Product Reviews

As well as its standalone navigation devices, TomTom makes navigation software for Pocket PC PDAs and Symbian smartphones. The Navigator 5 Navigation Pack consists of an HP Compaq hx2110 PDA, an SD card with TomTom Navigator 5, a Bluetooth GPS receiver and a car-mounting kit.

Installing the software and setting up the receiver is easy. Putting the SD card into the PDA's card slot automatically installs the software and pairing the receiver with the PDA is a simple matter of turning on Bluetooth and selecting the receiver in the menu. The car-mounting kit can either be attached to the windscreen or the dashboard, and the kit comes with a cigarette lighter adaptor that powers the PDA and GPS receiver.

Once you have paired the receiver with the PDA it takes only a few seconds to find a GPS signal. The receiver uses a SirfStar III GPS chip, which is sensitive enough to pick up a signal even when the receiver is

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in the car's glove box.

The navigation software uses the same interface as TomTom's standalone GPS systems. The main menu buttons are big enough to operate with a finger if you don't want to use the stylus, and the icons are large and clear. Planning a route is simple. You have the option of navigating to an address, a city centre or a point of interest.

To enter an address, you can either type in the city or the postcode. The comprehensive Points of Interest database is split into categories such as tourist attractions, airports and restaurants, and there are a huge number of extra Point of Interest databases available online. Route calculation is fast, with a journey from Central London to John O'Groats taking under 10 seconds to plot. When on the move the 3D display updates smoothly and voice prompts are given well in advance of turnings, but the PDA's speaker has trouble coping with road and wind noise.

TomTom's Navigator 5 is an excellent GPS navigation package, and the Navigation Pack has the advantage of being pre-configured and easy to set up, as well as containing everything you need to install GPS navigation in your car. To buy the PDA, software and GPS receiver separately would cost around £450, so the Navigation Pack is good value if you want a PDA as well as a navigation system. If you just need to find your way around, though, the standalone TomTom Go 300 has a louder speaker and is £60 cheaper, as well as requiring fewer cables to be strewn around your car's interior.