Cobra GPSM 4000 Review
Most of us are familiar with Cobra Electronics for their radar/laser detection and two-way radio products. Cobra moves into consumer GPS navigation market with their NAV ONE mobile navigation product line up. The GPS navigation manufacturers try to distinguish their product with some unique features on their GPS navigation units. To that end, Cobra includes bigger screen size and proprietary technology called iA.S.A.P., intelligent accelerated satellite acquisition protocol. iA.S.A.P allows for faster satellite acquisition and better chance for your GPS unit to stay connected with satellite.
Screen
The 5 inch touchscreen is larger than your average 3 to 4 inch screens offered by other companies. Cobra also made the display touchscreen compatible. Their first generation units lacked the touchscreen function which hobbled it with unintuitive interaction via buttons and sub-menus. The screen is legible in any condition including day time usage. The automatic light sensor that brightens and dims according to brightness is really useful.
Ease of Use
The menus and sub-menus were very intuitive and easy to use. Combine that with attractive touchscreen function and you have very easy to use GPS navigation unit. The automatic navigation sometimes give out route that may not be shortest or fastest. You can manually enter the points you wish to travel through and the unit will automatically recalculate the route. This is pretty nice feature if you know the traveling points that's better than the suggested route. The missing text-to-speech does not hinder the turn by turn direction as it gives plenty of warning before the turn.
Reliability
The one thing you immediately notice upon unpacking is that GPSM 4000 is very sturdy unit. Weighing close to 3 pounds, the unit feels like it can take some dings. The initial acquisition time was close to 10 minutes in my case. The stated cold start tie of 45 seconds seem to be on the faster side. However, once the unit acquires the satellite, it stays connected without interruption as advertised by Cobra's iA.S.A.P. I will have to note that I do not live in urban areas or dense foliage area which might cause some interruption between the unit and satellite. Once the unit orient itself with satellite, the future acquisition time was very short. The time ranged between 10 to 50 seconds on most cases. The routes and directions are generally spot on. The unit is prone to some weird routing at times but nothing egregious.
Battery Life
No internal battery
Features
The GPSM 4000 includes many standard features like Points-of-Interest database, live traffic, pre-loaded maps, trail capture, auto brightness adjustment, and trip computer. Like most GPS navigation units, Cobra includes 7 million + POI database that includes hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and many other locations in 200 sub-categories. The live traffic updates requires optional traffic receiver to receive the live traffic feeds. Like many other GPS navigation units with traffic feed, the Cobra GPSM 4000 uses the Traffic Message Channels over FM Radio Data System. This means that only major cities and metro areas will be covered by this feature. Consult the website and manual to see if you are in the area covered by this feature. The GPS unit comes pre-loaded with all 50 states and major Canada metro areas. The GPSM 4000 is ready to use out of the box with its pre-loaded map, mounting kit, and the 12v vehicle power supply adapter.
Expandability
The Cobra has yet to offer any map updates or firmware updates.
Pros
- 5 inch touchscreen
- iA.S.A.P.
- Good POI
- Live traffic capable
- Good interface
Cons
- No battery
- Inconsistent routing
- No Bluetooth
Want to compare this model to other Cobra models? Click here to download Excel spreadsheet.
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This site contains the personal opinions of various authors and contributors to this website. The opinions in these articles and reviews are offered in good faith, but also come with no guarantees or warranties.
Pros:
* Intuitive user interface.
* Bright, big screen.
* Auto dimming day/night based on time of sunrise/sunset.
* Customizable Points of Interest (POI) — program locations into the system.
* SD/SDHC memory card expandable on top of the internal 2 GB internal memory.
* Lifetime traffic monitoring included with the unit.
Cons:
* Icons and sounds for POI’s cannot exceed one per file.
* The latest map is a bit slow in showing when you pass streets.
* The main POI files contains 6 million (+) entries, but they are NOT editable by the end user.
* The newest map available is about 2 years old right now.
* The internal POI’s have misspelled names and many like points are inconsistent with each other.
* The map/POI correction process with Navtec (the provider of the map) is painful!
* The cost of lifetime maps ($120) makes one think of upgrading GPS units every two years.
