Best Sat Nav with European Maps

sealady

Which is the best Sat nav to get at the moment. Ideally we need something that has European maps included.

Which is better Garmin or Tom tom and does anyone know who has some good deals on them at the moment.

AdrianHi

Garmin - smaller package (except for latest Tom Toms), more accurate destination locations, more complete on maps (Tom Tom still does have my road past No. 12 despite being built in 1996). Lastly Garmin software has a bias towards shorter distances which seems to result in directing down small sometimes single track roads.

TomTom - a bit more biased towards larger roads compared to Garmin, but this can result in directions the long way around by miles just to stay on bigger roads. A bit more user friendly and less technically demanding to update the software, maps and POI's (Positions Of Interest - e,g, speed cameras, restuarants, fuel stations etc.) compared to Garmin.

TomTom IQ routes is brand new and claims to use actual travel times for roads for determining routes. Not tried it but it sounds like it could be the ideal routing solution if it works as adverised.

All of the above have a full European maps option on all but the cheapest models.

sealady

Thanks for the info!

hewhoisnotintheknow

I just use my uk tomtom, it has the equivelent of Euro A and B roads on, + also all the useful POI's like petrol stations and stuff

I wouldnt bother with buying specific maps, but others may/will disagree

Countries i have used my uk only tomtom

France
Germany
Spain
Belgium
Norway
Holland

BillScarab

I've got a Garmin Nuvi 250, they're cheap and have full European mapping. I've been pretty happy with it although as Adrian says they can favour minor roads occassionally. They're very cheap and get good reviews. Less than a £100 at Amazon at the moment.

Spen08

Hi, I've just got the Garmin 250 too but haven't used it yet, only got as far as opening the box. Probably a silly question but as I haven't got a mains charger just the car one, do I have to charge it in the car before I can have have a play about with it before I use it? Thanks.

silvercar

Spen08 wrote: »

Hi, I've just got the Garmin 250 too but haven't used it yet, only got as far as opening the box. Probably a silly question but as I haven't got a mains charger just the car one, do I have to charge it in the car before I can have have a play about with it before I use it? Thanks.

Probably. You can buy cheap mains charger on ebay for about a fiver. Worth it as you can charge up indoors and set your destination rather than fiddling around in the car.

Spen08

Thanks, just ordered one from ebay! :j

AdrianHi

Spen08 wrote: »

Hi, I've just got the Garmin 250 too but haven't used it yet, only got as far as opening the box. Probably a silly question but as I haven't got a mains charger just the car one, do I have to charge it in the car before I can have have a play about with it before I use it? Thanks.

In car charger or it charges via USB connection when you have it hooked up to your computer.
In the 2 years I've had my Nuvi 310D I've never needed a mains charger for it, it is powered in the car all the time though. Power in car is needed for the TMC (traffic master) FM ariel to work.

BillScarab

Spen08 wrote: »

Hi, I've just got the Garmin 250 too but haven't used it yet, only got as far as opening the box. Probably a silly question but as I haven't got a mains charger just the car one, do I have to charge it in the car before I can have have a play about with it before I use it? Thanks.

Yep, charge it via a USB cable and PC. I always have it plugged in when in the car so it is pretty much always fully charged.

Some good info on the Nuvi 200/250 here and for any GPS it's worth having a look at https://www.pocketgpsworld.co.uk