Acer isn’t exactly known for making waves in the GPS market but the new p600 series offers some interesting features. To start with, the p610 on test scores highly on looks; it’s a particularly slim device with a 4in widescreen display and is far easier to carry around in a pocket or bag than bulkier alternatives.

Preinstalled with the new Copilot 6 mapping software you’ll find the interface and maps to be very clear. It lacks the extraneous (yet pretty) detail of the Miomap series but is certainly no worse at offering an accurate display of your location. Once you get used to the menu structure it’s pretty easy to browse around, and you’ll find options to customise your display and the behaviour of the device on your journey.

There are a range of views to choose from including detailed itineraries and a driver safety mode, and you can change the type of information that reports on the main map screen with a simple button press.

One particularly nice feature is the drag and zoom map interface. While viewing a map you can search around the country by using the stylus to drag the map location, so it effectively acts as a portable road atlas even when you’re not on a journey.

The p610 uses the latest SirfstarIII technology but unfortunately there’s no support for full postcode searching. You’ll have to do things the ‘old-fashioned’ way, selecting a country, partial postcode, street name and house number.

This is rather frustrating; the interface is awkward with a rather clunky address database so don’t even think about doing it on the move. You’ll find maps of the UK included and you’ll need a separate TMC antenna for traffic alerts. There is no safety camera database on the p610 - you need Copilot Premium for this, which is supplied on the higher-end p630 and p660 models.

In addition to the mapping software you’ll find an mp3 player, photo viewer and contacts database for easy navigation to known addresses. Acer tells us that finalised models allow music from the mp3 player to play while you’re in map view, which is a nice touch even if it wasn’t enabled on the pre-release unit we tested.

Priced at around £189 it’s up against alternatives like the Mio 510, Tomtom One and the Navman F20. Despite occasional system crashes on the Acer and the annoying five-digit postcode searching, the p610 fares pretty well. It has a larger screen, built in extras like the mp3 player and the Copilot mapping software is just as effective as Tomtom’s and Mio’s, albeit not quite as pretty.

The p610 isn’t as well supported as rivals though, so doesn’t get a wholehearted recommendation, but it’s certainly worth comparing the p610 to the big boys to see which you prefer before you buy.

Also consider:
Navman F20
As an entry level device the Navman F20 is an effective, no nonsense option

Mio C210
The Mio C210 functions well enough when it’s up and running on a journey, but it's hampered by a poor interface and fiddly controls

Novogo S700
There’s nothing particularly bad about the S700, it’s just that there are better-value solutions available elsewhere

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