I sat watching these car GPS units develop over the years. The first ones were like my old handheld Magellan hiking unit — slow and antiquated. These new units are far better than I ever imagined they would be.
The map is spot on. The ability to customize the POI’s is a real plus, especially with Speed and Red Light camera notifications loaded in as a separate POI. Satellite sync is as quick as starting the car and backing it into the driveway. Talking turn-by-turn directions aids in focusing on the road and not signs in heavy traffic. Not as feature filled as the more expensive models, you still have one of the best North America street level maps fitting on your dash and at your disposal while driving.
Garmin has produced a winner here. After using it around town and on a couple smaller trips over the last two months, I’m glad I purchased this unit and would recommend it to anyone without reservation.
Excellent with a few minor issues
I purchased this unit as an upgrade to the Garmin StreetPilot c340 and I couldn’t be happier! There were two reasons why I decided to upgrade to Cobra. First, when taking a trip into New York City, the Garmin went completely haywire telling me to make a left turn over and over, therefore making it useless in cities. Second, on that same trip I was meeting my sister who drove in using her old Cobra GPS and she had no problem reaching our destination. Since purchasing the Cobra I’ve made several trips into the city and it never loses it’s signal or gives me incorrect directions.
There are some minor issues but I don’t consider them a huge deal. It simply may have something to do with updating the unit. Twice it took me down streets that were dead ends. The streets were intended to be extended but construction was never completed. The only other problem I had was when I was in the city and it was due to the me choosing the wrong option. It kept instructing me to take a major highway vs. the city streets. I finally realized that I had programmed the GPS to use major highways instead of local roads. Now I know to choose local roads while driving in cities. This unit has a lot of options, such as time of arrival and/or time left to your destination. It finds business’ easily, especially compared to the Garmin, and you can choose to have certain locations displayed on the map, such as restaurants, gas stations, etc. These options are great for long trips. I love this unit and will never go back to Garmin.
Great unit, except for unacceptable product support
Huge screen, detailed directions, ease of use. These things are all there; HOWEVER, Cobra has not published a software update since August of 2006. Consequently, all of the directions are getting less and less accurate as time passes. I live in a city with lots of new highways, and you can’t get around here at all with this GPS because it doesn’t recognize any of the new roads. To choose now, I would choose a unit that updates automatically rather than waiting for the manufacturer to show some concern for the accuracy of its products.
Very Good GPS; have used unit for over three years.
We purchased this unit especially for the large screen. As to previous comments: The manual is cursory at best and no additional information is available on their web site. The manual does state that you should moisten the suction cup before installing, and that you should allow the unit to actually rest on the dash. Following these instructions, we have never had the unit come loose, even on bumpy mountain gravel roads. There has never been a problem with overheating, and wrong turns have been minimal. As previously stated, it does get you there.
Approaching required turns there is a “countdown” bar on the right side of the screen that gives you plenty of warning prior to the “two dings” of the chime for the actual turn. If activated, another feature provides you with an expanded diagram of the approaching intersection or freeway ramp. User preferences are very easy and intuitive to find and change.
The unit has served us very well on at least three extended trips; one to Alaska, One across the country and back, and another from the west coast all the way east to Prince Edward Island in Canada.
On one trip we activated the 6-month free city traffic receiver program that comes with the purchase. It worked very well in all the major cities that we visited.
Another thing a user should know is that there is a need to periodically update the unit. This fixes many known “glitches” and provides database updates. Downloads are very easy to use from their web site, and the site should be checked for new updates every month or so. There is also a “pop-up” reminder in the GPS that periodically advises you to check for updates. For one large update they sent me a free CD. The software appears to be provided from Tom Tom. So far there is no cost for this.
Telephone technical support has always been fast, courteous, and accurate. A BIG plus these days. We could have saved some calls, however, if the documentation was more extensive and informative. This is the main reason that we gave it a four rating, rather than the maximum five.
We have a Toyota Highlander with the built-in GPS. Toyota recommends updating the unit every six months – at a charge each time of $200.00 for the DVDs and plus an hour of labor if you can’t install them yourself. So for the update cost for one year – $400+ we can purchase a new unit. I can honestly say that the Cobra unit is easier to understand and operate than the Toyota unit. The Toyota feature that prevents a passenger from entering or changing routes while moving is a MAJOR inconvenience. We plan to buy a new “portable” unit for the Toyota and ignore the installed unit.
