NaviGadget

Evesham Bluemedia BM6300 TMC satellite navigation review

Jun 15, 2006 gps navigation, reviews

The Bluemedia 6300 TMC is Evesham’s latest attempt to take a slice of the lucrative satellite navigation market.

The slim-line design of the BM6300 TMC differs from the triangle-style casing of the popular Tom Tom sat nav devices.

This means it won’t sit well on your dashboard but it can be securely fastened using the car-mount bracket. Impressively, a bike-mount is also included in the package.

Just as with the BM6380, which we reviewed in 2005, Destinator ND mapping software is used. It’s reasonably fast when scrolling around the maps, although if you completely power-down the device it does take a while to boot up again.

Full street-level maps for the UK are included on a 256MB SD card and planning a journey is both easy and precise thanks to the full seven-digit postcode support; many sat nav devices still only accept five, or sometimes even just four postcode digits.

A stylus is included to navigate through the menu system, but thanks to the large and well-spaced on-screen buttons it’s just as easy to use your finger.

Just as with the BM6300, the screen is reasonably reflective, but staring at a sat nav device when you should be concentrating on the road isn’t particularly wise. Instead, it’s better to listen to the clear audio instructions.

We took the BM6300 TMC on several journeys and couldn’t fault the maps or directions. It also comes with the added bonus of a TMC (Traffic Message Channel) component.

TMC uses Radio Data Systems (RDS) broadcast over the FM frequency to monitor live traffic reports. Should a traffic jam be detected ahead, you’ll be automatically re-routed.

Other information including weather and road works can also be provided. T here are no hidden costs with this TMC service so it won’t cost you a penny.

However, if you do make use of it, be prepared to get completely entangled in wires. Although the BM6300 TMC will operate quite happily on its own via a built-in battery, use of the TMC component requires you to connect a lengthy FM aerial (suckers are included to attach it to nearby windows).

This aerial then needs to be connected to a splitter cable – one half going to a USB port on the main GPS device, the other to the power socket.

This splitter cable must then be attached to the car power adapter cable since the TMC will not function if the BM6300 is running off its internal battery.

All this leaves you with an ungainly heap of wires and we suspect most people will find it far to infuriating to set up each time they start a car journey.

Should you be nearing the dreaded 12 points on your licence, you’ll be pleased to hear the BM6300 TMC comes complete with a database of all speed cameras. If you turn the speed camera tool on, you’ll be warned when approaching one.

But, since these cameras are constantly moved around, if you want to be able to rely on the service you’ll need to subscribe to regular database updates. You get a free six-month trial period, but after that it’s £30 a year.

Taking more notice of the speed-limit signs is, of course, totally free.

Just under £400 isn’t a great deal for such a fully featured satellite navigation system, but whether you’ll use all the features is another matter.

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