Garmin Gps Voices

Garmin Nuvi 3790T 4.3in GPS satellite navigator

Like Tomtom's Go Live 1000, the Garmin Nuvi 3790T sat-nav device uses a newer hard ' capacitative ' touchscreen, which makes it more responsive and more resistant to damage when the screen is pressed.

It comes with a small windscreen mount and a car charger, along with a cable for the device to receive traffic information.

Usefully, unlike with Tomtom devices, traffic updates are included in the 3790T's price – no subscription is required. The quality of the device's 4.3in screen was excellent – it was bright and sharp, and the icons are large, colourful and well marked. It's very slim at less than a centimetre thick, which makes it easier to store and pocket, and it comes with a compact ‘sucker' for attaching to a car windscreen.

It also has a Bluetooth link to connect to a phone so you can automatically call places of interest. The included voices – male and female in a variety of accents – were clear, but sounded less friendly than those on the recent Tomtom Go Live 1000.

Other voices can be downloaded, along with a free utility with which to record your own voice, or a friend's, to give directions. A paid-for large range of extra maps, and map updates, can also be downloaded from the Garmin website, along with travel guides from the AA and the Good Pub Guide.

The large screen meant that even though text appeared in a relatively large size, it wasn't crowded. Still, it missed a useful feature that Tomtom provides – displaying the name of the next road you will be taking.

The device cannot be customised much – you can choose from either ‘not much data' or ‘more data' on screen – but tapping the speed indicator brings up a neat dashboard-like display of some useful information. You can enter your car details and the cost of fuel in which case it will calculate mileage costs as well as fuel-efficient routes.

The colourful maps were easy to follow, and setting a route was quick and easy. It has a pedestrian mode that calculates routes including paths. In this mode is can be viewed in portrait.

There were occasional glitches, such as it displaying a speed limit of 40mph on a road that was clearly signposted at 30mph. Early on it crashed when coming out of standby mode, then crashed again when we restarted it but after that we had no problems.

Despite those minor problems the Nuvi 3790T is a stylish and impressive navigator that worked well. It's available online for around £50 off the recommended price, which is good value.

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