Search function for portable navigation device

A personal navigation device comprising a display, memory, processing means, wireless signal reception means, and means for receiving user input, said memory including at a plurality of destination identifiers indicative of a number of recently visited destinations, and one or more databases containing digitized map data and descriptive data identifying features represented within said digitized map data, said personal navigation device including software capable of performing navigation between a current location determined from said wireless signals received, and a destination at least partially identified by said user input, said software including a facility for displaying one or more categories of destination which when selected causes said display of one or more destination identifiers of said recently visited destinations of that category in list format, and for performing a search within the descriptive data representative of said particular destination category in response to said user input, further comprising:

• means for causing a first search to be made of said descriptive data and a second search to be made of said destination identifiers, said first and second search being based on user input comprising one or more alphanumeric characters made during said display of said one or more destination identifiers of a particular category;
• means for storing results of each of said first and second searches into said memory;
• and
• means for displaying said results in a list, said list being available to said user for user selection of one or more of said results.