Having put off buying a sat nav for a few years now I decided to finally take the plunge!

Tom Tom have always seemed to have a good reputation and a few friends had them so this seemed the logical way to go (mainly because if I got stuck with it I could ring them). What initially confused me was the fact TomTom do different levels of service with the units which mean some can receive traffic updates and some can't (be aware if you get one that can do traffic updates it needs a mobile phone to connect to via bluetooth!).

I paid £154 for mine from Halfords and I couldn't find any shops doing them any cheaper.

The actual unit is quite light (lighter than I thought it would be) but the plastic on it appears to be of good quality and feels like it could withstand the ruff and tubmbles of being thrown around in a glovebox.

Upon installing the software (which was very straight forward) it immediately found an update for the unit which I was impressed with and it downloaded staight away for me. However, the software immediately froze which didn't give me much confidence in it (I'm running Windows Vista so it could be a fault with the software). After a quick restart though everything was tickety-boo!

When turning the sat nav on you are greeted with the TomTom welcome screen that takes around 5 seconds to go. From here (depending on how you set it up) you either go straight to the navigation screen or password screen (set up via the software to stop anyone else turning it on and using it). The screen is bright and clear and displays GPS signal strength, distance to go and how long it will take to arrive at your destination as well as the relevant times (i.e. arriving in 4.35 hours at 20:00). The road names are easy to read which is a bonus and the touch screen is set at just the right sensitivity so only requires a gentle tap rather than a stab.

Page two shows "prepare route", "browse map", "map corrections", "manage phones" and "itinerary planning". Map corrections is handy as every now and again I've seen the unit try and send me one way believing the street you are going down is one way. This function allows you to alter things like this and does come in handy.

Overall I am more than happy with the unit and believe that it's worth the £150 I paid for it. Why anyone would want to spend nearly £300 on one of their top models I don't know because they are still (at the end of the day) just a sat nav. I don't need one that works as a bluetooth hands free kit as well!

The only downsides I have found is that the manual is on CD which I think for all manufacturers is just a way of cutting costs but that's why things like this are getting cheaper so I shouldn't moan really. Also it doesn't always find the quickest route (despite being set in that mode). For instance, when playing around I was driving home and told it to navigate me there. Instead of just going straight down the main road, right and then left in to my street, it told me to take the right two turns before, down to the end, left, first left, right then left, then right in to my street!!!!! God knows why, maybe it just wanted to see the surrounding area! Perhaps this is something that it will learn from more use (hopefully).