Route 66 Mobile Britain 2005 (Bluetooth) GPS kit for Nokia N-Gage QD, Siemens SX1, Nokia 7610, Nokia 6620, Nokia 3600, Nokia 6600, Nokia 3620, Nokia 3650, Nokia 3660, Sendo X, Nokia N-Gage, Samsung SGH-D710

Author's product rating:   

Reliability	Excellent
Ease of Use	Simple
Look & Feel	Good
Durability & Robustness	Satisfactory
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Very accurate
Disadvantages:	Slow,Not good for those who walk up hills

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Have you ever left the sat nav in your car and thought "damn I still can't find what I was looking for" I have. One day I discovered, after a friend of mine told me about it, that there was a way of using my smartphone as a satellite navigation device. "Brilliant" I thought. I went straight out and bought the Route 66 Mobile Britain 2005 which set me back nearly £270! "This better be good" I can remember thinking. Trust me it's worth every penny.

Is my phone compatible with this product?
It will only work on smartphones with Symbian OS 6.1 and the Series 60 operating systems. Also your phone needs 2.6MB free RAM, Bluetooth, and a free memory card slot. As well as all that GPRS is needed but only to update the maps. At this point your thinking "oh yeah and how many phones are there like that 3?!?!?" actually compatible phones are: Nokia 6260, 6600, 6620, 6630, 7610, N-Gage and N-Gage QD Siemens' SX1; and the Sendo X.

Do I need a computer to use this software?
Surprisingly no the software comes on a 256MB mini memory card (with a converter for the standard size of course) there is also about 90MB of free space on the card which can be used for any kind of data storage.

What else is included with the memory card?
Also included is a cigarette charger for the GPS receiver and a stylish neck strap presumably for wearing the thing around your neck when you're in the middle of a field somewhere.

Is using this software easy?
Fairly the only taxing part is pairing the GPS receiver to your phone which, if you've never done it before, can be quite difficult as there are no instructions on the matter.

Ok then so how do I install this software without a pc?
Installation is easy simply insert the memory card into the slot, and the software is installed directly onto your phone although you are forced to register the software before you can start using it it's nothing challenging.

So what's it actually like on your phone then? Any good?
After a seemingly productive start disaster. As I was loading up the application it took ages to load (I even thought my phone had died on me which resulted in a lot of cursing and bad words being exclaimed about the place) "hallelujah!" I exclaimed (when I realised my phone hadn't crashed) so I was doing well navigating the animated menus on my phone when I decided I would programme a route to my mum's (for a test) what came next dampened the mood yet again. Once again my phone seemed to have frozen in time. It took roughly 7 minutes to complete the route whilst I'd got a brew, put me feet up and sworn a bit more at my phone. Anyways after a couple of millennia had passed and I'd finished my cuppa I realised my phone had completed the route to my mums (at this moment I was very happy even though my mum only lives round the corner)

So what's the actual interface like?
The software is surprisingly easy to use (all the instructions are step-by-step and very easy to follow) once you have the receiver connected to your phone it automatically figures out where you are. Clever little thing isn't it? Planning a route is very easy you simply select where you wanna go and the phone (eventually) will programme you the quickest route to said place. Also it can gain addresses from the ones stored in your contacts so you won't need to go asking where all your mates live (I think you should know anyway like but whatever). The software remembers everywhere you've been and you can store favourite places, routes that sort of thing.

Any extra features I should know about?
There are many options and features many like the ones on a computer but I'll run through them none-the-less. You can set your preferred driving speed (so you can get a better estimated time of arrival), it has a night viewing mode and it can identify points upon the route like museums and things and it also (this is pretty nifty) can view routes in 3D! Although adjusting the viewing angle can take a while with the small keys on a mobile it's well worth it. When you configure a speed limit on your route if you go above it your phone will start beeping and loads of crazy things will start happening so you realise and this will continue until you've gone below the limit you pre-set. If you have GPRS enabled you can get live updates of traffic reports and be rerouted to avoid gridlock and high traffic this is included free with the package but you still have to pay for the GPRS.

I can't look at my phone while driving that's illegal!
I've just realised I've not told you that it does (wait for it) voice instructions! Yep the tables have turned and now your mobile is speaking to you. Spoken instructions are a lot easier to handle when driving and are safer and legal although sometimes the commands where a little quiet no major problems there.

I like walking in the hills what can this offer me?
Ok pull up your walking socks and listen closely. By having the receiver in say your camping bag or something and your phone in your pocket you can get directions to the nearest field of whatever while you walk! Although sometimes the spoken commands are still a bit faint (as phone speakers are tiny) it's still usable. Here comes the bad part the maps do not display footpaths and the like just roads which isn't very good for walkers that like to navigate round the country using footpaths. So I would say a printed map or ordnance survey map would be better for walkers than satellite navigation software.

Right ok to summarise: this software is amazingly good for in car navigation and navigation between roads but for walkers who want to traipse up and down country lanes all day it's a no no.

This has been my first review please send me comments so I can update and learn how to improve my future reviews

Thanks for reading
B.Nucleus