Photo sat-nav’s streets ahead

For those who find sat-nav graphics hard to follow, the new N Drive G800 could be ideal. It uses satellite photos of the road to show exactly where you are.

Only major cities are covered by the system at the moment, although other areas will become available as downloads. Using pictures is a good idea, but the images aren’t quite as clear as conventional graphics. And in 3D mode, tall buildings can obscure the route. Address entry could be better, too – only the first four characters of postcodes are accepted, and it can’t locate house numbers. That is also to be resolved with a download, but disappointingly, our route missed a couple of roundabouts.

Still, the audio and visual directions were clear in graphic mode, and speed camera alerts weren’t intrusive. Calculations were quick and the time the unit took to act on commands was fine. The controls were generally straightforward, but confusingly, the symbol for going back a ‘page’ switched between a cross and an arrow.

As it is, the G800 will get you to your destination easily. Adding cities to the photo maps and ironing out the glitches in the input commands will add considerably to its appeal.