Best cheap sat nav?

Author
Discussion

iguana

Original Poster:

7,055 posts

267 months

Saturday 22nd October 2005
quotequote all
I really need one for finding addresses in cities & towns, not all that bluetooth or scamera locations malarky, so city/town mapping is the prime importance for me.

Want it to find adresses from postcode or when that not available the road name.

Euro town/cities mapping would be nice but i guess not available at the low end price bracket

Cheapest ive seen about seem to be the Garmin i3 & Navman ICN320, both available in the sub £200 area.

So pros & cons please chaps- or indeed cheaper alternatives.

Oh and while im here- are either of these two future up-datable for new roads etc ? or are you stuck with the programing as it comes?


Cheers



john57

1,853 posts

235 months

Sunday 23rd October 2005
quotequote all
I'm looking for a good sat nav as well.....

I tried the Navman - it felt cheap and the processor was so slow to take in information it was painful. Each letter for a postocde search took a couple of seconds to register whereas Garmin, Tom Tom and Road Angel navigator were all almostt instant!

I really liked the Garmin i3 ..... it is very small though. Ideal to hide away and doesn't take up too much room on the windscreen. Volume was good but the voice is a bit robotic. Postcode search is via a 'wheel' rather than individual buttons as the screen isn't big enough to show a whole keyboard type affair.

The Tom Tom looked the best of those I tried but is much bigger and £150 dearer than the Garmin i3.

I am completely torn between the Garmin i3, the Road Angel Navigator and the Tom Tom 300. I may well get the Garmin as it is so cheap and does what the others do, just in a smaller box.

Stamp

3,589 posts

243 months

Sunday 23rd October 2005
quotequote all
I went down the cheap PDA route, and you can get tomtom on Ebay cheap enough. You either have wired or bluetooth GPS.
I bought a Sony Clic35 (I think) with a wired GPS and tomtom 5 for £150.
Fantastic, with europe maps too.

iguana

Original Poster:

7,055 posts

267 months

Sunday 23rd October 2005
quotequote all
Hmm interesting what you say about the Navman, must say after seeing the tiny screen of the Garmin it was looking like my 1st choice.

Yeh Tom tom might be better (ive had them crash out tho or send me off on an odd route for no understandable reason?) but given Navman & Garmin are £179 now even the cheapest Tom tom is pretty much double the price.

si_j

254 posts

239 months

Sunday 23rd October 2005
quotequote all
Stamp said:
I went down the cheap PDA route, and you can get tomtom on Ebay cheap enough. You either have wired or bluetooth GPS.
I bought a Sony Clic35 (I think) with a wired GPS and tomtom 5 for £150.
Fantastic, with europe maps too.


Where from? eBay?
That would make an excellent christmas prezzie for the misses

Stamp

3,589 posts

243 months

Sunday 23rd October 2005
quotequote all
Yep, Ebay's always your friend.
The guy buys the bits and sells the kits ready to go. The Sony had only been out of the box to install TomTom.
( If you want a copy of TomTom5.1, let me know. )
Most pda's can have gps mice added, usually with the cheaper wired config.
Something like this... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-GPS-MOUSE-R
then add your choice of pda.
Bobs your uncle, as they say

fishtek69

535 posts

245 months

Monday 24th October 2005
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Does anyone know if the Garmin i3 gives Current Speed information? I've read some excellent reviews of this model and think that I'll probs go for one. It'll be used mostly in the Lotus Exige, so the tiny dimensions will suit the tiny windscreen a bit better.

I had a HP iPaq and Bluetooth sat-nav system earlier in the year, but just found it a really fiddly setup - wires everywhere, and an ariel stretched right across the dash. Plus it took up a fair old chunk of room. As I have no need for a seperate PDA (my phone is my best friend), the dedicated system seems the better solution.

rory

108 posts

289 months

Tuesday 25th October 2005
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Lots of info about the Garmin i3 here:

www.pocketgps.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=96

Cheers
Rory

iguana

Original Poster:

7,055 posts

267 months

Thursday 3rd November 2005
quotequote all
Garmin i3 was just too small for me & the roller twiddle knob was just too fiddly, so went Navman icn320 for the same dosh £169 @ staples= v good deals at the mo.

Im happy so far- Its 2d mapping not 3d like pricier ones but has most of the other toys inc speed etc & re-routes pretty easily & hasnt 'hung' yet.



>> Edited by iguana on Thursday 3rd November 23:40