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Like all new technology when it first reaches the market, early consumer satellite navigation devices were incredibly bulky, very expensive and more than a little unresponsive but today it is a very different story; many sat nav units are lightweight, respond much quicker and most importantly are far cheaper. In little more than five years sat nav directional units have gone from being an expensive luxury gadget owned by the privileged few, to a widely owned device that tops the car accessory popularity charts.

Sat nav devices are available for mounting on or incorporated into car dashboards, or as portable handheld devices. GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite navigation is now even integrated into smart phones, although the absence of a spoken voice to give directions means those devices can’t be used by drivers.

However, the widespread use of such GPS devices is making the use of printed maps redundant, as more and more people rely on sat nav devices to get them from A to B. It is predicted that, once motor manufacturers recover from the dire economic straits that they currently find themselves in, sat navs will be offered as a low-cost optional extra or even fitted as standard in many models. Indeed, already car manufacturers are talking about a possible deal which would see low-cost sat navs included with the car radio, whilst other major GPS manufacturers are likely to become more involved in providing units to motor manufacturers in future.

But while the first sat navs that came to market were quite expensive, in recent times the price of such devices has significantly reduced. Dependent upon how much of the world needs to be accessed and how many satellite navigation features need to be utilised, that type of unit is usually sufficient for the majority of UK drivers. Obviously, if you frequently travel throughout the world perhaps a top-price handheld sat nav device may be appropriate for you than a cheap sat nav unit.

But regardless of its sophistication, using a sat nav couldn’t be easier, especially the touch screen versions; even the biggest of technophobes can easily learn how to use them. Indeed, with clear voice instructions and easy destination programming being provided, for most people sat navs are even easier to understand than the traditional alternative of map reading.

If you haven’t got an in-car sat nav system yet it will only be a matter of time before you finally succumb, or alternatively you find it fitted as standard in the next vehicle you buy.

Victoria Cochrane writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.