The Pogo alert is now a cube a bit like a rubix cube size and shape and this makes it one of the smallest Speed Camera detectors available. Measuring 40 x 60 x 50mm it is clamped either onto your windscreen with the supplied mount or can be stuck to the dashboard. Power is via the supplied 12 volt lead and the GPS antenna is inbuilt to the upper face of the pogo. Its easily removed from the car and small enough to pop in a bag so that'll keep it safe from the hoodies.

The Pogo is a GPS based system and that means it uses the US military GPS satellites to get a fix on its position much like a SatNav system, but instead of guiding you from A to B it plots you position on a map relative to speed cameras and warns you about them. Its map is critical and the Pogo one seems bang up to date finding 9/10 of all cameras during our review runs. It has markers for Gatso, Truvelo and Specs cameras as well as mobile speed camera locations. On top of this it also has a laser detection system with infared sensor, now these are little use as by the time it's gone off you are normally nicked, the clever bit about this one is that it can be removed when the nanny state outlaws them!

So with our strangely named Pogo fixed to the dash and NE London's Gatso and speed trap ridden streets ahead we set out to see how the Pogo works. The normal display is simple yet good to look at, it shows your speed, time and the current road name. This continues for as long as you stay within the set limit for the road or if you exceed the limit and are within a set distance or time of a speed trap.

As we approached our first Gatso in a 30 limit the Pogo sprung into life (sorry about the pun) the screen switched to bright red and am image of a Gatso the speed limit and a trill sounding alarm arrived within the car. The noise is so loud its impossible to ignore and you find yourself slowing so that the warning goes grey as your speed drops under the limit for the the road and the screeching stops. The distance that the alert goes off at is configurable in either seconds (i.e. 10seconds before the camera at current speed) or in distance say 500 yards. The mapping system knows if you are on a motorway or A/B road and increases the warning time for motorways as you are likely to be travelling faster and sneaky speed traps have a longer range on straight roads.

Most parameters are configurable on the Pogo including the display so you can tone down the brightness to suit. We headed for a Truvelo site which are buggers because they are front facing and you need to spot them in advance of passing them. As we closed in on the site the Pogo leapt into life even telling us it was a truvelo camera giving plenty of time to slow down and safely pass. Last on our test list was to find a specs system in operation, these average speed cameras are becoming firm favourites with the highways agency for road works and the M1 is currently covered in them. So as we approached the Specs camera zone the pogo alerted  us but not so madly as with a fixed camera site as that would drive you nuts. After we passed the first camera it changed to show our average speed over the distance from the first camera and only turned red if the average exceeded the Specs average.

You do need to be more cautious with specs as the limit can be changed so the Pogo could be measuring you against an old limit so do check the stated limit on the Pogo V's the signs on the road. Its also worth noting that the Pogo will only alert you if the camera is on your side of the road or monitoring your lane.

Updates are performed via a USB connection on the side of the Pogo and needs to be plugged up to a PC this gives you access to the Origin 360 database of UK and now European cameras, the standard bundle comes with 6 months updates included. Updates beyond 6 months cost £50 including VAT for a full years subscription which is a good deal compared to others. The only downside is that there is currently no support for Apple Macs so PC owners only (sorry).

As we continued to drive and find more cameras and even a few mobile location the Pogo did nothing but cover itself in glory, the small cube works 100% and looks great too. The screen is very readable even in direct sunlight and we love the way it takes up so little space in the car which is already full of gadgets and furry gonks.

We did find one camera not in the database and this had been there around 1 month, Origin update the database monthly with on average 100 changes, we'd hope that this camera would be in the next update.

Priced at £234 the Amazon link below is cheaper than Pogo's own website. Yes we know you can buy a TomTom with built in Speed camera alerts for less, but for those who care about being caught this is a far more accurate and advanced method, plus you have this tiny little box that even your girlfriend will love.

Published - 09/08/2008

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