TomTom GPS & Sat Navigation Systems

Tomtom GPS Sat Navigation Systems: Keeping You Going in the Right Direction!

From using awkward paper maps and trusting to seeing signs in time to make turns, personal sat nav systems have come along to keep us rolling along to the right destination. A quick look at navigation systems on eBay will bring up many choices and styles.

All systems, from the highest-end one to the cheapest of cheap GPS sat navigation system, work in a similar way. All have an internal map stored within them, and all connect to at least three satellites of the many that are sailing serenely in near space. Using these three or more signals, the sat nav ascertains where you are. Once you input your desired destination, the onboard computer works out the best route to get you to where you need to go. Some internet-connected sat navigation systems use local traffic reports and updates to stay up to the minute with the latest news.

It can be overwhelming, choosing from many sat navigation systems for sale. Make a list of the features you need:

• Being able to avoid toll roads or motorways.
• The ability to store many addresses.
• A running total of miles covered so you can easily work out your mileage.
• A tracker of where you have been over the past period.
• Automatic updates.
• Internet connectivity to warn you about road closures or traffic issues.

Once you have worked out the features you must have and established a budget for this, you can begin to eliminate unsuitable models. You will have a shortlist before long, and your choice will be relatively easy from there.

Most sat navigation systems can be updated and have extra maps loaded into them. Once you are abroad, you simply let the machine know that you are in the new area and let the satellites and the maps find your location and begin to guide you, whether you are on holiday or on business with a series of appointments to get to in good time.

In 1961, the earliest satellite navigation systems were invented. These were very rough, and did not come with preloaded maps. This meant that they could tell the user where they were, and guide them to another point as long as the longitude and latitude were input – but the system could not help with the terrain, roads, rivers and so on. These primitive systems were useful to the military but did not have any personal application until 1990 when high-end vehicles began to introduce it in some cars. By 2004, the first recognisable satnav system was produced, complete with voice guidance, mapped screen and that distinctive chequered flag that lets us know we have arrived.