Our Black Friday weekend offers so much that I think we ought to change the name!
We have loads of special offers heading your way and I have my eye on a few, but more on them later. One thing that is hitting your screens just before the actual weekend is a really great sat nav from Garmin, which will be the Today’s Special Value on Thursday 28th November. I’m a bit of a fan of their products, having had sat navs, dash cams and watches (my current one is the Vivoactive Music) etc from them in the past. Now, I don’t actually need a sat nav, as I recently installed a head unit in my car and it has a built-in map system. However, my 17-year-old son is learning to drive and part of the test now is showing that you know how to follow instructions from a sat nav. I managed to borrow one of our TSV’s and asked my lad to see how it looked. The result – a big thumbs up!
It has many exciting new features that take the familiar sat nav from a few years ago into a whole new field. For me the bigger clearer screen was very obvious but the most important difference was the very easy way you could control things with your voice. I have listed some of the main features below:
A 6.95″ edge-to-edge, high-resolution display.
Ask Garmin voice control for directions and points of interest along the route – just ask Garmin voice control when you need directions or to help you find POIs along your route. It even features easy-to-use live Garmin Traffic. This helps alert you to traffic congestion, accidents and construction delays along your route and suggests detours if a faster route is available.
Keeping your maps and software up to date is easy as it’s done via WiFi. When a new update is available and you’re on your wireless home network, you’ll automatically receive an on-screen notification. That’s your cue to plug your device into any outlet, and let it update over Wi-Fi while it charges. Then you’ll be ready to hit the road again.
Server-based route calculation for instant route calculation while connected with the Drive app.
Use your smartphone’s Bluetooth or an AUX cable to stream Alexa responses, including music through your vehicle’s speakers and even offers real-time features such as live traffic, weather and parking.
You can ask Alexa to do all kinds of things that Alexa does, like creating to-do lists, checking your calendar, weather and traffic, control smart home devices and play interactive games. You can also ask Alexa to play your favourite music from Amazon Music and more. While your music is playing, the album artwork appears on the crisp 6.95″ edge-to-edge display.
Sync your smartphone enabled with Bluetooth technology for hands-free phone calls, and receive customisable smart notifications on your Drivesmart’s display. The system also comes with some natty little cabling devices that allows you to plug a 3.5 mm jack lead into the accessory charging socket and this allows the sound to go through your car radio speakers. It makes the navigation sound so upmarket and clear especially if you’re in a noisy road.
When you’re not familiar with the area, it’s nice to have something to point you in the right direction. That’s why TripAdvisor on your Garmin DriveSmart works really well. View ratings for travel points of interest, such as hotels, restaurants and attractions along your route or near your destination. Make road trips more fun with the Trip Planner tool, which suggests interesting stops along the way.
Lovely Ella Williamson will be able to show everyone many of the features on Thursday 28th November as we have the system, with a lifetime of map updates, at a very special price for one day only.
We have a few other things that hopefully haven’t sold out (but they are so popular I wouldn’t leave it too long) that will be with you on air and on the web at the weekend. A few of them caught my attention:
Meaco Heat Motion Eye 1.8kW Heater
This is quite an amazing little device as it’s a heater that knows when someone is in the room! This is pretty cool (or rather warm!) as it only turns on if it “see’s” you, and therefore you’re not wasting energy heating a room that nobody is in. It’s a great idea for teenagers and more elderly people who can’t be bothered switching things off when they leave the room (a real bug bear of mine!). There’s a 15% discount and two interest-free instalment payments available and that should warm you up!
Sun Joe 1400w Portable Pressure Washer has an amazing 40% discount with 3 colours available, and four interest-free instalment payments. It’s lightweight and portable and if you don’t have space for a full on monster of a pressure washer then this would be ideal, as it still gives plenty of cleaning power, but doesn’t take up so much space.
For this of you interested in a bit of high tech gadgetry, we have some great deals on the web. A few that look particularly good would make smashing Christmas presents Bose QC25 Headphones are only for Apple devices but with a 23% discount and three interest-free instalment payments, they are a really good deal and having tried them I can recommend their fit and comfort.
For in-ear earbuds have a look at the very upmarket B&O E8 Headphones. There’s 30% reduction and three interest-free instalment payments. B&O are amazing quality and top end specification, so to see such a reduction is great news and I’d be very happy to receive these at Christmas.
I have had a GoPro since they first came out and they really are a fabulous load of fun. We have a GoPro Hero 7 with Handler that is a great option as it has, unlike my original one, a built in screen and is water-resistant without having extra cases etc. This one has 32GB capacity and is on offer with a 20% discount and two interest-free instalment payments.
I have only had a chance to give you a sentence or two on a few of the options but check out our website for all sorts of Black Friday offers and remember that everything you buy as a Christmas present comes with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee that starts on Christmas day.
No wonder I keep saying “there’s loads in store”!
Simon x
