Travroute CoPilot Live 5 

Pocket PC $599, smart phone $699, * * * 1/2, www.travroute.com.au

The ability to navigate unfamiliar areas with the help of a GPS receiver has been around for a few years, but has been hindered by the high cost. Many stand-alone devices come with a price-tag more than $1000.

If you already have a Windows-based PDA or smart phone with Bluetooth, it's possible to use the screen of the device as the display for a GPS system.

First you need a Bluetooth global positioning system receiver and the mapping software loaded on your handheld. CoPilot is one such kit that combines the receiver, a suction mount for attaching the PDA or smart phone to your windscreen, a power cable for the receiver, and the GPS software.

Note that your handheld won't be charged by the same power cable, so you may need to buy a car charger for trips longer than a few hours.

Installation isn't as easy as a stand-alone GPS, but we managed to get it running in less than 10 minutes. Using the CoPilot software is simple: enter the desired address and it will calculate the optimal route.

Before you leave, you're given the option of selecting a route. Apart from the direct one, you can choose to avoid all tolls or suggest a break every couple of hours on a long trip.

As you drive, you're given clear instructions that arrive on the screen as well as being read out by a female voice. The software even attempts to read out street names, though it stumbled with some. We noticed that the maps were out of date in some areas, with some new suburbs not included.

Overall, the navigation system is easy to set up, but it's still not as simple to use while driving as a dedicated GPS receiver such as the TomTom Go 300. If you can't afford that the CoPilot Live 5 is a good option.