Which GPS for a CAR?

Off to France and picking up a hire car early September, I need a GPS but too many to choose from, I'm overwhelmed.

There is also another wee problem. At home we have a Freelander with a heated windscreen, i.e. it has fine heating wires in the glass and they apparently stop a dash-mounted antenna from picking up the satellite signal. The hire car will be a Saab 9-3 Bio something-or-other, I don't know if that has a heated windscreen, but obviously whatever I get has to be suitable for both cars. (A further bonus would be if I could use it on the bike too- surely too much to ask? )

So, is it true that there is a problem with heated screens? If so, does that mean that I can forget about getting a GPS or is there another way of getting it to work? Oh, and which one would be suitable? It doesn't really have to be anything fancy, average would be fine, just as long as it works in France.

Garmin Zumo 550 fits the bill. It comes with a bike mount and a car mount, and works perfectly well in my Ford Focus which has a heated windscreen.

My Ford Galaxy has a heated screen and the zumo 550 works fine.
My old Quest 1 also worked perfectly in the galaxy

So, is it true that there is a problem with heated screens? If so, does that mean that I can forget about getting a GPS or is there another way of getting it to work? Oh, and which one would be suitable? It doesn't really have to be anything fancy, average would be fine, just as long as it works in France.

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I believe it's only the rain sensing screens that cause a problem. I've never had a problem with reception through heated screens, only once in a hired Renault (I think it was) in France that did have a 'clever' screen. It is possible to get external aerials but they're another added expense.

I'd definitely recommend the TomTom system, it's very user friendly, you can plan in detours/roadblocks on the fly and it's time estimation is pretty accurate, erring more on the over estimate side (so you get there quicker than it estimates). There are loads of POIs (Points Of Interest) available from cash machines to restaurants to campsites to fuel stations etc, etc. I used CoPilot for a while before TomTom and found it hopeless in comparison.

I've used TomTom in UK, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden and found it excellent.

Hope that helps a bit.

Mick

I've got a car with a rain sensing windscreen and my Zumo works fine. Must be car/unit dependent.

The only screens you may have problems with are "athermic" or infra red reflective windscreens. These have a layer of iron oxide in them (which is used to filter out infra red) and usually have a "purplish" tint to them. Normally fitted to Peugeot/Citroen/Renault. Ford heated screens are not a problem unless they have the words "IR" in the bottom corner of the screen. If reception is a problem you have to fit an external antenna to your sat nav and place the antenna on the inside of the windscreen in the "black zone" adjacent to the rear view mirror.

Hope this helps.

just bought

a tomtom 730 europe and it seems to be very good.

Thank you all for the replies, my computer has been off the air since I posted this thread and I've been gagging to get it back.

So: Tom Tom OK and heated screens OK. I believe that it shouldn't be a problem to download the France and Spain bit off the web as my son insists- is that right?