Home > Consumer Reviews > RAC 200 GPS Unit (UK & Ireland)

This was a gift i received as my mum works for norwich union and they bought RAC and therefore got a discount on this unit. Its the cheapest sat nav out there and all in all not a bad unit.

If you want a simple clear sat nav to get you from A to B with minimal fuss and redirect you if you go wrong then this is an ideal unit for you.

However i was interested in the safety camera alerts and was disappointed. The database has 2300 locations for the whole UK, there are 25 around watford where i live all that have been there for over 4 years and it didnt have any of them in its database, I am yet to go past a camera that it has detected! As per other reviews they are listed as red lights.

So I like any other technically minded person assumed, no problems the product spec promises free updates to the safety camera database, through route66 who provide the navigation software. But when you go to route66 they only offer updates for pocket PCs and not for the software used on the RAC200, they said in email to me that they didn't promise anything and to go back to RAC. I think it is wrong for RAC to promise free updates that are not available and from route66s response, doesn't appear ever will be.

Again though dont let this put you off buying one, it all depends on what you want from your sat nav, if safety cameras are not important to you then everything else on it is very good.

Unlike some of the other reviews I found the RAC 200 a smashing sat nav, very easy to operate, nice clear graphics, strong window suction, neat and
robust design. I've had no problems with my unit and would highly recommend, if you just want a basic sat nav to get you from A to B at a fantastic price then this is the unit for you.

i've had quite a few problems with my tomtom so i exchanged it for an RAC 200 and its so much better. it seems to pick up reception pretty quick and i havent noticed any blackspots either. the fuzzy search thing has been pretty useful too. when i rang them about how to update speed cameras they said it's free (via www.66.com) using a standard usb cable to link it up to my pc. so for the price i can't fault it and would definately recommend.

I've been putting off buying a GPS because I really couldn't see the need to spend all that money when a map costs so little. I finally took the plunge because my wife isn't too good at map reading and gets around the country a lot taking my daughter to swimming competitions in towns and cities she doesn't know very well. This device has proved a great buy, being reasonably priced (even better at the price on Amazon, I paid £30 more)and very easy to use. Out of the box it was charged up already and quickly picked up several satellites to give my position. I have used it on several long journeys where the 7 digit post code search has proved invaluable. It provides dynamic re-routing which if you persevere past a few requests for you 'to turn around when safe to do so', it provides a suitable alternative. The maps supplied are reasonably up to date although I have come across a few road changes not in the database. The speed camera database can be updated over the web for free from the Route66 website having plugged the gps into a computer via a USB cable (not supplied). The only downside with the device is the appalling documentation which suggests that you need an sd card reader to update the speed camera database and doesn't indicate how you do the update. It also suggests backing up the sd card because if you were to corrupt it, it cannot be replaced without charge. This is rubbish as the whole database is supplied on cd-rom with the GPS, so come on RAC, do yourself a favour and re-do the documentation, it would then receive a 5 star rating.

This is my second in-car SatNav. The first one I had was a TomTom One which was great but I've just bought this one for my other car and I think it's even better. The interface isn't quite as "flashy" as the TomTom but for navigation it's even better.

Contrary to some of the other reviews, my device hasn't locked up once and has proved faultless in its navigation around the UK. A handy addition in the mapping is when motorway driving, it displays which road sign you should follow on the map as well as the directions so when you're at a complicated junction changing between motorways it's very handy.

Satellite reception is excellent even in the middle of Manchester surrounded by high-wise buildings. All-in-all a great little device for the money and it does come with the speed cameras installed but I think a little is "lost in translation" from American descriptions to UK descriptions.