Medion sat-nav steers round jams

Sat-nav units are divisive gadgets. Some people want them only for pinpoint directions, some demand hands-free calling and others just want a cool new box on their dash. This new Medion is for another GPS sect entirely – traffic update addicts.

The GoPAL PNA 350 achieves this by offering a free lifetime subscription to Traffic Message Channel (TMC), which uses FM to  supply you with minute-by-minute guidance around the day’s pile-ups and roadwork zones.

It’s naturally also a fully-fledged GPS receiver with a 65,000 colour touch screen and two loudspeakers, although there’s no Bluetooth to let you use the speakers for hands-free duty.

On the mapping front, you get Navteq’s UK and Ireland job pre-installed, which include points of interest  – such as the wooden road engulfed by blue shrubbery above – plus a compass and estimated times of arrival. If you’re planning a road trip around our lovely continent, you can buy additional European road maps on CD to transfer to the device too.

To round off the deal, Medion also includes a power adaptor and car holder with suction cup. It looks an impressive buy at £300 but don’t pull your wallet out just yet – it goes on sale this March from Makro and Asda. For a list of other retailers head and more info go to Medion’s site here.