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Binatone has recently branched out into the GPS market with its Carrera X350, a rather basic, yet portable, navigation aide.
The sat nav aims at the entry level market, so we were not expecting many additional features, although we were a little surprised not to see Bluetooth pairing, considering the manufacturer's history in the telephone market.
A sturdy and manoeuvrable windscreen mount is supplied in the box along with the token cigarette lighter charger. On the unit itself you'll find a power switch, headphone jack port and TMC connection, and a spare SD card slot for loading additional maps.
The X350 starts up pretty quickly, offering you the option to view current GPS settings or adjust the general control settings. You'll also find a document and picture viewer, but the bulk of the functionality is obviously found under the navigation menu.
Here you can choose to navigate by address, seven-digit postcode, favourites, recent locations or POIs (Points of Interest), and can also create a multi-point route by building a 'trip' using multiple destinations. When you get into navigation itself, you'll find a Mio-style cockpit screen with a map view and trip computer showing typical speed/time/ETA details.
The maps and spoken directions are very clear, with just about the right sensitivity for recalculations if you take a wrong turn. Position on the road, along with trip information, is very accurate, with reassuring confirmation of your current location and next waypoint en route.
There's also an Alternative Route function that enables you to skip a specific distance on the pre-planned route before rejoining, handy for avoiding unexpected traffic jams. Binatone even includes a free UK safety camera database, with free updates for the first six months.
The X350's navigation features are basic but very capable, making it a good budget sat nav.
See also:
One of the most feature packed mid-range GPS systems around 03 May 2007All Gadgets
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