OK folks which is the best Sat Nav, for a reasonable amount of cash say £100/£150, I know you can get some seemingly good buys on Amazon or possibly even better via a search engine on the web.
Wouldn’t mind so the much capital outlay, but wouldn’t consider paying a subscription. Would want maps that are in date, Traffic congestion and Speed Camera warning plus all of Europe ( and not just motor ways,nor the need to dump one country to fit in another ).
5" screen would be nice although 4.3" would be OK, how is the sound at 70MPH with the top down?
Tomtom for useability and everything you need above in a simple package. We’ve used ours for travelling across europe with no issue, loud enough with the top down at 70mph, but with the stereo on as well it becomes a bit difficult to hear - that said the distance to next instruction feature makes it fairly obvious when you need to turn the music down or pay attention to the directions.
Others in the family have got Garmin and other brands, all are, frankly, tat by comparison. They might be a bit cheaper, but you’ll regret saving a tenner now over long term use.
Please update your profile, so we all know which part of the world you are from Have you really been a member since Apr 27 2009, and this is your first post !
All of Europe? Read the small print, as often it’s only Western Europe. That said, will you ever travel to Estonia or Bulgaria? Do you have a list of features you want? Or are you looking for a simple ‘take me to’ {postcode} Sat Nav?
IMHO TomTom Sat Navs take a lot of beating. I find them intuitive to use, reliable, and accurate, plus lots of routing options (i.e. ‘Avoid Motorways’). I’ve not had a problem hearing the spoken instructions with the hood down at 70 mph, thanks, I suspect to the relatively large speaker.
As for subscriptions I don’t think there are any options here for Safety Cameras as they change frequently and need updating regularly. Traffic Congestion Warnings, as far as I know, rely on either the latest generation SatNavs “talking” to each other, and/or live traffic info. Again I don’t think you will find a way of avoiding paying a subscription for this.
Another vote for TomTom. My third now, I started way back with a HP IPAQ with TT loaded, and eventually last year bought a Go730. 95mmx 45mm screen, you can rotate the image if you want to, but the best feature for me is it has a built in FM transmitter so you can get the instructions through your ICE head unit. I use TomTom home for all my updates, out here camera updates are freee and update weekly, and I have a 2 year subscription to the map service. I have Australia and New Zealand loaded with plenty of room for more
I have had both Garmin (4 units) and Road Angel SatNavs (1 unit) and can only compare these to each other. I will say that I will never buy Road Angel again but that is another story.
I purchased a Garmin 1490T 18 months ago and squashed it last March; I replaced it with another 1490T from Amazon at just over £140.
It has a 5” screen, covers Europe and receives free traffic info (which worked in some areas of France). I find the volume is fine at French Auto route speeds with the roof down, the stereo on with my wife singing along!!
There is also a slot for a memory card so you can add the USA to it or show your photos on the screen or play your music (mono). It has Blue Tooth so you can connect and use your phone through it.
It is my opinion that which ever SatNav you buy, the maps will always be a bit out of date but with this Garmin and other makes you get a free update to load when you receive the unit, even then I recon the maps to be 6 months to a year out of date!
I have a TomTom and unlike others here I find it ok at best.
The system works ok, bit slow to find GPS lock but my biggest gripe is their update service. New maps cost virtaully the price of a new unit!!!
My Tom TOm is a couple of years out of date and doesnt know a lot of roads!
Their speed limit data base is also very inacurate and certainly not to be relied on. And My biggest gripe was their speed camera data base, after paying their yearly subscription was dissapointed to find out that it shows cameras that are no there, bings when cameras are ont he other side of the road. Doesnt bing at some camera’s and is generally pretty useless.
I now use Google maps on my HTC phone. Their sat nav is excellent and very free! maps are up to date and I bought a dedicated speed camera location GPS detector device which works much better. not that I speed but it has saved me from points many a time on unknown roads where I misss the speed limit signs tyring to figure out what TomTom is doing!!
Got to be TomTom. It’s actually possible to crack the system and download copies of new maps from the web. I’ve got an old TomTom 300 bought cheap off eBay running a 2011 map that only cost me the price of a memory card. If you don’t want the hassle just buy a cheap bottom of the range new TomTom. If you do want to play with them then have a look at www.navitotal.com
