Navman 475

Initially I was really pleased with this, but have discovered some irritating issues that have left me lost and angry. You cannot specify to avoid motorways, which means if you know there is a problem on a motorway, it will keep trying to direct you there instead of a whole new route. Also, if you do encounter a problem, it sometimes cannot find a detour even though one does exist. I also had the problem that it found a traffic delay and we selected to take a divertion route. It then cancelled the traffic problem and reverted back to the original route, even though the issue was still valid (we were sitting in traffic waiting to get to the diversion exit!!) Could be much better, but is good if you have a simple journey with no incidents!

I bought this from Argos with the 2 years for free map updates. I could not get it to register for the updates because it said the serial number was not valid so I had to contact customer services. The voice is terrible and pronounces things wrong - petrol station sounds like petal station and Wordsworth sounds like Wordswharf! Compared to my previous Snooper Strabo this device is awful to use. It takes ages to put in a postcode or destination. It regularly says it has no GPS signal even outside in full view. It does come with a car charger including traffic receiver. The softward is on CD and it is really hard to navigate. I wish I had not bought this - big mistake!

If you`ve spent some time comparing different Satnavs ( as I have ) you will know that there is no such thing as the perfect Satnav ( at least not in the price bracket I was looking at - £100 to £150 ).I guess all you can do is way-up the positives & negatives of each model. I`ve just used the Navman 475 on a run from Greater Manchester to Thornton & Cleveleys and here is my conclusion.

It`s a very easy to use Satnav, you just enter the address or postcode, or you can just point to a place on the map and select GoTo. If you want to you can also transfer a location fron Google Maps on to the Navman 475 if your satnav is connected to your PC ( there is a USB lead provided with it ). One thing I like is the bracket for attaching the unit, it`s ideal for sticking it on the quarter-light window on my Toyota Auris so it`s nearer than if it was stuck on the windscreen.

When driving the screen is nice and clear and the voice instructions ( including road & street names ) was also clear ( the screen brightness & voice volume are both adjustable ).

On the down-side there are no options for editing the route, ie - you can`t tell it to avoid a junction or go via a particular road, but I suppose when you`re driving you could just deviate from it`s chosen route and go your own way and the it would imediately re-calculate a new route. Also the Mio-Navman website is not the easiest website to navigate but I eventually managed to register it and downloaded a couple of new voices, although they are not as good as the voice that was already on it !

All in all then, up to now ( it`s early days )I`m happy with my purchase.