Dixons Sat Nav

People shop for electrical products at Dixon's because it seems there are good deals for expensive gadgets. When buying a Dixons Sat Nav systems for your car, or simply a Sat-Nav, the easiest route is to get the cheapest, or maybe the cheapest one with the biggest screen, but there are more to Sat-Navs than how big your screen is.

The basic handheld Sat-nav, of which there are many priced cheaply at Dixon's, has a 3.5 colour touchscreen, and 2D and 3D display options of maps of the UK & Ireland. The current most affordable one at Dixon's is Binatone's X350, which has all the basics that anyone would want in a satellite navigation system, including a Points of Interest feature that allows you to find petrol stations, available parking, restaurants and most any location in the maps. At £69.99, it also has voice guidance, to lessen any chances of crashing into the next vehicle whilst trying to figure out where to go on your sat-nav.

Other brands of this size include NavMan S-30 at £79.99, with intelligent Day/Night display, Turn by Turn Navigation, and Multiple Route Options. Meanwhile, the RAC 200, at £84.99, comes with an in-car cradle and battery charger, and software with route planning with estimated time of arrival (ETA), whilst calculating the distance you have yet to cover.

Of course, the best Sat-Navs are undoubtedly TomTom, being the most user-friendly of handheld Sat-Navs, and having the clearest voice instructions. Some awesome features that you can expect from any TomTom Sat-Nav, but especially from the 3.5 inch touchscreen TomTom One UK v3, are the automatic volume adjustment feature, and Map Share, which lets you change any map instantly, especially if there's heavy traffic or if you suddenly find that the roads are blocked. The cheapest TomTom in Dixon's is priced at £104.99, which is already packaged with a carrying case. Many TomTom sat-navs turn out cheaper in such packaging.

The prices then go up because either the touchscreen is bigger: a substantial 4.3 inches from the standard 3.5. A good example of this is Garmin's sat-navs. The Garmin Nüvi 250 is priced at £94, contains maps from all over Europe, not just the UK and Ireland, has a personal travel assistant, which does not only give direction but also houses nifty features such as a currency converter, a calculator and clock times all over the world, and a 1.5 GB hard drive, which allows customizable features. Whilst containing only UK and Ireland maps, the Garmin Nüvi 200W is slightly more expensive at £99.99 because it has a larger touchscreen.

So what's more important to you, a screen you can see with minimal effort whilst driving, or all the nifty features any sat-nav ever dreamed of? Or a cheaper TomTom with a carrying case? Ultimately, the decision is up to you.

Dixon's also offers the special Coverplan support, which will entitle their buyers to free repairs when the purchased product acquired damages that are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Coverplan support of course comes with an extra charge, but they do promise unlimited repairs, even when the damages are caused by the customer, and if the damage is found irreparable, a replacement will be made. For example, for the Binatone X350, the Coverplan Support that comes with costs only £19.99 for three years. Dixon's also offers free delivery for most standard sales.