Are cheap TomToms really this rubbish?

[jurbie]

I have 2 satnavs a Tom Tom 1 third edition and another one which included European maps. Both have recently died and attempts to revive them by unplugging the battery and the various other fixes have failed so I guess it's time for a new satnav. I'm not interested in fancy bells and whistles I just what to install my own POI files and have the satnav help me find them so I'm looking for something that would be a direct replacement.

I was very happy with both my satnavs so I am looking for direct replacements but it seems all the new generation models in the £100 - £150 price range seem to be plagued with all kinds of software problems ranging from not enough memory for full European maps to simply being incapable of finding satellites.

Have Tom Tom really got this bad or have the problems been resolved? The satnavs I've been looking at are the Start 20 and the XXL Classic 5 but the reviews on Amazon and other places are really quite scathing and it does seem to be a luck of the draw thing whether you get one that works or not.

Is it worth looking at a different brand and if so how easy would it be to convert my POI files?

[jurbie]

To be fair I've never had a great problem with my Tom Toms, the first was a christmas present and the second I just went into Halfords and bought the one that fitted my budget. My real problem was that in researching a replacement it seemed the same major complaints kept recurring and they were all down to basic software issues.

For instance you buy one with 2gig of memory, take advantage of the 30 day free map update and discover that the new map is over 3gig but the update has already deleted your map and your are stuck with a useless box.

As it goes after a tip in another thread I've bought a refurbished Via 100 via the Tom Tom store and so far so good however I am wary of updating it just in case it does something stupid or annoying.