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ZDNet UK ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 16 Dec 2004

Getting lost in a far-flung country can be very scary. I remember walking around a small town in Thailand and getting utterly lost. The only signs around were written in Thai, and as I only had an English map in my guide book it gave me no clue as to where I was and how I could get to where I was going. If only I had carried a handheld navigation system, I may have escaped a panicked hour where I desperately tried to find my way back to the hostel.

Quite a few companies produce in-car navigation systems, but ones that can work while out walking are less common. I like the Navman GPS 3450 Voice for HP's iPAQ, which can work both in your car and when out walking. It allows you to plan and track your journey and will deliver spoken instructions if that's what you want -- although you'd be well advised to turn off this feature when out walking as it could frighten passers-by.

The Navman 3450 is compatible with the H3700, H3800, H3900, H5450 and H5550 series iPAQs, one of which is the next thing on my Christmas list, as I don't have one of those either. It retails at around £199, for which you get both the Satellite Receiver and SmartST GPS Mapping Software for Western Europe. Unfortunately, the company doesn't appear to have produced maps for any countries outside the Western world, so I won't be able to use it on my travels just yet.

Even if Navman does extend the range of maps it provides, I don't think I'll want to pay for the software for a short trip abroad. What I would like to see is manufacturers opting for a reasonably priced pay-as-you-go approach -- so that you can download the software for the region you're in and pay for the time that you use it -- rather than a one-off payment for software that you may never use again.

I expect there could be reasonable demand for this, particularly among backpackers who have set off on a year-long trip to far-flung corners of the globe. I recently returned to the UK after backpacking for 18 months and there were countless times that I could have done with such a device.

As an aside (not to mention a shameless plug – Ed): for those of you are thinking of going travelling yourself, I have written a guide to backpacking that offers anecdotal advice on travelling. The book, called The Rules of Backpacking, is due to be published by Vanguard Press in January 2005.

Navman

Price
£199 (inc. VAT)

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