UKC

I've almost decided to join the 21st century and get myself one of these gadgets (fed up with being lost in back streets, the names of which I can't find on my google map print out). Yes I know that they're on smart phones, but I don't want to drag myself that far into this century. So, what is the collective wisdom of UKC on such things? I'm tempted to just buy the cheapest, but is there one which stands out as a "must have", or one I should definitely avoid? At under £35, this seems to be the cheapest http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noza-Tec-Inch-Lifetime-Updates/dp/B00LXTL8FI/ref=sr... is there anything wrong with it?

Thanks for your input.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

If you just want one for local use, buy the cheapy. If you plan to travel further, along motorways etc. you may find a TomTom with traffic information more useful. These tell you where holdups are and give the speed of the jam, then you can look at alternate routes.
Hope this helps.

In reply to Roddytoo:

Thanks, I'd like to use it in Europe (including Scandinavia) as well as the UK, if that makes a difference to the choice.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

We have a TomTom XL (Classic Series). Its about 3-4 years old & comes with Western Europe maps as well as UK. Found it a lot better than the previous Garmin thing we had (can't remember what model).

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Worth buying a good one, I like Tom Tom, they're not cheap though.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

On the advice from a professional driver i got a TomTom Go60. Absolutely fantastic. Only downside is that it wants to take the shortest route, instead of using main roads which isn't always the best option. However Tomtom are what you want if you're driving in Europe.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Thanks for the advice, Tom Tom it is, unless anyone thinks that's a bad idea.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

I think aldi are doing a garmjn with free maps for life for Europe soon . No traffic though AFAIK.

In reply to Dave B:

Not so cheap.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thu-22-oct/product-detail/ps/p/full-e...

In reply to David Riley:

... But it does have traffic, which I didn't think it had. Still a garmin, which as had been said , and was my experience too, not as good as a Tom Tom.

Is £90 expensive now?

In reply to Dave B:

Not so cheap as £35.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Thanks for the replies, based on them, I'd decided to go for a TomTom, (£100+), so the Garmin is a possibility. Has anyone used one and how do they compare to a TomTom?

Cheers.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

We've got a Garmin in our car. It came with the car and, as with all GPS things, I am amazed at what it can do. It is really helpful on long journeys on unfamiliar routes to be told when your junction is coming up, which lane to get in, which directions to look out for on the signs, and how many miles it is to go. "Are we there yet? No....".

However, we did find last summer, when driving to the Dolomites, that if we relied solely on the Garmin, then it was like driving in a bubble. We always knew how many miles it was until the next junction or whatever, but we had no idea where we were, in the grand scheme of things. Thus, when driving as far as Munich began to seem like too much for the day, it was only because I had bought a road atlas at a service station that we could tell that we were very close to Heidelberg, and so could decide to veer off and head for there for the night, and have a jolly time watching the World Cup final in a bar stuffed with Germans.

In reply to mbh:

Don't worry, I love maps and atlases too much to just use a sat nav.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

Having always used a Tom Tom a replacement was needed and I went for a garmin as I got a very good deal, free lifetime map updates and traffic. This was better than Tom Tom were offering at the time. Having used both I think the Tom Tom is better.