The Tom Tom 2 navigation system consists of a hardware GPS receiver connected to your choice of PDA, the connection can either be cabled via a serial port or via Bluetooth and your PDA is secured to the dash in the supplied cradle or the variety of suction or adhesive mounts.

Tom Tom 2 works with a wide range of PDA's including the HP Ipaq range, Dell Axim, as well as Casio, Toshiba and many more, typically you will need over 100mb of memory to store the map of the UK so its common to need a storage card in your device unless its a higher end model. The software package works very well and has a better user interface than many systems costing 10 times more!

Programming of destination is via street name and place name, not postcode, this is due to the fact that the UK postcode system is very illogical and also unreliable as any user of online mapping sites will know. On test we were very impressed with the tom tom 2 navigators ability to even find a house number within a street. The software guides you step by step with both spoken instructions and graphical displays, you can choose what to have on screen, there is the option of a simple graphical display with the next instruction and distance or the map with your position indicated this can either be 2D or 3D.

After a few weeks use LP settled on the 2D map as the 3D was a bit like an arcade game, the 2D version zooms in and out automatically so that you get a close up view as you approach you next turn or instruction and then it zooms back out to give a better overview once on the open road again. Tom Tom's audio guidance warns you before the next turn "in 200 yards turn right" and then again as you arrive at the turn "turn right" there are also full instructions for roundabouts and motorways and even for Poole harbour!

The Tom Tom 2 touch screen interface makes re routing easy should you encounter the UK's nightmare traffic and wrong turns are easily dealt with as the unit calmly gets you back on track, much better than many OEM units. A recent feature allows you to push a single button to indicate a roadblock and also for you to input what distance the blockage lasts for, this allows you to dive off a road and then back on again further along rather than just abandoning the route.

With many customisable settings you can select your chosen colour scheme and even voice guidance, many of the on screen displays can be adjusted to only show the information that you want. There is a day / night setting which clams down the daytime scheme for a more relaxing and certainly less bright nigh time layout. It is possible to set a safety speed above which the display will turn the map off and just give you simple graphics, this is supposed to stop you looking at the map, but its also a handy reminder that you are over your preset speed.

Tom Tom 2 navigator can also work with POI's or points of information, these can be downloaded from many websites and are linked from the tomtom website, they range from petrol stations to a useful speed camera map! TomTom can also work alongside Trafcam which is reviewed in the main navigation section of Lordpercy.com and there are add on's like POI warner which are simple freeware applications that can be combined with the free Gatso databases to form a useful if not complete warning system.

In fact once you have stored your commonly used locations getting home or back to your place of work is only 2 buttons away and remember they are touch screen buttons so no fiddly knobs to fight with while moving.

The GPS receiver is also of high quality maintaining a good contact with at least 3-4 satellites 95% of the time, the all important time to fix (TTF) is typically 30 seconds from a warm start and only a minute or so from cold, this is an important factor or you'll spend a long time in a car park waiting for enough satellites to start your journey.

We tested the serial cable version with a Ipaq 3360 pictured to the right and it performed so well its still in the car today, one of the first routes where we trusted TomTom was from London to Poole harbour. The route took about 40 seconds to plot and then gave use estimated arrival time and route distance, the audio guidance was accurate and efficient and after a while you were following it without consciously realising so. One minor issue is the ability of many PDA's to produce enough volume, if you have a very noisy car you may have to consider attaching the PDA to an external speaker or the stereo but we can hardly blame that on TomTom. Having got used to Tom Tom 2 navigator as our companion there isn't a road map in the car now and it is 100% reliable. Despite having driven the same route to his day job for 9 years TomTom2 managed to show LP a few new routes around the traffic and it gives a great sense of confidence when in unfamiliar territory.

There are a few options when purchasing Tom Tom 2 navigator all packs come with holders, cradle, manual, discs etc, but you do need to choose between software only (if you have a PDA and GPS receiver) the serial cable version and now the Bluetooth version if your PDA is suitably equipped.

All in all a great piece of kit even if you have to buy a PDA as well, but if you have a PDA gathering dust why not give it a new lease of life as a SatNav system, its one of those gadgets you won't know how you lived without.

• Door-to-door navigation using house numbers and locations.
• Voice guided routing instructions and crystal clear maps.
• Seamless integration with Pocket Outlook.
• A ‘roadblock’ feature allowing instant re-routing around traffic jams or areas you prefer to avoid.
• Choose between 2D or 3D map views.
• A special low-glare display for night-time driving.
• Extensive list of points-of-interest including petrol stations, restaurants, hotels and cinemas.
• Automatic recalculation of the route.
• London Congestion charge ready; helps you save £5 where possible!

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