The DriveSmart unit comes from a military electronics background. Our first impressions were that it was a little bigger than some of the other units on the market but then they are using weapons grade components which can be a little larger but consequently more reliable. The real question is how does it perform on the road? Satellite lock is quick and reliable, volume levels good (and adjustable), and the LCD display is brightly lit and the digital speedo responds quickly. The GPS antenna is on a cable which is a plus if you have a heat reflective windscreen. We adhered the antenna to the top of the unit to make it easily portable between cars.

The big selling point for the DriveSmart is the fact that there are no ongoing subscriptions to pay for database updates, a first at the time of writing (Feb '05). Naturally this would lead its competitors to question the quality of the database so when put to test we were pleased to find that it alerted us to every camera we challenged it with. DriveSmart also goes one stage further by having data for many EU countries also included as it has been designed for use across Europe. Therefore if you are regular travellers in mainland Europe then this unit is particularly suitable for you. One small downside is the use of symbols to indicate settings such as volume and satellite strength, obviously used to be universally applicable across Europe, but if you actually make an effort to read the manual then all becomes clear and you quickly get acquainted with them.

The update software is very easy to use. Rather than connecting to the manufacturers computer to download updates an encrypted database is posted on the website for you to save to your computer and you simply click to add the database to your unit as you would open any file on a Windows PC. The same method is used for you to load any audio/voice warning you like to the system instead of using the standard ones supplied and any .wav file can be used. The unit plugs in using a USB cable and communicates via COM3 port on most PCs. Upload the files, select save to unit and then turn the DriveSmart on, not before, and it will automatically detect and load.

So should you get one? If you do not want to be committed to subscriptions then yes, and if you drive in Europe more than once a year then yes again. You need about 5 square inches of fairly level dashboard to sit the unit on, so the only thing we would not recommend it for is small curvy dashboards.