So what's different? Firstly there is an all important map upgrade with the latest European maps including the UK ensuring the latest data is available to Tom Tom users, plus  a new map " major roads of Europe" is part of every product which as its name suggests covers the key road network on mainland Europe.

The Map size for the UK is hardly increased at 100mb but beware the new major roads of Europe adds another 82mb, you want to think carefully if you need this map installed on your device, the new TT3 maps are not compatible with TT2 and visa versa, this shouldn't be an issue as Tom Tom 3 purchases all come with new maps including upgrade customers.

The new trip summary in TomTom 3 is a welcome addition this provides an overall route on the screen showing start and finish destinations and of course your current location,  the top of the screen is the estimated journey time and the total distance to be covered. Of course you can go through the trip plan step by step as you could with Tom Tom navigator 2.

The new maps are welcome but the new and improved street search facility and better support for house numbers will certainly please existing users as will a better route summary and a general tidy up of the user interface with clearer icons. There are some more meaty new features in Tom Tom 3 Navigator the package now has the ability to plot an itinerary with multiple stops on route, these can then be skipped if required or stored as a favourite route, a feature that's sure to be popular with those who drive for a living.

UK users also gain a 4 character post code entry system for the first time so need to rely on those 3rd party add on's for postcode support, installation is easier with a self sensing GPS setup and tutorials on the install CD.

The new icons are much improved as is the overall GUI, we loved the previous Tom Tom design which is far superior to the vastly over priced car manufacturer systems, but Tom Tom 3 is far more colourful and dare we day professional looking.

The feature we couldn't test was Tom Tom Traffic, this is the holy grail of Tom Tom users the ability to take traffic information and use this to plan or even change routes according to traffic conditions. Available from May in the UK Tom Tom traffic uses a GPRS connection through your mobile provider either directly in your PDA (if enabled) or via a Bluetooth connection with the mobile phone.

Traffic data can present options to you while on route giving predicted queue times and the alternative route and estimated saving as diving off on a detour may not always be the best option. This looks to be the killer feature that many Tom Tom veterans have been waiting for and as a teaser it comes as a free 3 month trial with all Tom Tom 3 navigator products (excluding GPRS costs).

Maybe Tom Tom have awoken to the fact that many professional drivers are now using their software (LP got a cab that had tom tom 2 running) its seems likely as Tom Tom 3 has a waypoint system allowing for a route to be planned with multiple on route stops. These can also be skipped while on the road with a single button push which triggers the usual speedy re calculation of the route to the next waypoint.

There has been a major step forward in terms of POI (point of interest integration) this is largely due to tele atlas (supplier of tom tom's maps) getting their house in order, the library of available POI's is now comparable with other systems and the new navigation screens make it easier to find a petrol station with minimal taps on the screen. While we are on the subject of on the move interaction its good to note that Tom Tom 3 continues from one of the later Navigator 2 releases with the larger buttons which are much easier to use without taking your eyes off the road.

A nice add on is the integration with pocket outlook, should you be running this Microsoft programme on your PDA you can select a contact and request "navigate to" which will fire up Tom Tom 3 and plot a route to the address stored with the contact, it seems to work quite well but had a little trouble with some addresses.

Its difficult to find fault with Tom Tom 3, we could criticise the tom tom GPS driver that takes control of the GPS port stopping other devices using the data but is a minor issue only effecting a very small percentage of users. In fact we cannot praise Tom Tom 3 more highly, this is the standard in PDA navigation to which all others will be judged.

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