Louie has said we gonna take the plunge and purchase a SatNav
hurrah! as im pants at finding anywhere

anyhow i know nothing about them, but i surpose some are better than others right?!

Which one should we go for? something simple, we dont need a all singing and dancing one tbh
Any recommendations, or good deals spoted?

any advice appreciated

Basic Garmin is what you want

I have the Garmin Navi 310 Deluexe for £200 and that does bluetooth, pic viewing, mp3 etc etc

The basic one is quite chunkily built and our works one has been dropped on the floor a fair few times but still works, i tink you can get them from £100 or so these days

Joshua Frost-Lunn said:

Basic Garmin is what you want

I have the Garmin Navi 310 Deluexe for £200 and that does bluetooth, pic viewing, mp3 etc etc

The basic one is quite chunkily built and our works one has been dropped on the floor a fair few times but still works, i tink you can get them from £100 or so these days

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cheers for your response matey the first one you mentioned has too many un needed gadgets on it for me, but i will have a gander at the second one to see what its like

I use TomTom running on my Palm Treo with Western Europe maps so far i've used it in most countries and it has got me where i need to be, although if i'm honest i use it as a guide more than a definative tool but i have been well impressed so far.

Edit except one hotel where it took me to the centre of Rome at rush hour by mistake, so don't depend totally on the POI's

stu has a Garmin that was about 140, wide screen an thin, and it tell you where tesco n asdas are, handy when you going meets can get cheap dinner instead of paying motorway prices

Grab a Garmin Nuvi 200W

If you want Euro maps, get the 250W

Well I just went and got a Tomtom, it is great, loved the Nuvi 200w but tried for 6 weeks to get an NZ map and finally gave up. Product is good After sales service here is hopeless. So now I have a spare Nuvi with Italy and Greece emedded in it.

ebay it, or send it dave for free

LOL, for free, of course! After my son's girlfriend's parents have finished with it after a trip to Italy in March I might sell it. Maybe Kiwis going to Italy might like to buy it. And yes to alanhelen, they are only as good as the last map, you can't suspend your judgement or trust them totally.

I have the navman f20 easy to work and very accurate. Think that navman have a new model out just over the hundred mark. Look at amazon for reviews then shop around.

what sort of budjet do you have? can highly recommend the current mio and tomtom models, i have the 520 and it has been simply terrific with none of the software/crashing problems of the old models (got a poorly 510 with huge software probs, and was always a bit 'buggy') the 520 seems to second guess (ina good way) how your brain works while driving, it seems to be developed by people who actually use a sat nav.The ability to get traffic info immediately via mobile phone (though this is an extra service, that you have to pay for, abt £25 a year) was the thing that clinched it for me, i have several ways to go to work,30 miles away, but i need to know within 2 minutes of setting out where the traffic is. Another handy thing of the tomtom, is that if you have the right phone model, if you receive a txt message as you are driving, it will read it out to you as you are driving, with no need to press a button on your phone or sat nav. This does vary by phone, my old sony k750i worked a treat, my current nokia 6300 will do all the services (hands free calls, data connection for traffic/speed cam updates as you are driving), but not the text message thing
A friend has a mio c320, and that is a very good piece of kit as well, the points of interest are superior to the tomtom.but it always seems as though it needs 1 button press more, bit like going to a sharp mobile phone after a nokia.
None of the units are difficult to operate, you will probably be able to 90% run all its facilities without reading the manual

In truth, if you go for a current model, there is very little that is poor out there, go and have a play with a few, and remember the sales assitant is likely to point you towards the model they have most stock of/the highest retail margin on......

Have a play with a few, and if you find one you find easiest to use, that's the one for you. They are brilliant pieces of kit, I have been camping in devon, been on an ebay mission to collect a hifi system from a village in the welsh marches that was literall a crossroads with 12 houses, and mine has never once let me down

happy shopping, personally I would wait a week or 2, as i reckon prices will drop, or have a look on ebay in a few weeks, when everyone has had their christmas credit card bills in, and look for something that seemed a good idea at the time but no longer use,to sell to raise a bit of cash, that's when i will be looking to buy a digital slr

go along to your local halfords and have a play with a few there and see what suits you best

(but they can be quite expensive there)

When in Italy a Tomtom user told me they were the best for ease of use and map swopping and updating. I think he was right. I bought a Garmin Nuvi, it is good, but not as good as the Tomtom, which I also bought when I go home.

I have got the Sony Nav-u 92TC, but when compared to fellow dispatchers it takes longer to input destinations, but once in they can be recalled quickly. It also uses the the same maps and drivers as the Garmins. The TOMTOM models seem the easiest to program. If you are on a budget and will use it infrequently, then get a basic model, as they will still get you to the destination as the more expensive ones with bluetooth etc. Some come with a photo capture and ''navigate to this position'' facilty which could be handy in strange city's as you can take with you and it will get you back to where you left your car.

I just bought a TOMTOM ONE XL EUROPE the new 4.3" widescreen version, seems to do the trick and for £160 you cant go wrong!! (lol no pun intended)

M100 NSY

update; okies we went for the GARMIN street pilot C510T, very easy to use and lots of handy options on it too, nearest petrol station option is handy, especially as you have the option to pick which station i.e Shell garage for the Sei Turbo always a prob finding one on long journeys, problem no more

anyways we are getting on with it okies so can highly recommend this package

many thanks to all those that replyed, your comments were very usefull in our search

M100 NSY said:

I just bought a TOMTOM ONE XL EUROPE the new 4.3" widescreen version, seems to do the trick and for £160 you cant go wrong!! (lol no pun intended)

M100 NSY

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I have a Tom Tom 910 and can not speak more highly of it.

Been thinking of getting a sat nav for a while now, and with holiday coming up in couple of weeks (Penzance area) i'll take the plunge. Brother has got a tomtom and loves it, but having read posts here and elsewhere Im pretty sold on the Garmin nuvi 200w.

Been using TT One V2 Europe for about 14 months now and updated to 'MapShare' mapping now. Use traffic via V635 on Bluetooth connection. Works well and subscription bundle on traffic & speed cameras only 35 quid on line for 12 months. TT One v3 now with plug in traffic receiver which will leave your blue tooth free for headset for making and receiving phone calls

ANYthing GARMIN are the best. At halfords we get back mainly TomToms which crash often and need updating more ofen.

Anything Else is either quite slow or bad customer services and parts.