Sat Nav System

[irish al]

Am planning on getting sat nav for the car to use for work.

As there is so many available has anyone got any advice.

Looking for someting small, nice looking, portable, and accurate with on screen directions and voice commands.

I do have a road map but cant be botherd stopping every 10 min when in a town to remenber where I am going.

Alan

[dan_jess]

My m8 has the tom tom, it seems good, he drives the hire buses and dont think its let him down yet

[dan_jess]

Tom Tom

Here u go m8

[paulc555]

never mind that....

picked up the new Garmin I3 last week......

fantastic....small colour screen, voice commands, portable between the scoob and work car......downloaded speed cameras and speed limits onto it....its got everything....

and all for £169... in good old Argos, or PC World...

trust me they are going like hot cakes....why spend £250+...

eh....

[dan_jess]

That sounds like a better option, i havent a clue with all these sat nav things, just knew my friend had 1 of them.

That Garmin thing cud be a good xmas pressie

[st3ph3n]

That's a damn good price.

I use TomTom Mobile 5, which is running on my Orange SPV C500 phone. I've got an external bluetooth GPS receiver that I picked up off ebay for £50. The software itself fell of the back of a lorry.

[paulc555]

I really can't fault its accuracy.....I've doubted it sometimes but stuck with it and its never let me down once....

not sure if im allowed to do this but you can read more on it here..

http://www.garmin.com/products/spi3/

cheers

[dan_jess]

CLICKY

[Highlander68000]

If you've ever used the TomTom and the i3 you wouldn't use the i3 for anything other than a paperweight.

The i3 is great for a-b journeys that you take once a month. Try programming it even ten minutes between stops and you'll throw it out of the window before long.

If you work on postcodes and house numbers, then the Garmin range is crap.

The TomTom is customisable beyond what many would want.

I've just tried 12 different SatNav units and nothing comes close to the TomTom for everyday use. If it's down to money then obviously go for a lesser capable unit.

*plug alert* Issue 8 of Scooby Magazine has a dedicated portable GPS unit review *plug alert*

[paulc555]

exactly...im not trying to say the garmin is the be all and end all......but for a 1st time system for not a lot of money its great....

feel free to spend £200 plus..........

just thought i would point out this little bargain.....

**** edited to remove the angry tone after being told I'd bought a paperweight ****

[Highlander68000]

<< exactly...im not trying to say the garmin is the be all and end all......but for a 1st time system for not a lot of money its great....

feel free to spend £200 plus..........

just thought i would point out this little bargain.....

i'll shut up in future.....

>>

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across 'harsh' and offend you.

There has been so much hype about the Garmin units and I was hugely disappointed with them. The first five digits of my postcode aren't even on there and my house has been standing since 1953.

All GPS units are great - they really do save you the hassle of planning your journey. Unfortunately, having used a dozen different ones under many different scenarios, I have discovered that many aren't as good as what they seem, when it comes to using them.

For example - try programming the navman or i3 while you're (ahem) driving.