Measuring 62 x 16 x 89 mm and weighing just over 110 grams it is small and indeed light, more so than many PDA phones or Smartphones on the market. Styling is a bit like the PalmOne or even something from the Apple table with smooth corners and a silvered finish, the 2.8" screen dominates the device which sits nicely in the hand and indeed the pocket. Inside the attractive Fujitsu unit sits the latest SiRF StarIII chipset providing pinpoint accuracy from the American owned GPS system, this copes well with built up areas, leafy roads and has a rather good TTF (Time To Fix) meaning you aren't sat in car parks waiting too long.

The Pocket Loox 100 is a Windows CE 5.0 Core Version device and seemed quite stable when running the main application which is the latest Navigon Mobile 6 GPS navigation software which ships with maps for 31 country's on DVD with the UK pre loaded onto a 1gb mini SD card. Set-up of the device is simple and straight forward the N100 ships with both a car holder and car charger which enabled us to have it installed in minutes and still keep it fully charged. The unit is happy to operate in both portrait and landscape mode making it easy to place in car to gain the best use of the 2.8" colour TFT screen which has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels.

Setting in a destination is simple enough although we did find that it was necessary to use the in built stylus to operate the screen, as the on screen buttons proved a bit too close together for our chubby fingers. A test route around the M25 was calculated in under 20 seconds and the route chosen was logical and easily as good as the other Navigon based systems we have tested. We set off on our first journey guided by the Loox and expected that we'd struggle with such a small unit, however we had to eat our words as the colour screen proved to have simple and effective on screen instructions and its bright and high contrast graphics made for easy reading even in sunlight. Audio directions while not up to the standard of the class leading TomTom units were strong and surprisingly loud for such a small speaker and using a combination of screen and spoken directions we were soon at our test destination. It is possible to change voices and while the English one is good there are also others in different languages if you fancy a challenge but a lack of novelty voices for now.

The route back home was to be a bit of a strange test as we deliberately went the wrong way round the M25 to try and spook the Loox, however it coped well and took us off at the next junction and back on the right way. Equally we took a wrong turn on an A road section knowing that if we kept going wrong it should route us onto an alternate road. After a bit of think (a good few seconds) the N100 soon took the right choice and avoided turning us round back to the old route.

Testing the Fujitsu N100 on car journeys is one thing but this is a truly multi transportation based unit ideal for in car or on foot, so we took it to London and set up a walking route from Liverpool Street to Oxford Street letting the now handheld unit guide us. It did a great job, although keeping it in sight of the sky did make us look a little daft walking John Cleese style with a PDA held out in front! The route chosen will vary depending which mode is selected (in car / walking / cycling) so be sure to switch it back or you will be directed up a cycle path in your BMW!

Being mobile on foot makes the battery a much more critical item and the 1100 mAh lithium Ion rechargeable unit behaved well enough and we only made a 20% dent during our walk. Charging can be accomplished via the supplied mains adaptor or the car kit and it is mark of the quality of this unit that so many of the accessories are included as standard. A=n essential feature is the persistent memory which means the devices settings and installed software is safe should your battery run flat, not all PDA's offer this.

While the onboard memory of the Loox is only 64mb, the top mounted mini SD card is supplied as 1gb, onto which you can load the GB maps from the supplied DVD which also contains street level mapping for the following country's.

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Monte Carlo, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican

During our time with the Pocket Loox N100 GPS system we also had a chance to look at some of the extras including a rather good audio player which support MP3, WMA and Apples ACC format, meaning you can transfer tracks to the device via the mini USB jack and play them back either through the speaker or on headphones. There are also a collection of retro games loaded and our favourite Pacman is there for a bit of waka waka gulp action. Add the changeable front covers to try and personalise your N100 and this really is quite a compelling package.

Fujitsu say that an optional TMC adaptor will be available allowing free traffic data to be received and displayed on the unit, although this is only going to be of use in car. Missing is any support for a speed camera map which is quite a downside and one that needs to be plugged urgently is the N100 is to gain the sales it deserves.

Priced at around £250 the Fujitsu Pocket Loox N100 is a really competent GPS navigation system which for its sized is quite an achievement, it is highly portable and the four hour battery makes navigating on foot or bike a real possibility. It is not a TomTom unit but the Navigon software is a close second to the class leader and for someone looking for a highly compact and yet stylish navigator this could be exactly what you are looking for.

Published - 01/10/2006

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