Sat Nav - any recommendations

[LMH]

Hi

Looking to buy sat nav. Hear Tom Tom is very good but have to upgrade each year and pay a fee. Anyone used Nav Man?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good sat nav, pros cons costs etc

Lisa

 

[Damian]

I have an original TomTomGo, and wouldnt be without it when going into new areas.

The TomTom 300, 500 700 and One are also getting good reports.

I cannot comment on other makes, havent used them

I dont know where you got the idea that TomTom has to be upgraded each year? as far as I know it is only the mapping which needs upgrading at times, but even with the "new" maps, they are 2 years out of date.

As with any satnav , they are a very useful AID to routing, they are NOT a replacement for common sense, and using your own brain!!.

They WILL direct you down unsuitable roads, but it is up to you to determine this, by looking at where they are intending taking you BEFORE it happens, and use either "Avoid said road", or "reroute".

The great thing I have found, is it releives the stress of driving, and the stress on your other half, who is map reading,ends ALL arguments.

The voice prompts are brilliant as you never need to take your eyes off the road, which can be a lifeasver at times.

Costs are coming down all the time, so bargains can be picked up quite readily.

Have a look at the forums on http://www.expansys.com/forumoverview.asp

You will find most makes covered, and the good and bad points of each.

 

[cris_408518]

Lisa.

At home I use Garmin I3 ( we have 4 in the family, cheap and you can put in a pocket or handbag) and it does a basic, but great job.

I used Tom Tom last year in Europe but have a Garmin Nuvi 350 here in Viareggio. It took me to Brindisi and back to Rimini to Naples and Rome and here with no problems. Fits in my shirt pocket and we wandered around Rome without getting lost running on its in built battery.

Garmin do free regular updates and I like the neat small units! A courier friend uses Navman and finds it OK.

I keep saying this but for anything about GPS go to www.pocketgpsworld.com and spend a few hours reading the forums. Home page there has Nuvi review on it.

www.gpsw.co.uk is quite a good retailer and web site has good info on a vast range of products.

Remember Sat Navs are machines so you still have to give the little things some help ;-)

Off to Venice on Sunday if I get no more work interuptions. Sat Nav rocks and i have no doubt it will take me straight there as well.

Buona notte e sogni dolci - cris

 

[Lisa_5106889]

Hi

We also own a Tom Tom Go. I would say its very easy to use with its touch screen and clear voice instructions and has successfully directed us to places.It also tells you quite quickly when you have made a wrong turn and re-routes you within seconds if possible. However, I do find that it sometimes misses roundabouts and traffic lights which have been in place for years and it can take you the long way round to places rather than a more direct route. It is also quite late at telling you which lane you require when leaving motorways. When we left the motorway today we were more than half way up the slip road in the left hand lane when it suddenly told us to turn right. That would be a hazard if you were towing a caravan!! And lastly I went to Harrogate recently along the A1 when the tomtom told me to exit at the next slip road. It then took me through a building site and got me completely lost, I had to stop twice to ask for directions!!!

 

[Lol1]

None of them are infallible Lisa, they all work on the same principles and they all do much the same job. What are different are the price and the way information is input and handled. I find Tom-Tom the most intuitive and easy to work with, there are plenty of accessories to upgrade if you wish and a there is a wide and clearly marked pricing structure. I'm sure Roy would comment on Tom-Tom as he saw mine in action, the only proviso I can think of is, don't download John Cleese's voice, the instructions can be a little unusual.

 

[TripHazard]

Hi Lisa

I started out with tomtom on my iPAC and was very impressed by how reliable it was and as most others have said makes the journey stress free more my navagator as well as myself. My iPac died a death and i realised i couldnt or didnt wanna do without TomTom so I bought the TomTom700 thats with european mapping door to door same as I had on my iPAC. I set my tomtom to limited speed at 55mph this is supposed to take lorry's and caravans into considersation but as Damian says use common sense and they are defn less stressful to the driver and navagator. I have used it over the years in france spain italy germany belgium luxembourg holland switerland I wouldnt be without it. get the best tomtom version u can afford.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Lisa,

Once you have bought a Sat Nav system there need not be any additional running costs, unless you subscribe to the Plus services - which integrate real time traffic information in with the Sat Nav and route you around hot spots.

There is no requirement to update the maps each year, just like when you buy a paper map, but after a while you may want to.

I've used Sat Nav on a PDA and now have a TomTom GO 700 (I work in Europe so full street level mapping of Europe is really useful). My wife has a Garmin i3 which is OK if you only want the UK.

Questions you need to ask:

1. Will I use Sat Nav ONLY in the UK? In which case a TomTom ONE or Garmin i3 might be OK

2. Will I want to use Sat Nav in Europe? TomTom GO 700 is probably the best solution.

3. Go to a store and find out if the Garmin or TomTom is the easiest to use?

The TomTom range is being upgraded with the "10" model, which speaks the names of road junctions, and so the 700 becomes the 710. There are really good deals for the "non-10" models

Robert

 

[cris_408518]

Garmin I3 has European mapping available on micro transflash card now!

