PSP Go! Explore

The basics

A 3D, GPS-powered sat-nav for the PSP with a UMD featuring all UK and Ireland maps. There's over 100 different category overlays, including restaurants, petrol stations, speed cameras, etc. PSP Go Explore features everything you'd expect to compete in the grown-up satnav market, including a car cradle.

The good

This one comes with a mount, a UMD with the maps on and a little plug-in GPS receiver. It’s perfectly adequate as a navigator thanks to reliable satellite sucking and the PSP’s big ol’ screen.
The price of around 100 notes for the European model feels eminently more reasonable than the £180 you’ll need for the TomTom iPhone app, although still hardly a steal.

The bad

Although the PSP’s screen is plenty big, graphics are a mixed bag, with some tasty-looking 3D landmarks undermined a tad by a certain lo-res, lo-briteness feel.
More seriously, the voice instructions frequently proved inaudible even above the less-than-throaty roar of a Citroen C1. Rerouting when we took the inevitable wrong turnings was done at such a stately pace it became frustrating, so make sure you pay attention to its advice.
Again, battery life was very poor and the mount didn’t come with a car charger to plug into it. In point of fact, the mount was a bit ropey, being plasticky and prone to wobbles at critical junctures.

The bottom line

Maybe we were spoiled by the ultra-professional feeling TomTom iPhone app, but this felt distinctly second-best. You can get dedicated satnavs for around £100 that leave this standing, so it’s more of a novelty than a necessity. Unlike the iPhone, a PSP doesn’t really fit in your pocket, so it’s hard to see the point of having it double up as a satnav.
A phone is something you have to carry around, so you might as well make it double up as your satnav. Nobody, surely, feels they really have to carry around a PSP.