Navman MiVue Drive LM review

It is no secret that dedicated portable satellite navigation unit manufacturers have been floundering around for direction over the last few years as GPS and navigation has become commonplace in smartphones.

How do they present a compelling USP when a device most of us carry in our pockets all the time is muscling in on your previously safe territory?

It is something that they have all struggled with, but Navman has come up with an interesting and timely addition to its range that provides a very compelling argument indeed for a stand-alone portable navigation unit.

The Mivue Drive LM looks for all the world like a standard navigation unit – slightly larger than a smartphone, sleekly designed and easy to slip into a pocket when removed from its suction cup windscreen mount.

It features a 5-inch touch screen (with a handy stylus in the mount for those with larger fingers…) and comes with a windscreen mount, a car charger, USB cable, desktop software and, as a nice surprise, an 8GB SD card.

Why an SD card, you may well ask?

Well, that is because the MiVue Drive LM also boasts unique feature – a 720p HD digital video recorder built into it.

Dash cams have seen a drastic rise in popularity recently, for two main reasons – the ability to capture pure comedy gold on video when people do stupid things on the road and proving beyond doubt who was at fault when people do stupid things on the road.

The idea of combining a dash cam into a navigation unit is almost one of those “why didn’t anyone think of this before” things, such is the appropriateness of the combination and it has to be said that, on a whole, the MiVue Drive LM functions exceptionally well as both, albeit with a few minor compromises that need to be made by the driver.

As a navigation unit the MiVue Drive LM functions pretty much as expected, with a nice, simple interface and a sensible layout. There are a huge range of audio and visual notifications that pipe up when things like schools and speed cameras are around, which can become insanely annoying, especially in the case of the school zone warning (which lets you know there is a school near, even when you are on the motorway). But these can be turned off and on as you prefer, so finding a level of warning that isn’t annoyingly intrusive is relatively simple.

While it sometimes took it a while to lock on to a satellite on start up, once it had as lock the MiVue Drive LM was remarkably quick to re-route itself should you choose to ignore its instructions and was simply a very comprehensive, easy to use nav unit.

But then there are lots of those. So that is where the dash cam comes in.

The camera boasts a 120 degree wide angle lens and is as equally easy to use as the navigation side of the unit. It can be set up to simply start recording overtime the unit is turned on and it will simply loop over and record over old footage once the card is full, essentially meaning you can simply forget it is doing anything at all.

Until you need it, that is. The Drive LM also features a 3-axis G-sensor that will record the direction of travel, as well as the direction of impact during an accident. The G-sensor can also trigger recording if the function is turned off.

Once you have the unit set up the way you like it, it will simply operate that way every time you turn it on.

There are a few minor downside to the Drive LM – the windscreen mount feels flimsy and allows the unit to shake quite a bit during driving and the fact that to get the camera to record the correct field of view, you need to mount the unit at a flatter angle than you normally would (you can’t angle it towards the driver), but none of these are exactly deal breakers.

While there is a certain peace of mind that comes from driving around knowing that if anyone hits you, you will have evidence it wasn’t your fault, there is also the opposite effect of knowing that YOU are also being recorded. If you are the paranoid type, or a dangerously reckless driver, this may not be the unit for you then…

At $349 the Navman MiVue Drive LM is a top of the range unit that comes with a large number of other features, including lifetime free map updates, spoken safety alerts, landmark navigation, an AV-in plug with a media player and headphone jack, speed limit alerts, plus a two year warranty and many more features.

The addition of the dash cam is a great idea and the integration is seamless and easy to use, as is the entire unit. The MiVue Drive LM represents good value for money, as well as an interesting indication for the future of the portable navigation unit.