One for the road

Blogspot:'You take the main road down to the junction, then turn left, then right, then left again, go through the roundabout, up the hill and it's the third on the left after the bus stop, right?"

I knew my friend was being helpful but I suggested I'd probably have more luck trying to find the garage via the car's satellite navigation system. He scoffed: "Don't trust those things." I agreed, but here's the rub - sometimes it's easier to negotiate a bad route with computerised voice commands than foul up the right route because, like me, you have a bad memory for instructions.

So what are some of the latest Sat Nav options on the market?

The Evesham BM6300, at €588, is reasonable value. You can get cheaper Sat Navs, but their functionality is often disappointing.

The BM6300 offers traffic data as a one-off fee option bundled with a free FM radio TMC, a technology for delivering traffic information to drivers. But the Windows CE design is showing its age, and Evesham has cut corners with the small 3.5-inch screen and older generation GPS antenna.

Memory comes from a 256MB MMC card which is small in comparison to competitors' versions. Maps have a lower resolution than some, but route planning and more complicated junctions are handled quickly.

The Navman iCN720 is the quirky option (also €588). Its NavPix function allows you to take a picture of a destination using the device's 1.3MP camera. You then store that as a favourite, making recognition of your usual destinations a more intuitive experience.

Other Sat Navs allows you to store favourites, but none do it in this visually friendly manner. However, it's not a killer application. The iCN720 has drawbacks, including its low 412MB memory and a slow refresh rate on the 4-inch hi-res widescreen.

It also has a cumbersome windscreen mount and overly complicated interface. While parking and fuel shortcut keys are handy, and the optional traffic alerts and clear voice instructions are useful, there are more powerful ones on the market for the price.

Which brings us to the TomTom Go910 (€408). TomTom has been the Sat Nav to beat in the market for a while, and it's easy to see why. Despite a long specification list - a 4-inch widescreen, Bluetooth, iPod connectivity, text-to-speech and audiobook playback - it can still handle the basics with aplomb.

The TomTom is fairly unobtrusive on the dashboard. And you can get up and running quickly as the Go910 can acquire the GPS satellite in less than a minute.

TomTom is well known for its deceptively simplistic-looking maps, but the 400MHz processor means the maps are refreshed quickly, which is exactly what you need.The massive 20GB hard drive has pre-loaded maps of Europe, USA and Canada.

Searching for destinations is easy as all functions are accessed via large buttons on the touchscreen. It has a loud speaker, clear voice, and will read out street names if you find yourself stuck. On this comparison TomTom has the edge both on price and functionality.