Looking for the most accurate sat nav unti for under £300

[dj teknovibe]

I'm sick of getting lost and need a sat nav unit for under £300. I was thinking about the navman range and see a lot of people go for the tom tom, but i've heard bad things about the tom tom. People say they send you totally the wrong way and aren't ver reliable. Deary me, I need help guys if possible.

[oasismark]

Tomtom is the best.

More user friendly, more customisable, more options.

[dj teknovibe]

What about the accuracy of the unit, or the fact that tom tom makes very bad mistakes quite often and sends you totally the wrong way.

[sinclair]

There's no great difference in any sense between TT or Garmin but IME as an ex-TT user the Garmin British mapping has been more comprehensive and accurate than the TT.

I didn't have any particular reliablility probs with TT which is good because for the few queries I did have their CS was hopeless and by all accounts it has got worse. Likewise I've had no probs with my Garmin but any contact I've had with them has been impressive.

As I said at the top though, in operation there's very little between TT and Garmin, they are each better at different things and utimately it's down to individual taste and what you're looking for out of the unit.

[oasismark]

Originally Posted by dj teknovibe

What about the accuracy of the unit,

GPS is suppose to be acturate to 2 metres, a road is about 10 meters wide.
It may put you on the wrong road in the initial start up, but as it picks up more satalites it will get more acurate.

Originally Posted by dj teknovibe

or the fact that tom tom makes very bad mistakes quite often

What do you class as very bad mistakes?

If it says go left and it leads over a cliff don't go left. Use a combination of looking at the map and instructions.

All sat navs should be sold with a big sign that says, "must use common sense aswel"

Originally Posted by dj teknovibe

and sends you totally the wrong way.

If you know know the right way, why are you using a sat nav?

You can choose how you want the tomtom to direct you. Shortest, quickest, avoid motorway, walking etc. Also if you don't like the original route, you can ask it to recalculate one. Or if you want to go a certain way you can set waypoints.

[sinclair]

The accuracy of a GPS generally means how it's map and verbal instructions correspond to one's location. The satellite fix can be spot on but if the map isn't detailed enough, out of date or plain wrong then the GPS isn't going to be accurate and will throw up mistakes which will take you on or off the wrong motorway slips, the wrong motorway exit or fail to show all the exit routes off a forking road, crossroads or t-junction. Any of these mistakes will likely send you the wrong way, which you will only discover after you've travelled some distance and wasted time and money. If you already knew the route you wouldn't make the mistake.

Again, in the core GPS function there is little or no difference between Garmin or TT units and both have their pros and cons.