Oh OK I am obviously behind the times, thanks :)

That's an interesting idea thanks for that, I will have a ponder! Cheers.

If you need camera warnings then it might be better to buy a specialist speed management toy and let it help you stick to the speed limit, or warn you of cameras where you consider the limit has been set too low.(Yes, there are such places).

Just don't take it to France, they are illegal and the penalties are severe (probably not just frog march to nearest cash machine to empty your bank account).

If using mobile phone solution for sat-nav there is the added consideration of areas where the 3g / 2g connection fails or is very expensive if overseas.

The problem with Garmin is that they are slow and their mapping is woefully lacking in upto date information.Better of with a cheap chinese model of flebay.

'I bought a TomTom XXL with European maps in the summer - it was on special offer at the time. It has a nice big screen.'

I have had a Tom Tom XXL Classic with European mapping for about 15 months. The screen is approx 5 inches in size and has lane guidance as well. Tom Tom have an up to date mapping guarantee - guarantees the most up-to-date mapping at the time of purchase. Just had two offers come through from Tom Tom - security cameras subscription for £6.65 for the year and half price mapping update for the year (£32) - both of which I've had. In use, we found it to be better than our previous Garmin Nuvi 2200.

Edited by Auristocrat on 09/11/2012 at 11:04

Got an £85 Garmin a couple of years ago. Never let me down yet. Works with the full post code or if you are going to a place in the sticks works of OS coords.

Very pleased.

Hmmm. Some diverse opinions here! I assume my basic Blackberry wouldn't be much good for this sort of thing? So, I probably do need a standard SatNav unit. I will probably just see what the best deal is going on Amazon for a basic unit as they all seem to have their faults. It is just for back up. Good point about them being illegal in France. Thanks for the thoughts.

I use an adroid phone with google maps.

It means I can search for somewhere on my home PC, and then just 'star' the location - and it pops up automatically on the android as a destination. Absolutely brilliant.

Ah OK thanks for clarifying the French legality issue. Sounds like I need to upgrade my mobile then. I am OK at map reading, but have you tried some of those maze-like, rural lanes in places like Devon with high hedges, its easy to lose track especially when driving alone and tricky having to keep stopping to look at the map. Sat Navs have their place occasionally I think.