Navigon 1210 review

Navigon's 1210 is an inexpensive satnav with European maps.

It comes with a flexible holder that attaches to your windscreen via a mechanical suction cup. The in-car charger has a built-in traffic message channel (TMC) receiver to help you avoid jams by getting live traffic information via FM. Of course, this means you have to be in your car to plan routes that take this data in to account.

The 1210 is light, but feels tough, and the small 3½in touch screen is surprisingly easy to read. However, it doesn't always respond to your inputs, though it's hard to tell if this is because it's busy or if the screen itself isn't registering your presses. Acquiring a GPS signal can be rather slow when compared to other GPS devices we've tested recently.

Navigon's software shows the topography of the surrounding area, which helps you to situate yourself more easily in relation to the map. The voice prompts are clear, and if there are numerous turns ahead it will string them together in one prompt. It will also show you which lane to get into at complicated junctions. The speed limit feature lets you choose just how far over the limit you want to go before it warns you.

The 1210 remembers the places you've searched for before, and you can set favourites and a home address. A simple Take me Home button on the start page can then quickly route you from your current location. The keyboard is arranged alphabetically rather than using QWERTY, but as you type the software cleverly greys out any letters that don't appear in the possible addresses.

Route planning was quick, taking only 20 seconds to plot a route from central London to Edinburgh. Over two million points of interest (POI) are included in the map bundle, and you can choose from 26 categories to be displayed on the map. While driving, you can tap the screen to bring up a menu that lets you list the POIs along your route. A Direct Help option assists you in finding the nearest police station, hospital, pharmacy or petrol station.

The 1210 has a light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness according to the current conditions. You can interrupt the current route to warn the 1210 of a roadblock, but this is of limited use because it only allows you to enter a distance to the roadblock, with a minimum of half a mile. If you turn a corner to find that you can't continue, entering even the minimum amount confuses the device and it takes time to re-route you properly.

Although the 1210 has plenty of features, we found the GPS performance and touch-screen controls less than perfect. It's better than the Binatone Carrera X350 if you need full European maps, but it's also more expensive and less user-friendly.