Best budget sat navs

We round up the best budget GPS units from Garmin, TomTom, Navman, Mio and Navigon

Once costing in excess of $1000, you can now pick up a budget GPS unit for under $200.

Spending less doesn't mean your navigation experience will be an inferior one — aside from giving you turn-by-turn directions, even the cheapest GPS units will allow you to locate points of interest (POIs), save your favourite locations and explore new places. The main differences between a budget GPS unit and a high-end one are generally unnecessary add-ons like Bluetooth hands-free capabilities, live traffic, MP3 playback and FM transmitters.

We've included five of our favourite budget GPS units from Garmin, TomTom, Navman, Mio and Navigon. All of these models include the latest Australian maps, will speak the names of streets (thanks to speech-to-text technology) and are equipped with safety camera warnings, including speed and red light cameras, and school zones.

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5 / 8
TomTom Start

TomTom's Start is the company's cheapest GPS ever, and the good news is that the overall navigation experience hasn't been sacrificed to achieve the low price. Though not perfect, the TomTom start combines a simple, easy-to-use interface and a compact design, making it ideal for first-time buyers.

  • Review Date:
  • Reviewer:
  • Manufacturer:
  • 19th Nov., 2009
  • Ross Catanzariti
  • TomTom
  • Rating:
  • Price:
  • 4.00
  • $ 199.00
  • Pros:
  • Compact design, responsive touch screen, EasyPort mount, speed and red light camera alerts
  • Cons:
  • IQ Routes still prefers main roads, route recalculation is a little sluggish, no Australian text-to-speech voice, no lane guidance, no included AC adapter

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