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

Just purchased a used one of these for the girlfriend. At work I use various vehicles, so have access to tom toms, navman, etc, so regularly use the more expensive models, and I must say, this is a great little unit!! Strong signal (sat in the office at home with 4 signal bars!), good POI database, full postcode input, and dead simple to operate.

Most sat-navs are like mobile phones these days, bags of add-on features that have nothing to do with their core function. If you want a sat nav that does just that - navigate, then you cant go far wrong with this little unit.

If all you want to do is navigate from place to place without too many bells and whistles check one of these out before spending hundreds of pounds...
I found it quite hard to get hold of one of these little beauties, presumably because of the low price meaning they sell out quickly. Yes the screen is black & white and not touch sensitive, but that doesn't matter as it's easy to use, doesn't obscure your windscreen and (so far at least) seems quick & accurate.
Only minor quirk was that on first turning my unit on it told me the map was out of date which struck me as a bit odd. Garmin's website seems pretty comprehensive though so I'm sure that they can explain it to a GPS newbie like me!

I was a little concerned about this unit the first time I tried it around my home town. The main issue is that the spoken directions are very limited and often don't occur until it is too late to get into the right lane. In particular roundabouts are a problem - perhaps because it is an American unit little regard is given to the fact that at larger roundabouts you need to be in the right lane on approach, and at multiple roundabout junctions you need to have clear directions for each roundabout. The trick is to make full use of the small but perfectly readable B&W display which gives far more detailed information on the directions required. The unit is very easy to use with just two button operation - you can enter a postcode or a street name quite quickly and store it in a favourites folder if required. Routes can be reviewed ahead of time. It can work out detours but the functionality in this regard is very limited - it may be easier to use the map function to plot your own route around traffic jams. Alternatively simply start off on a new route in roughly the right direction and let the unit re-calculate new directions to your destination.

It took about 15 minutes for the unit to lock onto the satellites the first time (I understand this is a common issue with SatNavs, and you must be outside for the satellites to be aquired) but since then the unit takes typically less than a minute to lock on (apparently having re-chargeable batteries in the unit itself helps, although in operation power can be taken from the cigar lighter socket).

To summarise I am very happy with this unit. Commercial travellers doing a lot of driving would probably prefer something more sophisticated, and people who rely on spoken directions should avoid the Streepilot i2, but for most drivers it is more than adequate at a budget price.

Bought one for my mother Xmas 06. Just finsihed installing it and so far very impressed!

I was a little worried when it couldn't find any satellites but a bit of patience and 30 minutes later, it knew exactly where it was located.

On inputting a few friends adressess into 'My Favourites' using the postcode search, it did come up with one incorrect address. However, using the alternative 'search by street name' function, I was easily able to get the right one.

All in all, an excellent little machine for very little money!

Well recommended.

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.