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Garmin Forerunner 305
by Thalleus
I use the Garming Forerunner 305 for just about everything physical I do and it stands up to the test, It will keep up with me on the bike, it helps me with my averages when Im running, It serves me a lot better than screens on most of if not all of the indoor cardio equipment, it also comes in very handy when im lost with its own little ... maps feature, It is compatible with Strava which is important if you are competitive as you can post all of your times and training regimes and share them on facebook. The battery lasts about 8 hours and the watch itself isnt a burden to wear even though it looks big, it integrates with the Heart rate monitor almost seamlessly although it takes a while to load satellites.
The controllers are very use friendly and the screen can be customised to whatever you see fit for it to read, customisation is easy and it is not hard to see even the smaller screens whilst doing your exercise. With the release of newer models these are coming down in price quite quickly, one is definately worth a purchase if your serious about training.
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Navman EZY Wide
by 2012Saver
Just over a year ago I started in my current job which is a community based job, meaning I travel around and visit people in their homes. As I have big difficulties with map reading and directions, I knew immediately that a sat nav was going to be a must have. I spent the first couple of months borrowing my boyfriends, but decided to put ... this on my Christmas list knowing that I would need one of my own.
Christmas came and I was lucky enough to receive the Navman Ezy Wide sat nav. This sat nav is called the Ezy Wide as it has a wide screen - 4.3". The sat nav itself is white in colour with a grey back and the Navman logo on the bottom of the front, also in grey. Upon taking the sat nav out of the box I was pleased to find that it was slim and light weight, giving it a modern feel. The sat nav comes with a holder which allows it to be attached to your windscreen using a suction pad. The holder also charges your sat nav and it has a wire which plugs into your cigarette lighter to power it.
When I first took the sat nav out to my car to give it a go, I found the holder really easy to attach to my windscreen. I have found that it sticks well and only once or twice during nearly a year of use has it fallen off, and this was probably because I didn't attach it correctly!
When you switch the sat nav on it is very easy to use. The sat nav is touch screen, there are no buttons on it, you simply press the screen to operate it. You can search for an area or an address. If you are looking for a particular address you can type the address itself in, or my preferred way of doing this is by entering the postcode. If you enter the postcode, the sat nav will bring up a list of streets to choose from, you then select the street you want and enter the street number.
When you put in an address, the sat nav tells you how many miles it is to the address. You can also view the estimated time of arrival and the estimate journey length. In the settings of the sat nav you can set it so that it will take you 'easiest' route or 'fastest' route. If you want you can also set it to avoid motorways or private roads.
I have found that the touch screen isn't as sensitive as other touch screen items I own (iPhone and iPad), and sometimes I need to press a button twice to get it to work.
This sat nav has a UK and an ROI map. I have had this sat nav for 10 months now and have found that it gets me where I want to go correctly almost every time. I use it a few times a day every day I am at work to find various addresses. It knows all streets including new developments.
Some other functions that the sat nav has that are useful include telling you which lane you need to be in, this is useful on the motorway when you are approaching your junction. On the motorway when you reach your exit the whole screen changes to show you that you are meant to be exiting, I find this really helpful as it is so easy to miss your exit on the motorway.
The sat nav has a places of interest option, here you can browse for things nearby. They are sorted by type, for example food, cash machine, airport or petrol. I use this regularly to find petrol stations! On this sat nav you can also save favourite places, meaning you don't have to keep searching for them if there are places you regularly go. I have my home and my office as favourites, this saves me a lot of time.
The sat nav has a speed limit function, on the bottom right hand corner of the screen it shows you the speed limit of where you are driving. It will light up red if you are going over the speed limit, and if the sound is switched on it makes a little noise to alert you to this. I have noticed once or twice that the speed limit has been incorrect when I looked at road signs, for this reason I don't really rely on the sat nav to keep me right on speed.
I always use the sat nav with the sound switched off, preferring to have a quick glance at the screen to see where my next turn is. I do find on occasion the sound randomly switches itself on even though I have it set to mute, meaning I have to go back into sound and switch it off again. This is a little bit annoying and seems to be an error in the sat nav. Another problem I have noticed from time to time is that I get an error message on the screen, and I have to switch the sat nav off and on again. If I wanted I could probably return it to the store because of this problem, but I haven't bothered as it is quite simple to fix and doesn't happen too often.
This sat nav currently costs £49.90 in Halfords, and for this price I think it is a bargain. It is cheaper than some of the higher range sat navs but still has all the functions that I need and use. Whilst there are some little niggles, it does get me from A to B which is all I really need. I give this sat nav 3 stars, simply because of the little problems I have described above.
Thanks for reading/rating and I hope you found my review useful.
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Tomtom Start 60
by daddyumyum
When we were looking to buy a sat nav, I instantly thought of tomtom. It's a well known brand, and it's pretty catchy too, tomtom. Tomtomtom...
I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the sat nav and I wanted something that I could take with me when we go camping abroad. Not that relying on my wife to navigate with a paper ... map isn't fun, but it would probably be more fuel efficient if we went from A to B without visiting C D E and F first.
~Cost~
I acquired my little tomtom for the princely sum of only £120. This seemed to be a reasonable price for a TomTom, with some going for over £200, so I considered I'd found a good deal.
~Appearance~
I instantly liked the nicely sized 6 inch screen, plenty big enough to see even while driving. It doesn't look top of the range, but it's sleek and black and not to clunky.
~Features~
The main feature that attracted me to this tomtom was the inclusion of European maps. We like to go driving through Europe camping and I felt this would make it much easier, plus the promise of frequent (and free) map updates. My last satnav had no updates and wouldn't even recognize half the postcodes in the UK, no matter navigating me through Europe.
Like most Sat Navs, it comes with voice guidance, which like most Sat Navs can be rather annoying, especially when it keeps repeating itself over and over again until you wish to throw it out of the window on the Motorway.
It also tells you where the nearest car park i.
Speed camera information is very thorough, not that I would even consider speeding, but it's always useful to know, just in case my foot gets a bit heavy.
~Good Points~
The screen is clear and isn't too reflective even in sunlight, so you can see what you are doing.
It finds signal pretty quickly and the screen seems reasonably responsive.
It seems to recognize most addresses, I've had one or too problems, but nothing major.
It's easy to use and set up, you can literally use it out the box and mostly it gives clear and concise instructions.
~Downsides~
The voice could have been a bit louder, sometimes I find it hard to hear what the voice is saying when I have chatty people in the car with me.
Sometimes the speed limits are out of date, especially on certain sections of the motorway, I haven't tried to update it yet, but I've heard it can be complicated, so I've been putting it off.
Occasionally I've been led astray by my dear TomTom, down one way streets, onto pedestrianized areas, straight over roundabouts as if they didn't exist. Luckily I don't trust it completely, and due to quick thinking haven't got myself into too many scrapes - apart from perhaps driving through the odd pig farm in remote Wales.
There is no manual. Some people do like a bit of paper with instructions written on it, why do companies seem to forget something so vitally important? There is a manual, but it's hard to find and definitely not easy to understand.
~Overall~
It does the job, it (usually) gets you from A to B, without too much faffing around in between. It has it's problems, but for the price it isn't a bad bit of map.
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