Which Sat Nav for under £300?

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I'm looking for a decent sat nav unit that I can connect my mobile to via Bluetooth and also to indicate speed cameras etc. The Tom Tom Go 730 looks about right however I've noticed complaints about the screen readability in bright light. The Garmin alternative is the 765T - which I think allows you to pair two bluetooth devices to it (I have a work and personal mobile so might be useful).

Anyone have any experience of these, the subscription rates for updates and reliability etc? Any better suggestions?
 
Purely on how they work and having tried the Garmin and Merdon? TomTom seems much easier and seems to be the standard.

I don't know about the version you listed. I currently use TT mobile 6 on my Orbit phone, It has Speed camera, light camera etc etc. Works a treat and is small so always with me. Never had a problem with light, depend where you mount it I guess.

Having started with TomTom 1 on a PDA and tried the all in one units, bluetooth dongle models and now the phone I do like my little set up.

Also no wires if I'm only using it for a short time.
 
i have a 920T TomTom and used it in Spain this year, bright light was not a problem. It has bluetooth, hands free, sd cards for music, streams to car radio for directions and music, inc traffic etc.
I'd give a thumbs up in a review
 
I use Tom Tom all over the world, Europe, USA Australia Africa, It's only a TT1 but perfect I tried them all Medion, Navman, Garmin & Bayer but TOM TOM is the only one for me never had any issues in 3 years
 
TomTom for me, but use the speed camera database from PocketGPSWorld.com , much better than TomToms own.

Russ
 
There is actually little to choose between TomTom & Garmin for their regular "consumer" automotive SatNav's, so it'll mainly come down to choice based on feature set and price. What I would say is that Garmin's reputation for aftersales service is probably the best in the industry. TomTom's is poor by comparison. A non-issue if you never need support, but an important one if you do.

For use in the UK the mapping shouldn't be an issue, but for info TomTom use TeleAtlas and and Garmin use NavTeq. If you're travelling further afield (e.g. Eastern Europe) then currently NavTeq has the edge in my experience.
 
I agree with Phil. I have used Garmin for handheld GPS systems and their technical support is 1st class. I've also used a basic TomTom Go for in-car GPS and thought the user interface was very intuitive. It's a tough decision.
 
Tom Tom all the way. I have an older 910 and it's still so good I just can't justify upgrading. An IT colleague just bought a 730 for a trip round Europe, and didn't have a bad word to say about it.

The Tom Tom traffic camera service is pretty good, Traffic less so (but probably no worse than other similar data feeds - there's always a lag between something happening and the info. being broadcast). I've not used the TMC reciever so can't comment on that.

The free map update service (Map share) is a great idea and I think unique to Tom Tom. I only accept corrections that have been checked and verified by Tom Tom (you can set a 'confidence' level under preferences) and there many thousands of them, even on the latest maps (which of course are bought in by Tom Tom).
 
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(Map share) is a great idea and I think unique to Tom Tom. I only accept corrections that have been checked and verified by Tom Tom (you can set a 'confidence' level under preferences) and there many thousands of them, even on the latest maps (which of course are bought in by Tom Tom).


TomTom have bought TeleAtlas and Mapshare is going to be expanded to include even more in the future. It is an invaluable feature just now, being able to mark streets as one way or no entry etc, naming un-named roads, adding new roundabouts etc, etc. I think the map share feature really sets it apart from the others and makes it the best choice.

Russ
 
I have had a Garmin for just over a year now, and I would be reluctant to recommend it. Maps are not particularly up to date, but this may be an issue with all of them. I live in Bristol, where quite a lot of development has happened in recent years, and the Garmin maps are seriously out of date around here, directing you to go down turnings that ceased to exist years ago. However, I have used it quite a bit in London, and found it very good. It comes up with some routes that I would have considered far too complex to work out myself, but which get you there quicker. Beware, X-country it will send you down very narrow country roads, but I don't think that is a trait peculiar to Garmin. Battery life is also good, so you can take it with you on foot, or in a vehicle with no 12v socket.

But, there are two big issues I have with the Garmin, which I am not aware of with the Tom-Tom.
Firstly, and this is a well-known Garmin problem, it can take ages to find the satelites. Until it finds them, it does not function. The worst example was one night I was driving some friends to a restaurant in the city centre, about 25 minutes drive. The Garmin did not find them in time. I left it on out of curiosity, and it simply did not find them all evening. That was the only time it was quite that bad, but there have been many times when it has taken 10 minutes or more.

Second, the speed camera detection is utter rubbish. I used to have a Road Angel, which I stopped using because it got on my nerves. But, it was extremely acurate. The Garmin is just as irritating as the Road Angel, but has the additional annoyance of hardly ever being correct. I would say its accuracy is around 10%, and cannot imagine what database they claim to be using. I also cannot work out how to turn this annoying feature off, and really wish I had bought one without it.

I paid around £220 for mine, but the same unit is now available for roughly £100 less, so I don't consider it was a good buy. You also have to pay for your map updates, which, as I said, are not very up-to-date. You also need to supply your own USB cable, as the Garmin does not come with one. Won;t be getting another one.
 
Used amAze on my moby at the weekend to drive to an address in Yeovil (from Warwick)
really reallty good and accurate, although it did take me through the middle of Brizzle - ok on a Sunday morning, but I wouldn't have fancied it on a weekend.
 
I bought my Wife a Snooper Sapphire Plus I think it's very good, it does seem to like narrow lanes though. The camera detect software seems ok too, also good if you like playing Golf ;)

Where did you have to go in Yeovil Ted? :)
 
Firstly, and this is a well-known Garmin problem, it can take ages to find the satelites.
This is not a "well-known Garmin problem". Have you called Garmin support? It sounds like you either have a faulty unit, the satellite almanac has become corrupted or there's a problem with reception due to positioning in the vehicle.

Older Garmin units used their proprietary receiver chipset which is less sensitive and slower at satellite acquisition than the SirfStar III chipset used by TomTom and the later Garmin units, but unless there's a problem with reception caused by tall buildings or other adverse conditions then it will still aquire enough sat's for navigation in less than one minute (normally it's < 20 secs) unless there is some other problem.
kusanku said:
Second, the speed camera detection is utter rubbish.
Speed cam databases are of varying quality, and different databases may be more accurate in one locale than another. The "independent" speed cam databases (from PocketGPSWorld, SCDB.info and suchlike) seem to be generally superior to the ones that the GPS manufacturers - be that Garmin, TomTom or whoever - supply.
kusanku said:
I also cannot work out how to turn this annoying feature off, and really wish I had bought one without it.
Again, call Garmin support, or RTFM.
 
Where did you have to go in Yeovil Ted? :)

Daughter No1 is stationed at Yeovilton, she lives what looks like the outskirts of Yeovil - Shelley Close.

Went to pick up THESE from her.
 
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I can't seem to find the reference to being able to pair two bluetooth devices to the Garmin - has anyone done this?
 
I know that you can pair two Bluetooth devices to the Zumo (which is based upon the Nuvi range, but has rather more extensive functionality) and use it as a Bluetooth hub, but can't confirm whether or not you can pair two devices to the one you're looking at. You could try calling Garmin UK on 0808 238 0000 and ask them?
 
Thanks, will do that.
 

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