One anomaly that has yet to be fixed is somewhat strange. In Canada, about 60 miles north of the US border, the “time to go” reduces the time by 50% (time to go becomes half of what it should be). This happens whether you are using kilometers or miles and continues until you return south of the offending latitude. I have brought this to their attention by email and telephone, but still no fix.
It would be nice to have an internal battery but it isn’t a big issue for us. With the supplied AC and DC adapters I can program or reprogram the unit in the vehicle or inside at any time. I often enter planned routes the night before by using one of the adapters. The unit usually receives the satellites quite well inside as long as you are near a window; but you don’t need reception to program it. For walking and hiking we purchased a very nice, hand-held, Garmin battery powered unit.
It is a very good unit and has served us very well. I highly recommend it, however, it is becoming a little outdated compared to some of the newest model GPS units. Still a bargain at the current price.
Easy to use, large display. versatility
I purchased this product over three years ago, and I am pretty sure this is the best unit out there.
It’s rugged (I’ve dropped it several times, with the dents to prove it).
You can set via points easily to change your route to the one you prefer. This unit, like all others (including web-mapping) many times doesn’t pick the best route for you, which is definitely a factor for long-distance trips. I usually use Google Maps to first plot out my route, and use via-points to alter the suggested route (if necessary) of the NavOne. A via point is a point along your route you want to travel through, so by telling the NavOne that you want to go through a particular point, it will recalculate the best route, based on passing through the via point you set. You can set up as many via-point as you wish, in order to achieve the exact route you want.
The unit has another screen you can view, showing many statistics of your trip. Current, average, and maximum speed, altitude, time, compass direction, and many others are available to display (but only 4 of these can be displayed simultaneously).
The display will automatically darken at dusk, eventually switching to a nighttime display that’s easy on the eyes.
My biggest complaint about this unit is the mount. It is the crappiest mount ever for such a great unit. It’s suction-cup based, and I’ve had the mount fail many times, sending my expensive unit plunging to the floorboards of my vehicle. I eventually used clear silicone adhesive to semi-permanently affix the mount to the windshield of my Jeep Liberty. When I use it in my Nissan Titan, I have Velcro adhered to the bottom of the unit, and affix it to a wooden stand which fits in a niche on the dash. I just rented a car for a road trip and used foam mounting tape to affix it to the dash and windshield.
not totally satisfy…
I received Cobra GPSM 4000 as a gift from my son in Mother’s Day.
I was really happy… it works fantastic. Until something happen the last time I put it on, that keeps showing “Error and I am unable to go anywhere’, because the GPSM 4000 keep saying, “Can’t find where you are” well that now is a problem. It doesn’t show the map or anything, where I am. Lili Ibarra
Cobra GPS
So far I find the Cobra unit is very accurate and has all the features I need. I like the large screen and voice directions. The only problem is I can’t get an additional windshield holding mount. So I have to move the holder from vehicle to vehicle. Cobra does not offer additional mounts for the 4000 unit. Overall for the price it is an excellent buy.
GPSM 4000
I just had this over the weekend and only payed 125 so heres my thoughts. For what I paid for it I can’t complain about what it is/isnt. But if I would have sunk any real cash into this I’de be sending it back. This is a very good sub $200 gps. Heres what you should really know. It has speech. but limited text to speech. So basically if you want a gps to tell you all the street names.. Not happening here. I added all the updates when I got it so I can tell you the 3d graphics.. like you see now on most gps’s (like tomtom) is not as good. also you really have to clean your windshield
before you stick this on your dash. I had it come off the glass 2x already in 3 days. It is a pretty hefty item to hang from a suction cup.
I ended up placing it so it actually rests on the dash while attached to the window.
Good points. The screen auto adjusts to the daylight/or lack of
the navigation is spot on. with the update installed I dont have the problems others have/ I had the updates on before I ever test drove it.
