Ok chaps, i've decided it's about time i joined the 21st century, and being a typical blokes bloke i'm genetically engineered to never ever stop and ask for directions, so, i'm looking for a bit of advice on the best portable in-car sat nav system.

I'm looking to spend around £150 but obviously the cheaper the better. I've had a scan around the net and it seems as though the TomTom One and the Garmin 200 or 250 are the most popular. But are they any good ?

What about the RAC and Navman ones, they seem to be a bit cheaper, but...?

So can anyone recommend a good one ? Or even a good website with lots of user reviews ?

Cheers

TomTom for cars, Garmin for planes, period.

I was just looking at sat nav systems on Amazon in preparation for getting my own car

The TomTom ONE v3 seems to be pretty good, with a lot of decent write-ups. And for around £100 too.

There's a few problems listed in people's comments but it does seem to be mainly people who are obviously computer-illiterate.

You get what your pay for. TomTom is the best for road use. Garmin the best for light aircraft. RAC and Navman are awful (and usually come bundled free with newer GPS PDAs because no one would pay money for them).

TomTom is great. On my phone with a bluetooth GPS reciever I never get lost, and journey times are somehow always accurate!

as JJ72 said, TomTom is the best ive seen ( i work in the furniture delivery business, we use alot of those )

Garmin is second choice if you either cant find a tomtom or just simply dont like it

but id go for a tomtom first

AA Map book, they cost about £5 these days and wont send you down a farm lane by mistake.

Quote from tristancliffe :

journey times are somehow always accurate!

What TomTom version have you been using, my dad's TomTom 720 never gives accurate arrival time, maybe it's the speed my dad drives at but this shouldn't matter. We had to go somewhere forgot where but we was on the way to an hotel as I had my drifting experience and the TomTom said we had 5miles to go and somehow that was going to take 25 minutes at a speed of 60MPH.
Dont get me wrong though the TomTom's are good, I suggest you get the TomTom.

Send? They don't do the driving. You have full control to see the farm lane and think "no, I don't want to go down there". The software will then recompute a different route and get you out of trouble.

Although I would prefer the softwares to have options to avoid narrow roads, or bridges or other things. Hopefully that detail will come in time.

TomTom doesn't use your current speed to work out the time, but the suggested speed for that road. If there are a lot of junctions, tight turns and what have you then TomTom can suggest 25 minutes to cover 5 miles. And my speeds vary depending on the rush I'm in. I'm happy to sit at 150mph all day long (given a car capable of that speed, obviously), but sometimes barely touch 70mph for several hours on a motorway.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Send? They don't do the driving. You have full control to see the farm lane and think "no, I don't want to go down there". The software will then recompute a different route and get you out of trouble.

Although I would prefer the softwares to have options to avoid narrow roads, or bridges or other things. Hopefully that detail will come in time.

TomTom doesn't use your current speed to work out the time, but the suggested speed for that road. If there are a lot of junctions, tight turns and what have you then TomTom can suggest 25 minutes to cover 5 miles. And my speeds vary depending on the rush I'm in. I'm happy to sit at 150mph all day long (given a car capable of that speed, obviously), but sometimes barely touch 70mph for several hours on a motorway.

Who actually drives on the motorway and 70 these days, I think most people stay between 90-100mph.
I know the TomTom doesn't do the driving for you, my Dad only really uses the TomTom for speed camera's because he knows where he is mainly going because he has worked all over the place take buildings and bridges down.
Why do you want to avoid narrow roads, obviously you don't like narrow roads/gaps. I like going down narrow roads obviously as a passenger because you seem to go faster then what you actually are and seeing some people faces when you dont slow down and go right past them and they think you are going to hit their car lol.

I didn't really understand any of that reply, so I can't comment.

Quote from sam93 :

seeing some people faces when you dont slow down and go right past them and they think you are going to hit there car lol.

What about seeing your face when you don't slow down and don't go right past them lol?

I just had to post that. Make sure that don't happen to you.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Send? They don't do the driving. You have full control to see the farm lane and think "no, I don't want to go down there". The software will then recompute a different route and get you out of trouble.

Although I would prefer the softwares to have options to avoid narrow roads, or bridges or other things. Hopefully that detail will come in time.

The problem is people are becoming too dependent on satnav and will never question where it tells them to go. I see nothing wrong with having one as they can be useful, but I always keep a road map in the car so I can get directions the proper way.

Quote from zeugnimod :

What about seeing your face when you don't slow down and don't go right past them lol?

