cliff homewood
09-11-2008, 10:42
Haven't found a suitable website for this so hopefully people here cna help or point me to one. I'm basically looking on Ebay at the cheap end of the market (£50ish) hoping for a good sceondhand bargain. What I know is features I'd like but don't know what I can reasonably expect, or whether there are sat navs that do it all or wheter certain features are limited to certain companies or not, I for instance know that TomTom's allow you to download different voices so you can have Darth Vader etc giving directions, is this mainly jsut TomTom's or do other companies do this. So here a lsit of what I want and would like.
First question I'm guesing from what I've seen I'm unlikely to get a cheap satnav that will be upgradeable with newer maps in future, woudl I be right? From what I've read its not just a case of memory stick capability but also of processing power, the cheap end seems to be around 300mhz.
Secondly I have seen one brand that offers free security camera updates, but that's the only one I've come across so far, mosts seem to want you to pay £50 per year or so after the first year. Also read that some are more accurate than others (read this about Roadangel being better).
Whilst we are on accuracy thats another important feature on satnavs obviously as well as it warning you on time of an upcoming turn, and in a voice loud enoguh that you can hear. Also ideally street names as well (although that sounds like a rare feature on the cheap end of the market), how useufl are those that only do a 5 digit postal codes, I'm used to dealing with 6 digit ones, although there are 7 digit postal code sat navs as well. House number would also be nice, but not that important at this cheap end of the market.
Battery life is an important one as I have on cigarette lighter in the car. So it needs to be one that can last a fair while. If I take spare batteris on a long journey with me do sat navs remember or forget everything when batteries are replaced?
So thats probably all the important stuff, on the more frivolous side would like the ability to download different voices if poss.
So can anyone tell me what brands I should be looking for, what I can get for a cheap price, and what I should give up hope of getting out of the above. Is there a good website that does comparisons between all the brands and guides you through all of this stuff, what you can expect?
First question I'm guesing from what I've seen I'm unlikely to get a cheap satnav that will be upgradeable with newer maps in future, woudl I be right? From what I've read its not just a case of memory stick capability but also of processing power, the cheap end seems to be around 300mhz.
Secondly I have seen one brand that offers free security camera updates, but that's the only one I've come across so far, mosts seem to want you to pay £50 per year or so after the first year. Also read that some are more accurate than others (read this about Roadangel being better).
Whilst we are on accuracy thats another important feature on satnavs obviously as well as it warning you on time of an upcoming turn, and in a voice loud enoguh that you can hear. Also ideally street names as well (although that sounds like a rare feature on the cheap end of the market), how useufl are those that only do a 5 digit postal codes, I'm used to dealing with 6 digit ones, although there are 7 digit postal code sat navs as well. House number would also be nice, but not that important at this cheap end of the market.
Battery life is an important one as I have on cigarette lighter in the car. So it needs to be one that can last a fair while. If I take spare batteris on a long journey with me do sat navs remember or forget everything when batteries are replaced?
So thats probably all the important stuff, on the more frivolous side would like the ability to download different voices if poss.
So can anyone tell me what brands I should be looking for, what I can get for a cheap price, and what I should give up hope of getting out of the above. Is there a good website that does comparisons between all the brands and guides you through all of this stuff, what you can expect?