Navman N40i

The Navman N40i was released in late 2006 and is one of several Navman satnav systems to encompass the NavPix technology - the ability to store favourite destinations in the form of a picture - these pictures can be shared with other Navman owners as well as being downloaded from the Navman website.

The pictures are encoded with the geographical location information for the place the picture was taken - so for example, take a photo of Buckingham Palace and the Navman N40i will "geo-tag" the picture with the coordinates for Buckingham Palace.

If at a later date you choose Buckingham Palace as your destination, the Navman N40i will read the geo-tag information (which contains the latitude and longitude for that position) and will then cleverly navigate the user to that position!!!!!

Not only that - you can also share this picture of the Palace with other users - allowing them to visit the places you have been.

Visiting Paris? Search for images of Paris on the Navman website - download the ones that interest you, the ones you would like to visit and you are all set for a fantastic time - finding your way around the sites of Paris with little or no hassle at all!

The N40i has a built-in 1.3 megapixel digital camera - this allows you to take photo's of your favourite destinations and store them as geo-tagged images. Next time you wish to revisit this destination simply click on its picture on your Navman N40i - or share the picture with friends and family for use on their system - allowing them to visit the wonderful destinations you have been to - so much easier and so much more fun than a street map!

The N40i has a clear, bright 3.5 inch touch-screen and the system is controlled using the intuitive touch-screen menu system. The Navman N40i benefits from full 8-digit UK postcode lookup.

The front of the N40i unit has both "fuel" and "park" buttons - these will quickly navigate the user to nearest petrol station or car-park with the minimum of fuss.

The T1 Traffic Pack is an optional extra for the N40i and allows real-time traffic information to be received and acted on by the Navman unit. The information is received in the format of RDS-TMC which is free - there are no additional licences or annual fees to pay.

The T1 Traffic Pack unit will alert you to problems in your locality and then find the best route around the problem to cause you the least amount of inconvenience on your journey. The T1 Traffic Pack can also receive traffic information in France, Germany, Demark, Belgium and the Netherlands - making it ideal for both tourists and business people driving on the continent.

The N40i comes with a built-in rechargeable battery providing between 4-5 hours of use, depending on operating conditions. This flexibility allows the route to be planned in the comfort of your own home or office prior to commencing your journey - it even facilitates the ability for the N40i to be transferred between vehicles with the minimum amount of hassle.

The N40i is ready to use straight out of the box and provides Back-on-Track automatic route re-calculation if the user should stray off the pre-planned route at any time during the journey.

The N40i contains a SiRFStarIII Generation 2 GPS satnav receiver providing very accurate navigation through the SmartST 2006 navigation software and the TeleAtlas 2006 mapping information. Turn-by-turn voice guided instructions are spoken and the maps can be viewed in both 2 and 3 dimensions.

The N40i, and indeed the N-series of Navman satellite navigation systems represents a new chapter in satnav technology - NavPix is an attempt to make the use of the unit a more personable, enjoyable experience for all and this kind of innovation should be welcomed.

Like its close relative, the N20, the N40i comes with a speed camera database built-in and street-level European mapping is provided on CD - the Navman N40i connects to a PC via a USB cable.

The Navman N40i is a great satnav system and will be a good investment over the years to come.