Best sat nav?

[Arewethereyet?]

Who makes the best ones on the market?

I am toying with getting a tomtom 520T and just wondered if another manufacturer makes a better one for about the same money(about £230)

[smudger]

I am not sure about which model is the best, but access to New Road updates, and the cost of getting them, seems to be one the main things when it comes to buying one?
Cheers, Smudger.

[Al Catraz]

Depends what you're after - if it's top quality tech support, then choose an RAC one! You also get free-for-life safety camera updates.
I've just bought the RAC 215E and I'm very pleased with it - I suspect it doesn't do all a tomtom 520T does, but it was only £90!

[Rolebama]

I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'best' of anything. It depends what you want it to do. Most of the £200+ ones have bells and whistles which have nothing to do with the ability to find a route for you. MP3 players spring to mind. If you want a good, basic SatNav, then I would recommend a RAC one because not only do you get free camera updates, but there are plenty of POIs for them, and the mapping is reasonably up-to-date. I bought my 200 for £90, and am quite happy with it.

[Snowball]

My satnav is a Panasonic, but the mapping is by Navteq. I think that all satnavs share just a few mapping companies.
One thing I find irksome (and I think it is general), is that if you enter a rout-point that does not go through the geographical centre of a town, then the satnav will start to try and turn you off to retrack to that rout-point. I believe that this can be avoided by entering a way point instead (petrol station, etc). But to do this you need previous knowledge of the route, and the purpose of a satnav is to negotiate routes that you are NOT familiar with.
I get over this by putting in the start and finish, with only a little enroute information in order to get the satnav onto the route I wish to follow. I choose an intermediate route-point that will either take me through the point, or close enough that a slight deviation is acceptable.