You guys had to see it coming ...

[Tak]

I have a licence to roam the roads now ... with negative navigation skills or sense of direction and the ability to get lost in a bed-sheet

I always said that once I had passed I would look at buying myself some kind of satnav.
Using my iphone isn't an option as the lighter in the car doesn't work and the battery life isn't great on my phone when using it for stuff like that (I also just want one )

So - what is the best type of satnav? The two I've been told so far are tomtom and Garmin but there are so many different models.

I'm hoping to spend £100-£150 (obv after all these lesson costs, the least the better! But as I won't be planning on "upgrading" it for a while, I'd like something that isn't just about to run out of shelf life).

I've heard about problems or extra payments needed to update maps - is that all satnavs or just some?

So requirements are: good battery life, clear audio, easy to update and program, "accident hot-spot" warnings, (if it could to the re-route en-route type thing that would be useful too)

Cheers everyone - be prepared for many daft questions to come ...

[Knipples]

Tom Tom. Mine tells me where speed cameras are as well. I don't have the traffic updates stuff but it does the job, and has only had one or two head fits where its let me down. Its great for work and very easy to use.

[Tak]

They aren't allowed to tell you where speed cameras are - they tell you where "accident hotspots" are (and you can only put a speed camera in a hotspot area - unless they changed stuff ... ? )

Do you know any good models? As I said even with just 2 makes to look at there are still so many ...

[Knipples]

Mine tells me where speed cameras are, it even does the ones where they've had average speed cameras are (50mph) and you can add or delete cameras that are on there incorrectly. (I think it works if enough people report them - you plug them into the puter and it sends and receives data)

I've got this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-Start.../ref=de_a_smtd

I paid for the thing where you get so many map updates a year (I think its like £35 quid a year) just because I travel here there and everywhere quite a bit, and so its useful to have things up to date.

[Kitten]

Afaik, it's legal because the information comes from a speed camera database which is in the public domain. The one built into the Megane does the same.

We have a TomTom Go, had it years, use it loads, it works internationally, maps and updates can be..acquired easy enough and it cost around £100.

[divine]

Be vary wary of battery life.

I've just got myself a TomTom Via Live 125 EU and the battery life is only 2 hours or so I think, so if your power socket is knackered, it'd only be any good for destinations about an hour away

No idea what the lower end models are like, probably a bit better due to less pointless gubbins trying to communicate here there and everywhere but it's something to keep an eye on, I think a lot of them are designed with the assumption you can plug it in.

Originally Posted by Takhisis

They aren't allowed to tell you where speed cameras are

They are, and they can even tell you the limit of the camera you are about to pass in case you missed the signs.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by divine

I think a lot of them are designed with the assumption you can plug it in.

That is what I was thinking

[divine]

The TomTom XL IQ Routes models seem to claim a 3 hour battery, which isn't toooo bad

[Kitten]

silly question, but why doesn't the lighter work, do you know?. Could be something simple like a fuse, might be really easy to fix, then battery wouldn't be so much a problem.

[Knipples]

Originally Posted by Kitten

silly question, but why doesn't the lighter work, do you know?. Could be something simple like a fuse, might be really easy to fix, then battery wouldn't be so much a problem.

Yup, mine died when it fused due to broken car charger for phone. I looked in the book for the car, found which fuse it was, trip to car parts shop and hey presto it lived again.