Six of the best… Sat-Navs

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :07/05/2008 16:17:24

You can’t put a price on being in the place at the right time. With this in mind, Exec picks the best GPS units to get you from A to B

By Rebecca Waters

Navman S90i

After a dramatic redesign of its satellite navigation systems, Navman has gone fully touchscreen with its new S90i. Other features include the now standard Bluetooth for handsfree calling, a built-in traffic receiver, and Text to Speech (TTS) - which speaks the road names so you don’t have to look at the display to see where you are going. The speed camera information database is also pretty useful. Unlike the beeping TomToms, the S90i will only notify you of a speed camera when it’s on your side of the road. Can’t be bad.

RRP: £249.99

Offer Price: £189.99 + free delivery

Panasonic CN-GP50N Strada

This offering from Panasonic manages to cram a huge amount of data onto its enormous five inch display, including current speed and time to destination, as well as a gratifyingly large map area. Despite this, the CN-GP50N lets itself down slightly when it comes to extras. There’s a built-in Bluetooth to pair with a phone and a photo viewer, but no MP3 player and a TMC unit must be picked up separately for traffic information.

RRP: £229.99

Offer Price: £199.99 + free delivery

TomTom GO 920 T (pictured)

TomTom’s new device is fairly similar to the GO 720, but well worth the re-investment. Ignoring the hefty price tag, its scope is as comprehensive as you could wish for – it includes 4GB of internal storage, with complete maps of 41 countries in Europe, the US and Canada preloaded. The ultra-slim unit also features a Bluetooth remote control, TomTom’s new enhanced positioning technology (EPT) and a new metallic design, which, although not strictly necessary, looks very classy indeed.

RRP: £349.99

Offer Price: £279.99 + free delivery

Garmin Nuvi 770

It’s definitely not the cheapest option, but the Nuvi 770 manages to keep the ultra-slim and streamlined form of the 2XX series while combining it with a vivid 4.3 inch widescreen display. It also includes a selection of pre-loaded transatlantic maps that suits it well to frequent travelers, as well as those who want a system that won’t be obsolete in a couple of months.

Also, while the menu system is simple and well laid out, the sheer volume and depth of information and functions is staggering – if you’re the type of person who likes top of the range models with lots of features, and of course you are, then there is very little to complain about.

RRP: £449.99

Offer Price: £329.99 + free delivery

Road Angel Navigator 9000

Combining all of the Road Angels original features and more - including full postcode-search satellite navigation and traffic & weather forecast - the new Navigator 9000 looks to follow the success of its forerunner, the popular 7000. With high quality audio (through headphones or speaker) and movie and picture player viewers, plus a four inch, high-resolution touchscreen, the unit a pure pleasure to use. It also boasts a four hour battery life so it can be used wirelessly in or out of the car, as well as an inbuilt tracking function so you can be located in an emergency.

RRP: £299.99

Medion GoPal P4425

The new slimline P4425 has tried to make a name for itself by stepping outside the realms of traditional satellite navigation, and while its music player, video player and photo viewer are all perfectly serviceable, it falls a little short in terms of its storage capacity. The supplied 2GB memory card just isn’t enough – in fact, it’s so full of data that in order to play music or video you’ll need to buy a bigger card almost straight away. Also, Medion’s device isn’t quite as easy to use out of the box as those from its rivals. Despite this, the inclusion of full European maps, free traffic information and speed camera updates means that the P4425 represents extremely good value.

RRP: £249.99

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