The voice commands are clear but mechanical sounding female voice. You would think the a gps that actually has a microdrive inside could have added other voices to the package. I got the database update. so I can not comment on how the new maps compare to the old. But the last update is 2006 and its close but not perfect. One quirky thing about this is it has modest actual street address finding.. It will list roads when it can not find the actual address. in a couple cases it says “no data” this is no big problem just annoying. for what i payed for it its great. The 5 inch screen.. 4.4 actual inches and a icon strip on the side is a lot easier to see than the tomtom go. May not mean much to you younger people but when you get older this is a selling point. If you can latch onto one cheap its a 4.5 at +200 a 3.5.
I forgot to add with the updates. it doesn’t jump page to page like mentioned in other reviews.. it moves along just like a tomtom.
Not worth any amount of $$$ – You will get lost if you use this!!!
Bought this unit for the big screen size and some other reviews that I had read. What a mistake. The unit operated for a few weeks OK with the turn by turn directions a major plus. However, after the initial break in period the unit lost all inputed memory which wouldn’t have been a problem for me, but my wife was on business trip and she can’t read a map from a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Anyway, she lost the home memory function and manually inputed our address. After traveling 3 hours she was directed to the middle of the state, about 2 hours from our house where she called me and I was able to help her get home although she was 4 hours and 300 extra miles late!
Went to the Cobra website for FAQ’s about the problem or maybe a software patch, which there was one for this unit from 2 years ago, later than what I had installed, downloaded it, installed it and next time we stared the car there was a loss of internal memory and the unit stated in the welcome screen that there is possibly an update to the system memory. Called Cobra tech support, they told me to send it back and they updated the BIOS and installed the same update which I had done previously. This worked for 2 days with the same result after that with all loss of inputed memory.
In summary if you want to buy this product you should be pretty sure of the warranty and possibly what the return restrictions are as some stores won’t accept returns of used GPS units.
If all the inputs you made to the memory drop off and you can’t retrieve it don’t even hesitate and call Cobra support at 773-889-3087 to ask how to return this model as it seams they can’t even fix it.
So don’t waste your time and hard earned money, buy another brand.
Excellent Product
I purchased this item after spending days reading other reviews on various products. I have a navigation system in my BMW and was hoping for one just as good to use in my motorhome. This one is actually better than the BMW navigation system.
Superb GPS
This is my 3rd GPS and I finally got it right! The Cobra 4000 has a beautiful huge screen and is very intuitive to use. The maps, as with most GPS units, could be more up-to-date since my house address, which has been here for 20 years, is not listed. The POI database, however, is phenomenal compared to my previous GPS units. I find about 90% of the places I look for in the POI info. The unit gets confused if you make a lot of changes while it is trying to follow a route. It also has given me conflicting instructions at times but I think this is due to problems with the maps rather than the unit itself, and one which I have seen on multiple GPS units. The combination of soft and hard buttons is effective, the volume is easily adjustable and can be very loud if desired. The day-night mode for the display is great! I see lots of complaints about the mount but I love it! I have a flat dash in my van and could not use the dash mount on my last GPS because it wouldn’t pivot enough for the unit to be seen easily. The Cobra mount works great on both the windshield and on a flat dash. It is heavy but has not come loose yet on the two vehicles on which I have placed it. I am very happy with this unit and glad that I bought it.
Cobra 4000 GPS
This is a fantastic machine. We used it on a 4200 mile vacation trip and it performed 99% perfectly. We had two glitches. One was when it told us the correct off-ramp but the number of the ramp was wrong.
And going through Salt Lake City with very quick freeway transitions it couldn’t keep up with them.
We used it to find motels, gas stations, post offices, etc.
I would also like to see a way of mounting it to the dash instead of the windshield. It weighs two pounds.
LOVE IT
This is THE greatest GPS on the market! It is a MUST-HAVE for everyone!!!!! I love it and use it everyday! It is SOOO easy to use, and always accurate!!!
Good navagation, bad finds
Finding the address you desire to go to kept giving me a not in database error. The only way I could program any address was to go there and then save it. Not good for cross country trips. The unit works good otherwise, telling you where to turn etc. and finding places already programed like eating placing, other interesting sites, good. I would not recommend this unit for anyone, but of course, it could have been a faulty programming on the manufactures part.