Oct/Nov 2007

It had to come - a satellite navigation system whose display doubles as a portable television set. And it comes from VDO Dayton, one of the longest-established names in the satnav market.

The device is based on the company's portable satnav system, which features an integral screen and system unit that can be held in the hand or slotted into an optional mounting bracket. There are two versions, with a 4.3in screen (the PN4000) and a 5.6in screen (the PN6000). The company is calling the latter its wide-screen model.

In both cases, you get a full range of satnav functions, including cross-border mapping, safety camera alerting around accident blackspots, touch-screen functionality and seven-digit postcode entry.

What you also get is digital television (in the UK that means Freeview), including teletext and Freeview's Electronic Programme Guide. Multimedia features include playback of WMV video, MP3 and JPEG files, and even games.

 

Optional accessories include the cradle, which offers Bluetooth hands-free phone calls TMC traffic alerting, and an infrared steering wheel-mounted remote control.

To conform to legal requirements that prohibit use of a television by drivers, the unit can be set to cut out when the vehicle is in motion, though this can be overridden if for instance the device is used by a passenger in the back seat.

The specifications include a 128 MB of internal memory, a 64 MB flash memory and 2GB SD memory card capacity.

Prices start at £279.99 for the PN 4000 and £349.99 for the PN 6000.