I am looking to buy my first Sat Nav. I considered the Columbus unit when I ordered my new Scout but it was just too expensive. A friend recently bought a TomTom Go 720 and says it is good. I am inclined to go with that, especially since the price has recently dropped below £200.

I know a lot of you on this forum have Sat Navs so a bit of advice on what to go for would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here try this http://www.briskoda.net/forums/ice-security-insurance/best-portable-sat-nav/93593/

Buy a good road Atlas for £10.00 and save £190. You don't miss what you've never had!

Just bought one of these as my 1st SatNav - EU maps on disc and traffic TMC for a remarkable price.

Works too

Maplin > Navman N20 GPS Satellite Navigation with NavPix™ Technology

Which ever one you go for, I suggest a finding a flat one and attach it with velcro to the dash just above the radio. Then you don't have to use the mounting bracket attached to the wind screen, which means you don't leave tell tale round marks on the wind screen to tell theifs you have a sat nav, you don't block the view through the windscreen and finally you can take it off the dash board and put it away a lot quicker when you have finished using it.

I use a Navman N60 because of this, though I think the Tom Tom versions have a better user interface.

Look at the VIAMICHELIN X-960 you can get for under £100 online and it comes with free safety camera updates for life

Thanks red-devil. Missed that thread - it does seem to confirm that my friend's choice of the TomTom Go 720 will be fine for most purposes. However I did note the comment from skudmissile that their customer service is 'non-existant'!

Have decided on the TomTom Go 720 - £180.80 in Amazon.

Thanks for all the replies. And a Happy New Year to you all!

Which ever one you go for, I suggest a finding a flat one and attach it with velcro to the dash just above the radio. Then you don't have to use the mounting bracket attached to the wind screen, which means you don't leave tell tale round marks on the wind screen to tell theifs you have a sat nav, you don't block the view through the windscreen and finally you can take it off the dash board and put it away a lot quicker when you have finished using it.

Now that is nothing short of bl**dy inspired! Simple yet brilliant. Top tip.

I've been looking at different models for a while and have settled on the Garmin 610T. Got bluetooth built in, less clutter/wiring in the car and it is a flatscreen unit, ideal for the velcro advice!

I have a Tomtom One V.3 that works very well. If you turn it upside down it will wedge in the cubby hole on top of the dash. Not ideal, but avoids the windscreen sucker. There is a facility to turn the info. display upside down as well. I have found the Tomtom service to be OK. There is a problem at the moment with the PC software, in that you cannot automatically update the speed camera info. Version two is promised sometime. However, I found the help from the service people to be good, they gave me a work round, and correctly diagnosed the problem.

See here

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/general-car-chat/tom-tom-one-sat-nav-deal-99-99-a/97724/

Version two is promised sometime.

I'm using version 2.1 on a PC already, its been out a while now.. Worth checking their website for download.. I'm actually waiting for the Mac version (home choice whereas PC is at work) which TT say they are working on.... I wish they would hurry up cos its not that stable on Mac. I have a TT Go 520 Traffic btw - works great and also use it in the dash pop up. Have found the support okay, not brilliant, bit slow to respond to questions posted on their site...

I've just ordered the TomTom 720T from Dixons at £203. Thought I'd pay a little more in order to have the traffic update facility on the basis that it may get a whole load better in the next couple of years. Or perhaps not - who knows?

However, I've also ordered the Proclip bracket (item no. 653525) and swivel mount (item no. 215267) from DSL Developments for £41.97 inc VAT and P&P. Quite a lot but an infinitely more attractive and satisfactory arrangement than either suckers or velcro (I hope!)

Buy a Brodit TomTom GO720 T Car Holder | UK

Bear in mind that the site will tell you that brackets are not available for some models. I have an Elegance but have ordered one for a Vrs (which seems to have exactly the same dashboard arrangement in the picture).

My old TT 300 is extremely good because it copes with full postcode search which the VW Group/Skoda built in sat nav can't (which makes it virtually useless for me). But its pretty out of date now and time for a change.

Good luck. If I can work out how to, I'll stick a picture of the fitted product on this site.

Dill

A pix would help me decide whether to fork out for a Brodit - or just stick with using the dash flip-up position.

Some pics on Dilly's link

Clicky here

You'll need both the holder and the proclip.

I had a Brodit fitted a few years ago in a Peugeot for my mobile phone kit and have to say it was a decent bit of kit. Lasted for two years with me using it constantly several times a day. Was still going strong when I sold the car.