Binatone

It’s not unusual nowadays to spend well over £100 on your sat nav, and considering they tend to get outdated by new tech in sometimes just two to three years they shouldn’t always be considered sound investments.

Here though is a new sat nav range that costs from as little as £60. The budget-minded sat navs in the F-Series, from Binatone, are designed to be slim and boast both 2D and 3D navigation views.

Two versions are available: The F350, with a 3.5in LCD touch screen, and the F430, which is exactly the same, only it has a 4.3in screen. Binatone’s new F-series sat navs are available through Argos.

The F350 retails at £59.99 (pre-loaded with Western European maps, it’s £79.99), F430s are £74.99 and £99.99 respectively. Interested? Order online by visiting www.argos.co.uk or call 0845 640 2020 to check availability.

Garmin

The nüvi 1310 is actually a very clever bit of kit. Not only does it include all the features you’d expect from a sat nav, but it also allows you to talk on your mobile phone (thanks to hands-free connectivity) and is also compatible with an optional cityXplorer download so that you can use it for navigating on foot.

As we said, stuff you’d expect is also included: This Garmin announces street names before you turn, has ecoRoute software to ensure you get from A to B using as little fuel as possible and it also includes a lane assist feature, similar to that used for the Mio Navman.

Given its features, the £119.99 price tag is also really good value.

TomTom

This is the second TomTom sat nav range we’ve looked at this issue, however the GO LIVE 800 series is a little different from the Start 20 – the emphasis this time is on making connected navigation even more accessible.

All GO LIVE 800 devices bring users one year of TomTom’s market-leading LIVE services straight to their device. This includes its flagship service, HD Traffic, which delivers accurate traffic info every two minutes. The LIVE services bundle also includes a speed camera service and TomTom’s Local Search to pinpoint shops and businesses. Voice recognition and hands-free software are also included.

The TomTom GO LIVE 825 Europe is priced £229.99 and is available now from Dixons and other electrical retailers. Visit: www.tomtom.com for further info.

Mio Navman

According to Mio Navman, navigation goes extra large for the super-sim M448. It has a widescreen 4.3in screen and promises to get a GPS fix faster than ever before.

Its features include lane guidance – this is intended to help users make sense of complicated junctions, ensuring you’re in the right line to make a turn. Motorway exits are also spoken, again to minimize the chance for any confusion.

The Mio Navman M448 sat nav, which is sold complete with maps for the UK, ROI and Europe, is priced £159.99 through Halfords and comes in an exclusive silver/grey design. You can order online at: www.halfords.com.

RAC

RAC (yes, the breakdown people) have a number of sat navs for sale, but we reckon that in terms of balancing both price and features, the 515F is the pick of the bunch.

Essential features include UK and ROI mapping, a simple address search and thousands of searchable points of interest. The RAC 515F also comes preloaded with safety camera updates to help you, according to the RAC ‘drive safely and responsibly to your destination.’

The RAC also throw in free home sync software for downloading maps, travel guides, weather forecasts, colour schemes and various other updates.

The 515F sat nav is available through the RAC’s online shop (www.racshop.co.uk) priced £74.99, which includes free delivery.