That wouldn't happen if it did it would be a very small chance my dad is a very good driver and my step mum is a pritty good driver also.

Anyway lets get back on-topic, we are suppose to be talking about Sat Navs, you should stick to TomToms the car on the map and voice keep up with you, on the sat nav the car on the map doesnt seem to me able to keep up with how fast you are driving, seems to lag a little, some of you will mean what I mean.

Thanks for the replys guys.

Just spent the last hour or so looking at loads of reviews and youtube clips, and it definitely seems the TomTom One V3 and the Garmin 200/250 are the best at this price range.

The Tom Tom seems to have more features including this mapshare thing, and an extra port so you can fit an aerial to get live traffic updates and re-routing. And perhaps most importantly, it has a better voice (read sexier) .

But the Garmin looks to have the better interface and a much clearer map (the tomtom seems a bit cluttered to me) + a card slot for adding extra maps. And it seems the smaller of the two, so should slip into a pocket when not in the car.

Think i'll go find a local shop this weekend so i can have a bit of a hands on play with them both, but it looks like the TomTom is slightly ahead at the mo.

Cheers

Go for the TomTom... it's the better of the two for road use (I have a TomTom). The interface may look cluttered, but it's really dead simple to use and see at a glance.

Quote from sam93 :

That wouldn't happen if it did it would be a very small chance my dad is a very good driver and my step mum is a pritty good driver also.

According to whom, and since when did driver skill have much to do with the probability of having an accident?

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

The problem is people are becoming too dependent on satnav and will never question where it tells them to go. I see nothing wrong with having one as they can be useful, but I always keep a road map in the car so I can get directions the proper way.

I too keep a map around just in case, but I also know I can override the satnav at any time. The mistake of going down unsuitable roads isn't really the fault of satnavs, but of stupid people being allowed to control a motor vehicle.

I reckon if you get stuck down a narrow road because you blindly followed your satnav then you deserve to starve to death waiting for rescue

Quote from tristancliffe :

I reckon if you get stuck down a narrow road because you blindly followed your satnav then you deserve to starve to death waiting for rescue

How narrow of a road are you talking of?

We have a TomTom One v3 at home and it's great (even better when it's in the car, mmwwuhaha ).
We also use a TomTom One XL in the van at work every day, and it has never once suggested to us to go somewhere stupid, and also seems to have very up to date maps.
The maps are VERY clear, with simple, clear and precise instructions.

TomTom ftw

The Garmin Nuvi 250W is good. Clear and very easy to use, large screen, good signal strength.

Two month ago I bought a "Navigon 2110 max".
It´s my first navi and I wanted a "pure" navi, no Blue-tooth, MP3-player, or any other Cpt Future-like gimmicks, just pure and comfortable routing.

After 2500Km I have to say: I´m still impressed by: getting online, routing, (re)-calculating, radar-warning, TMC, POVs, display, handling, sound, etc, etc... to make it short: have a closer look on it.

http://www.navigon2110max.com/en/#/Explore

No reason to have a navigation system, I already know where work is and how to get there

Well some people, like me (an electrician), travel to different places every day for work, so sat navs are extremly handy.
However, i suspect you already know that your post was slightly ignorant

Sat navs are handy, if you get lost, or get taken on a diversion etc, however, more and more people are become blind sheep, aimlessly following the sat nav, regardless of where it takes them.

Quote :

Who actually drives on the motorway and 70 these days, I think most people stay between 90-100mph.

Dude seriously, slow the hell down. No most people dont drive that fast on the public roads because there are too many idiots out there to avoid, and 100mph just isnt a safe speed to travel.

If I speed, i'll really bloody speed, and i'll do it because I have too. If I need to go around the ring road clipping 90mph to get to hospital I will because I can, but I never speed otherwise. I dont even do the taking 5 or 10mph here or there thing, and when you slow and take life at a reasonable pace and see the idiots hurtling by, you'll have time to realise that actually there are suprisingly few morons driving around at 100mph. The really stand out, and they really are rarely in full control of the car.

Speed doesnt really cause that many accidents, speed differential and tailgating does. You idiots driving around at 100 or more are endangering my life - and I have zero respect or tolerance for that.

Also bear in mind if i'm coming into a situation that is dangerous and some idiot is coming up on me speeding, I have no problem running a moron off the road and into a tree or wall, if he dies I really could not give a damned. Better him than me, and you'd better be ready for that if you come up on me whilst hurtling around with your dick maxing out the throttle peddle. I know where to put my car, and I have zero respect for anyone driving like that.