Sat nav - anyone have any recommendations?

Sat nav - anyone have any recommendations?

Author
Discussion

athorby

Original Poster:

2,107 posts

240 months

Thursday 17th July 2008
quotequote all
Hi guys,

I hope this is the right section for this..

I have started a new job recently and I am finding myself out of the office a great deal and that I am often travelling to sites all across yorkshire. Anyway, I could do with a sat nav unit to make life a bit easier but I just don't know where to start and I believe there is nothing better than getting real people's opinions instead of the dodgy 'reader reviews' you find on the web.

Anway my budget is approx £150 but would consider a unit up to £200.
I was hoping to find out which manufacturer your prefer? I know tomtom is the orginial unit but how does Garmin etc compare?
My basic requirements are it must have traffic reports and speed cameras with UK maps, preferably with a feature to navigate round accidents/jams. Other than that everything else is a bonus!
If you could share your experiences/opinions,good and bad and let me know which ones you use that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Cheers
Adam

Plotloss

67,280 posts

271 months

Thursday 17th July 2008
quotequote all
If you could stretch it to £279 then the TomTom 530 is the unit to go for.

Munter

31,319 posts

242 months

Thursday 17th July 2008
quotequote all
I had a play with a few guys had in the office. And I found TomTom to be the easiest for me to navigate around and use. I got the basic one but do occasionally wish it had a bigger screen...

mmm-five

11,265 posts

285 months

Thursday 17th July 2008
quotequote all
Plotloss said:
If you could stretch it to £279 then the TomTom 530 is the unit to go for.
Or £230 for the 530T - which is the one with the TMC aerial included for free traffic updates.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-530T-Satellite-Navi...

I got my 730T earlier this year and it is so much faster to calculate routes than my old 700, and it picks up satellites much more quickly.

Edited by mmm-five on Thursday 17th July 10:56

Stig

11,818 posts

285 months

Thursday 17th July 2008
quotequote all
I use TomTom Navigator 6 on my mobile (Windows Mobile). The main advantage is that I carry the phone everywhere, it has bluetooth etc. and does a myriad of other stuff too. My phone doesn't have a built in GPS chip, but I use it with a Holox receiver which is even better, 'cos I can use it on the bike (phone in pocket, wired headset to ear in helmet, receiver stuck to bike - job done)

It obviously depends on your phone, but it may be worth consideration. Oh, it only cost me £65 quid too (and it's a legit version covering 99% of roads in Western Europe with scamera POI database!)

I considered all sorts of dedicated units, but the additional outlay and hassle of having to carry another device made no sense to me.