Medion GoPal E4230

The basics

The Medion GoPal E4230 is a budget satnav with a 4.3 inch touchscreen, preinstalled European Navteq maps for 43 countries, speed camera alerts and picture viewing, plus lifetime traffic alerts from TrafficMaster.

The good

We know you're thinking "Medion make satnavs?", but the answer is yes, good ones. The Medion GoPal E4230 locks on to you fast and recalculates routes on the fly at speed. The user interface is top down by default, so you can see plenty more points of interest around you than a TomTom, and it's much more pleasant on the eye - not that you should be looking at it too much. The voice (they always sound like Radio 4 presenters, don't they?) is quick to prompt so you'll never miss a turning too.

The bad

Although it's easy to find petrol stations en route, the points of interest data Medion has used is a bit old: one it told us to stop at hasn't existed for a good half decade. The stand you slap on the windscreen is also a very fragile, and looks likely to snap if put together in the hands of granddad.

The bottom line

It's not the cheapest entry-level satnav on the market (That widescreen comes at a cost), but if you need European maps and polished graphics, the Medion GoPal E4230 is a steal. The only question you need to consider is, can you risk your reputation going into Aldi to buy one?