Oct/Nov 2008

Our impression

The suppliers claim that the NDrive G800 satellite navigation device is the first GPS navigator to use aerial photography to show you exactly where your destination is. It comes with a large 4.3in screen, with preloaded with Google Earth photo mapping and TeleAtlas street mapping (which includes safety camera alerts for UK and Ireland). European maps can be downloaded in addition to these.

It's that 3D Google Earth street-level aerial mapping in cities that makes the G800 stand out. It would be easy to dismiss photo mapping as a gimmick, but that would be to underestimate the G800. When the voice instructions say turn left at the next junction, it really is useful to be able to glance at the screen and see that the left turn is actually at a school or hospital, for example. And it's faster to glance quickly at a photographic image to confirm exactly where your destination is.

The photo maps are also valuable for confirming that you're on the correct route – as we found when negotiating the one-way system around Swindon town centre.

 

You can view the 3D image of the destination before you set off, and switch to and from the photographic view once you reach your destination city. All UK cites are included, along with major towns.

You can listen to spoken directions either from the device itself or via the speakers in your radio, thanks to a built-in FM low-power transmitter.

Distributor SmartDevices supplied our satnav, and while we had it the original SD memory card was replaced with the latest version 3 of the mapping software, which includes seven-digit postcode search and thousands of points of interest.

The new version is a definite improvement on the earlier one when it comes to postcode look-up, but it can still be bit pernickety. There were times when it was able to find an address from a street name, for example, but not a postcode. It also seems to have fewer points of interest than other satnavs we've tried, although that may be because we were driving through a particularly uninteresting area of the UK! As with other satnavs, you can upgrade the maps online.

As befits a consumer device, the G800 also has multimedia capability. Its impressive list of non-navigation functions includes the ability to play music and videos, which can be stored on the 8GB memory card and played through the vehicle speakers via the FM transmitter. It can also act as a Bluetooth receiver for hands-free phone calls. There are also games and a calculator.

All in all, the G800 packs in so much functionality that it takes time to familiarise yourself with how to move from screen to screen. But it's all there if you persevere.

Our verdict

Google earth images are a definite bonus for confirming exactly where your destination is. The G800 has almost too much functionality for a satnav device, but that may be what consumers now expect – especially those accustomed to multi-function smartphones.

Cost-wise, this device is cheaper than some other well-known brands, so it represents good value for money, especially when you consider the photo images that are included.

Specification

NDrive G800

Screen 4.3in TFT LCD touch screen

Resolution QVGA 480x272 pixels; 65,536 colours

Size 121mm x 83mm x 20mm

Weight 210g

Operating system Windows CE.Net 5.0

Processor Centrality Atlas-III 372MHz CPU

Memory SDRAM 64MB; 8GB SD card

Multimedia Audio: WMA9, MP3, WAV

Video: WMV, AVI, ASF

Image: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, TXT

Power Battery: 1,900mAH; AC/DC power

Interface USB 2.0; 3.5mm headphone jack

Communications Bluetooth; FM transmitter

Accessories Car charger, windscreen mount; USB cable