Garmin or TomTom with a budget of £180

[timcs]

Hi all

I am looking to buy a new sat nav but my budget cannot stretch any further than £180 plus with the discount I get a the Dixon Group chain e.g. PCworld and currys this is where I will be getting my next one from.

Now I have looked around and found this Garmin :

GARMIN DriveSmart 50 LMT-D EU 5" Sat Nav - with UK, ROI & Full Europe Maps

and this TomTom :

TOMTOM VIA 62 6" Sat Nav - with UK, ROI & Western Europe Maps

My current Garmin is a Nuvi 57Lmi and to be honest I have not been all that impressed with it for at least two reasons, first the battery life is shocking, one 50 minute journey and it has gone completely (no option with my car and when I place it to get the in car charger to reach properly) and the other reason is that its routing is terrible plus it does not say "in so many yards turn left " etc .

Now this may be down to it being a lower end model and even with updates I have done with it , it could still be way out of date.

Also wanting the bluetooth hands free which these to have as well.

However I have used a TomTom recently and that seemed a lot better for the routing, battery and distance guidance .

So my questions are , do both model provide the "in so many yards turn left" etc because there seems to be no indication on the Garmin for this and which has the better battery life ?

 

[timcs]

Any thoughts anyone ? It is becoming really hard for me to choose because I keep reading "reviews" about both models and it is getting harder for me to know which is best.

If not these models of Garmin and TomTom for the same price bracket anyone got any thoughts, would prefer to get one from either PCworld/Currys , Argos or Halfords.

 

[Plugman]

If you are still looking then you can't go wrong with either. Points to note I have got the TomTom go 520 with wifi. Easy updates with wifi and better traffic than Garmin. But I am on my 3rd device the first two bought from Halfords both faulty. The 3rd has come from Currys and includes case for £168. I prefer the TomTom interface as well. If you go Garmin the Driveluxe 50 at £209 is the best value you do have to pay £16 for speed camera updates but they are included on the TomTom.