicated GPS models, such as traffic, weather, and gas price information. Traffic information is also nicely displayed, and it's easy to detour around traffic incidents. Traffic information reliability was spotty, as incident information was often incorrect or outdated -- a common problem shared by all traffic-enabled devices (with the possible exception of Dash Express).

Most GPS manufacturers charge around $60 per year for traffic subscriptions. MSN Direct, which offers movie listing, weather, news, and gas price information, also costs around $60 per year on a dedicated GPS. Map updates also typically cost between $60 - $100 on most standalone GPS devices. By contrast, VZ Navigator includes all map updates, traffic, gas prices, movie listings, weather, and events listings for $9.95 per month (or $2.99 per day).

I tested VZ Navigator version 4.1 on an LG enV2 smartphone, and found the GPS performance quite good. The GPS quickly acquired my position, and had no problem maintaining my location on the map while driving, even in the middle of New York City. Finding addresses and POIs worked well, as did automatic re-routing if I missed a turn.

I also appreciated VZ Navigator's enormous POI database that contains around 14 million restaurants, hotels, gas stations, parking garages, and more. By comparison, Garmin's high-end nuvi units have a POI database that contains around 6 million entries. The routing engine was also strong. VZ Navigator consistently produced routes on par with with Google Maps or Mapquest.

It's not all good news for VZ Navigator, however. The software isn't the easiest to use, and navigating the endless menu items can be both tedious and confusing. Even something as basic as adjusting the volume required sifting through three separate configuration pages, changing settings, and saving the new volume level. Good luck trying to quickly mute the volume while driving.

Also, most cell phone displays are too small to see from the driver's seat, and most phone's speakers are not loud enough to be heard when driving at highway speeds. Most troublesome is the choppy, slow map performance. Since no information is stored on the phone, VZ Navigator needs to download small bits of mapping data at a time. As you drive, the system needs to download new mapping data every few seconds, causing a delay while new data is retrieved.

The 2D map screen does show your position as you drive, but it doesn't scroll, and there's no spoken turn instructions when looking at the "Follow Me" map mode. Instead, the map screen reloads once you drive to the edge of the screen, making it difficult to see what lies ahead on the road. The lack of a proper scrolling map is one of VZ Navigator's biggest problems, and prevents the solution from achieving true standalone GPS-like performance.

Also disappointing was the inability to use the hands-free speakerphone while driving. Incoming calls suspend navigation.

VZ Navigator doesn't store any data locally on the phone. Instead, the cell phone downloads small bits of information on an as-needed basis. Routing calculation, maps, and even speech files are all downloaded from the network. That means VZ Navigator won't work at all in areas of no cell phone coverage, and the map screen has a tendency to hang when driving through pockets of poor or no coverage coverage.

VZ Navigator can be purchased for $2.99 per day, or $9.95 per month. That's the same pricing as the much more capable TeleNav. Unlike VZ Navigator, TeleNav is easy to use, provides an excellent 3D map view that tracks your position, and works with a variety of phones and carriers. Before signing up for VZ Navigator, I'd strongly suggest heading over to TeleNav's website and finding out if your phone is compatible. If it is, you'll be much happier with TeleNav. Otherwise, unless you're dead set against traveling with a second piece of equipment, I'd recommend buying an inexpensive dedicated GPS instead. Most major GPS manufacturers, including Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom offer very good devices for under $200.