Home > Consumer Reviews > Garmin I2 In Car Satellite Navigation System With UK Mapping

Got one of these last week great piece of kit. Why pay more for something that does the same as this. So it is black and white so what it still does a fine job. Very easy to set up and use. Check the web site for full manual as one in box with the sat nav is a bit thin. I can't find any thing bad to say about it so 5 stars from me.

Bought this because I was fed up with getting lost on the way to meetings because my kids had torn up the vital page on the road atlas...

If you are looking for a no frills unit at a great price, this is for you. Personally I think the sub-£100 is the price point to hit, and this product sets the marker. Lets see who responds and with what.

It has some real plus points: small unit- not too distracting & easy to stow away out of sight when parked, screen sucker is v good and allows close positioning to driver, screen is 'only' b&w but seems easy to read in all lights, v clear sound. The "home" destination being top of the list seems comfortably reassuring as well.

Would I buy it for my wife? Not sure..its my first satnav, so I have nothing to compare, but the interface seems a bit 'clunky' and tedious to programme destinations.

Also, some of its route decision making seems a bit suspect at times. It does give eta's, but they seems to assume no delays for traffic lights, slowing down for junctions etc. I think therefore that its fastest route calculation does not take real world dynamics into account (ignoring of course actual traffic conditions) and therefore favours slower more direct routes over faster longer routes. So even if you choose "fastest" route on navigation options it will try and haul you off motorways through town centres. For example I was driving from Crewe to Leeds via M6/M62/M60/M62 and it was convinced that I needed to head in central manchester at 4pm...!

Also, it has no facility for live traffic updating; but I guess this is higher end functionality.

Webupdater seems to work fine, but the hard copy manual is useless, so i still need to download the real manual and understand how to update POI info. If Garmin is to be believed, the only deli/bakery in existence is Subway....

But it seems to recalculate routes quickly enough to allow driver overide of routes, so all in all a useful tool to help the journeys be a little less stressful, but use it judiciously rather than slavishly.

I have to admit to at first thinking I`d wasted my money as I couldn`t get my unit to locate any satellites, but, not being easily deterred, I popped it in the car and took it for a ride and before I`d gone half a mile, it was up and running. And I haven`t looked back since!
The screen is an ideal size, particularly for a smaller car without a massive windscreen expanse, the picture is clear and easy to read, and the voice directions clear and concise. I doubt there`s a better unit availiable at the price. Highly recommended.

Great little gadget, not perfect but very very good.

Pros
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* Easy, one handed operation.
* Clear screen, easy to read.
* Internal speaker gives clear driving instructions turn by turn with enough advance notice to allow you to get in to the correct lane before the juntion required.
* Displays an accurate estimated time of arrival based on your rate of travel.
* Very affordable price.


Cons
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* Loses signal in multistorey car parks
* Inbuilt preferrences seem to favour closest roads rather than better quality roads (havent read the manual yet so its possible this can be tweaked to better suit your own preferences)

I wanted a Sat Nav for my car but as it isn't something i'd need to use regularly (and i'm a stingey Yorkshireman too) i didn't want to spend any more than i had to.

Reading the reviews on here and more notably seeing the low price tag on the item i decided to take the plunge and i've not regretted it at all.

For me the most impressive thing about this little unit is that you can easily upload all that Points Of Interest data which is easily available on the net, very useful, including up to date Speed Camera locations.

Also i appreciated the firmware updates on the manufacturer's website, not having to be told where to go by an American is surely a bonus!

It's very easy to use, it's lightweight and very small (but not so small that the screen isn't usable) and the screen is very brightly lit, the directions have seemed fine to me so far and if a wrong turning is made the recalculations are quick too.

I've not had any difficulty connecting to satellites, in fact it even did it in my house earlier so it must make the most of the signal available.

I can't fault it - ok the screen isn't colour and it uses a thumbwheel rather than having a touchscreen, but that doesn't bother me at all.

EDIT: As mentioned in a later review the unit does now say that the map is out of date whenever it is switched on and other than buying a new expensive memory card from the manufacturer there is no way of updating it seems. Not a major problem to me personally but to some this would be a drawback. I've used it quite regularly and it's not given me any problems although i find it can be hard to follow the instructions at roundabouts.