We've seen the Navpix technology before on other Navman models but rather strangely those devices had no way of taking their own Navpix instead you had to download pre defined images and associated GPS locations from Navman's servers. Fine if you were heading to a well known landmark but they were unlikely to have a picture of uncle George's house! So we were pleased to see that the N60i has its own inbuilt 1.3 mega pixel digital camera meaning you can remove the system from its mount and make your own location snap.

Out of the box the 82.5 x 138.5 x 23 mm N60i is a very simple system to set-up, the mount is a sucker system which uses a slightly easier application method than many of the clamp style suckers which can be sods to remove form the screen. The unit itself slides into the locating lugs on the mount and clicks into place, the quick release works equally well so there is no excuse for leaving your SatNav on display.  Power is either from an internal battery which is good for around 5 hours or via 12 volt connection in car to a mini USB jack.

Power up and make your way past the splash screen saying you won't operate the Navman while driving (yeah right) and the first time to fix registers at an impressive 25 seconds, this compares very well with the average system we test which sits somewhere between 30 and 45 seconds, so no extra minutes sat in the car park with the N60. Navman have endowed the N60 with the latest SiRFstarIII™ chipset which provides a high degree of accuracy and more importantly better reception when driving in town with tall buildings or on tree lined roads like those on our test route in leafy Bucks.

This model comes equipped with Navman's own SmartST mapping system with the 2006 mapping data from Teleatlas which covers all of the UK at street level and mainland Europe, these are stored on 2gb of flash Rom as opposed to the vulnerable hard disks of some systems.

Laying in a destination is a simple affair as there is a dedicated Nav button which brings up the various options of how to input your desired destination. We opted for a full 8 digit UK postcode which is fully supported, this plus the house number was sufficient for the route calculation to proceed. We pitted the N60- against a manufacturer system (the Porsche PCM) and also a TomTom Go 500 to see which one plotted the route first and also what kind of route they opted for. The results were a surprise in that the TomTom and Navman took 25 seconds but the Porsche system just 12, however both the TomTom and N60i chose a route that used a good blend of fast A roads and Motorways with sensible B road use, Porsche opted for lots of twisty local roads, great fun to drive but exactly the quickest route.

So with a TomTom unit and our test N60 neck and neck it was time to try out the guidance on route and see how Navman's Navpix system and overall experience measures up. We pull onto the first road and the Navman starts providing directions, the screen is clear and the wide screen aspect ratio makes it look huge with plenty of room for icons and scrolling map. Colours are a little dull but very clear to read even in varying lighting conditions that are an every day hazard while negotiating the lanes around the offices. There are all the usual prompts like distance to next turn, the visual reminder as to what is next, current street name, speed, direction and ETA in fact almost everything we could hope for and still the screen was uncluttered.

This was just as well as the first T junction produced a noise that we couldn't quite make out, so time to stop and turn the radio off as we followed the on screen prompt to the next mini roundabout. Again a noise but this time in an almost silent car we could now hear a voice telling us to take the 2nd exit. So pull over to the side of the road and hunt around the unit for a volume control, having found it we pushed manically at it although it already showed at full volume. Off again on our journey and despite showing full volume it was a struggle to hear the N60i which compares to the volume of much smaller system and dare we say some PDA based ones, leave the radio off and you're fine. If you want to drive with some in car entertainment you'll be relying on the visual prompts which while clear isn't really a safe way to drive.

Next some tests to see how Navman copes with the occasional wrong turn. We started by ignoring a right hand turn knowing full well that the next right would also lead onto the same route, as expected the system recalculated almost instantly and correctly to get us "back on track". Now that isn't much of a test, instead we moved onto to whole sale refusal to follow the given route to see what the N60 did. At first we got some please make a U turn but without too much fuss the recalculations kicked in and instead of trying to take us back to the pre plotted route it dynamically calculated a new route to the destination from our current position, top marks then for recalcs on route.

And so to Navpix, the idea is pretty funky really, why bother number punching postcodes or even a full address on the touch screen when you can have pictures that represent each location. Unless you are going to download landmarks such as Buck palace or the Arc de Triomphe then Navpix acts more as a pictorial favourites section. We took a snap of the offices which is also stamped with the GPS location (you can see the details at the foot of the image) and then used this to navigate back to at the end of our outbound test.

The review sample also came with some pre loaded shots of peoples feet and other unusual shots, we managed to resist the temptation to navigate to them and find out who's shoes they were, but it did make us think it would be a nice touch if you could share your Navpix with other users. Perhaps a little mobile phone integration? for now you'll have to suck the pix off your device via USB or on a memory card and upload them to the Navman site in order to share them with friends or colleagues. We wonder how far off a Bluetooth connection will be?

We really like some of the extra features available as standard on the N60i, the petrol and parking buttons may seem a bit girly but they are also jolly useful if you need to fill up in an unfamiliar area. Just push the petrol button and your route is recalculated to take in the next petrol station from a selectable list.  Also Navman provide not just a POI capable SatNav device but also a preloaded speed camera map and the ability for the unit to warn with both a noise and icon when you are within a user configurable distance of the camera.

Should you want traffic information then you'll need to hunt out the optional TMC pack which allows the N60i to display the subscription free traffic data on screen. This sells separately for £60 which we have to say is a bit rich given the ££325 price of the unit itself.

As good as the Navman N60i is (and it is good) we find it hard to justify that current price when combined with a relatively quiet speaker, lack of mobile phone integration and traffic data. Purchase an N60 and you will get from A to B reliably and by the most efficient route, you'll love the interface which due to the large screen really works and you'll even use Navpix, just don't expect to have the car radio on.

Published - 01/05/2007

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