Gadgets Gizmos Gossip

A satellite navigation system is now far more than a piece of gadgetry that will get you from A to B. The best sat navs on the market now have a number of additional features that make some possess similarities with the best smartphones on the market, such as web hook-up, inbuilt cameras and HD screens. This surge in new applications is a response to the refining of GPS on high-quality phones. So what next for the sat nav? Well, here is an insight into two of the leading sat navs currently on the market.

Garmin Nuvi 3790T

The 3790T is as stylishly designed as many smarthphones. At just 9mm thick and finished with glass and alloy, this alluring gadget makes most other sat navs resemble Fisher Price toys. With a retail price of £330.00 the 3790T isn’t cheap, so what features justify such a high-price tag? The 3970T is simply unbeatable in a number of areas, best of all its quick. It locks on to satellites nearly instantly; the menu is practical and accessible and it has an incredible amount of storage space available for postcodes or POIs. The Garmin Nuvi 3790T is a market leader only matched by the TomTom Go Live 1000.

TomTom Go Live 1000

Arguably the best sat nav currently on the market. At £280.00, the TomTom Go Live 1000 isn’t cheap. But don’t be fooled by the high price tag. Yes the Go Live 1000 does have plenty of features, but unlike other pricey sat navs it concentrates primarily on the navigation essentials.There are little accompaniments that tarnish its capabilities to guide. The TomTom has ported its UI to the same Webkit back-end that results in the iPad’s speedy browser. The model also possesses an impeccable HD Traffic service which works out where jams are by tracking the signals of mobile phones. If all this isn’t enough to convince you to purchase a TomTom, then maybe the voice of Brian Blessed will incite you. He is the latest celebrity to add his tone to the TomTom catalogue.

Aidan Donovan is a keen travel blogger that has discovered Kenwood Travel to be keen on prices; but still wouldn’t go anywhere without a good sat nav.

There are a seemingly never ending stream of gadgets and gizmos or supposed must-haves for your car, some genuinely useful, some barely so and some just plain kitsch nonsense.  Lets’ get the boring bits out of the way first.  The eminently practical suggestions include:

Portable Vacuum Cleaner.  A messy car is a depressing place so keep it up to scratch with a dedicated vacuum cleaner.   There are dozens of rechargeable versions out there, but try to avoid the 12V jobs that run off the cigar lighter.  They never really seem to have enough “oomph” and look for ones with attachments to reach all those nooks and crannies.

Halfords Autosafe.  If you’ve got heaps of very portable in-car technology you usually need to take it with you when you leave your car to be sure it’s secure.   A great back up is this compact car safe that can be tethered pretty securely to the vehicle without using any bolts.  It only costs £29.99 from halfords.com.   It’s perfect to keep your own personal gadgets and gizmos safe if you’ve borrowed someone else’s car using short term car insurance for cover.

USB Charger. The humble in-car cigarette lighter should be re-named the “Gizmo Centre” because all sorts of stuff runs off it.  There are loads of clever little gadgets from about £13 upwards which become a two USB-port charger for topping up a range of gadgets.

Some other items are frankly beginning to get silly.  Some are so downright embarrassing that you’d be best advised to take out one day car insurance and inflict these on a friend’s car you’ve just borrowed rather than permanently affix to your own motor!

LED car signal. A cheeky range of messages and a winking face to boot, which you can suspend over the boot! Mind you, if you’ve accidentally cut someone up or pulled out unexpectedly, being able to say “Sorry” in your rear windscreen might prevent road rage or worse, though the winking face symbol could be catastrophically mis-interpreted.  You’ll get one of these from most online gift stores from around £25.

CarLashes. Are what you think they are - eyelashes that fix to the headlights!  They are apparently the new must-have car accessory for female motorists in the US and Britain.  And if you are of the male persuasion and have a hankering to capture the mojo of legends like Jason King, Hulk Hogan and Tom Selleck, then check out the Carstache.  It’s a large, fuzzy moustache for your car that attaches to the bonnet above the front number plate.

For most of us we’re going to be driving home for Christmas over the next 24hours. The roads are rubbish at the moment; the chances are if you’re not buried under snow at the moment you’re going to have to drive through some at some point before you’re home safe and sound.

If you’re going to be driving further than the end of your road over the next few weeks you need to make sure your car is in great shape. The weather is unpredictable at the moment, at least that’s the excuse being used by several major airports, so you need to make sure you’re prepared for everything.

Run through a check list of things to have in the boot. This should be pretty obvious; engine oil, screen wash and a bottle of water are like the basic first aid kit for your engine. Next you need to make sure you and any passengers will be taken care of in the event of an emergency, pack a warm blanket, some emergency food and drink and a shovel. This means that if you do get stuck both you and your car should be OK until help arrives.

Next you’ve got to make sure you’ve got a way to get yourself out of any trouble. There are two bits of modern technology here that can really be lifesavers. The first is a good quality sat nav, always stick to a reputable brand like a Garmin Nuvi sat nav even if it does mean paying a bit more. If you find your original route has been blocked or there’s been an accident you need to know you can find your way around it. Yes, the old fashion paper map will work but you have to question how safe it is to be driving around in the cold and snow in an area you don’t know trying to read the map sat in your passenger seat. This is what the sat nav is designed for. You can mute the voice so you don’t have some patronising American telling you to ‘take a u turn at the next opportunity’ (in fact if you stick with the Garmin Nuvi you get an English accent by default and it will never tell you to take a your turn it will simply recalculate until you’re back on course). It will also dim the screen after sun set so you don’t have a glaring screen in your face.

The next must have piece of technology you need in your car is the in car phone charger. These are cheap and small and sit on your glove box. Let’s face it, if your phone is going to die its going die when you’re stuck on a country road in the dark when the snow is falling. You need to make sure you’re able to get hold of someone and this tiny wire can mean the difference between waiting in your warm car and having to go for a walk for miles in the dark when you don’t know where you are. If you have break down cover make sure you always have the relevant paper work in your glove box too.

There are loads of other car accessories that can make your journey more enjoyable, an MP3 player can be plugged into the cigarette lighter if you have an older car that doesn’t come with this built into the console. You can even get a device to let you know when there’s a speed camera ahead. However, when it comes to safety and peace of mind, the sat nav and the in car charger are the two everyone should have.