Garmin do regular FREE updates to the units system and the mapping. Garmin offer a free exchange update card for anyone who recently bought an I3 with V7 mapping to update to V8.

You just plug in the garmin to the PC and a prog will update the machine and there is plenty of easy to use "POI" Points of interest for the little wonder.

Have to say that I find the I3 has very accurate positioning and gives good warning of junctions compared to Tom Tom.

Both I and my daughter had I3's running without using the instructions it is so easy to use.

For any one who wants European maps for an I3 GPS Wharehouse is selling the micro cards. They are not cheap at present, but you can by map source cd and do European mapping if you want.

 

[LMH]

Thanks for the replies

I went to Hallfords and looked at the Tom Tomss. Two sales assistants both told me that you had to upgrade them each year for a cost of about

 

[LMH]

cris, rob-jax, Damian, Lisa, Lol, Martin

Can someone reply to my latest posting, you know I can't wait to get one. PLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Lisa

 

[sparkes]

Lisa, never used it so cannot comment. I use the Garmin range as the one I have is waterproof. (useful on a bike)

However, if you go for the iCN then ebuyer has them at a good price

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=94436&_LOC=UK

 

[MonkeyHanger]

Hiya,

Ihave tom tom 300 and used it on the bank holiday weekend to goto the star camping and caravan site near alton towers its touch screen and i used the post code facility on it and off we went 3 hours later after traveling from the north east to staffordshire under the direction of sue (our lady navigator) we arrived right out side the gate of the camp site we also used it to goto a wildlife farm and again it took us under the post code feature to the gate and this farm was in the middle of no-where too it was BRILLIANT.

I dont know about any upgrades on it but you can check it out on the tom tom web site.

I would recommend the tom tom but really i suppose its your choice

 

[cris_408518]

Garmin I3 will do all you want apart from it works with a very simple scroll wheel instead of a touch screen. Speed camera alerts and post code is brilliant.

Only about

 

[Lol1]

Lisa, that description is very similar to the TomTom. You do not need to upgrade each year, that is only for the added extra's such as speed cameras and traffic alerts.

I have no experience with the Navman iCN 520, I do not know how you input information and how the system performs. I would dare say that it is sufficient for your requirements though. So it comes down to price. I can recommend Tomtom, but a Navman user could do the same for his. We leant our spare TomTom out to someone for approval, if you would like to see it in action, I could speak to Gaye (it's hers) to sort something out.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Lisa,

The Halfords "experts" are wrong - none of the current crop of Sat Nav systems require you to upgrade the software at the end of the year.

The market leader is TomTom then Garmin. Navman is not as popular or as highly rated.

You only want a system for the UK and a Touchscreen - this is the easiest way to operate the system.

So if you want to spend the money, the "best" choice is the new TomTom 310 - this has the very fast processor from the TomTom 700 - and can be upgraded to full European maps (if you ever need it) or the Garmin c310 which comes with "Major Roads and Towns of Europe" - OK if you need to find Paris (but not an address in Paris)

Failing that, either the TomTom ONE, TomTom 300 (effectively replaced by 310 - should be available at a good price) or the Garmin C310

If you like the scroll wheel - the Garmin i3 is a fine product at a good price - but has quite a small screen.

Accuracy:

There is no difference between the accuracy of the various devices - assuming they all have the same generation of GPS receiver - the accuracy or actually the level of "wanderation" is set by the data stream from the satellites - only military users get the full accuracy of the system.

Post Codes:

The ability to search for an address by the full 7 digit post codes is definitely worth having. 5 digits gets you to an area bigger than the size of our village - 7 digits get you to the street. The higher price TomTom or Garmin models win here.

Robert

 

[David.O]

LHM

RE sat nav I have Tom TOM but the big asset with any sat nav which is oftern missed is when you are driving in fog or at night and can see no land marks. I live and work in the country and need to find remote farms it is great for that in those conditions.

David from Suffolk

 

[cris_408518]

Good morning from France. Garmin Nuvi brought me here with no probs ;-0

I can't see that screen size is that important as most of the time voice guidance is what you follow, at home I never find the small I3 a problem.

With current warning re cars being broken into for sat nav units and safety warnings re eyes on road not on the satnav screen the neat little garmin units are easy to pocket or put in ladies handbag.

Some of my contacts have run the basic I3 alongside TomTom and found that that I3 gave better warnings of turns. Accuracy is about the same but the garmin mapping sems quite sharp.

The Nuvi has lots of features like TomTom, my wife and daughter like the no frills little Garmin. More features more confusion reckons my boss ;-) She went off route on the way home from Gatwick yesterday and her I3 re routed her in seconds!

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

OK I would not recommend the Navman; I had an iCN 635 and found it to be very temperamental and would take up to 15 mins + for a satellite lock-on; the navigation was poor; but the display was cool; however that's little consolation. I have reverted to my trusty brand Garmin and bought the Street Pilot 2720; this is an expensive model but is quite superb; yes it's touch screen; yes it'll do postcodes etc; but the thing it does brilliantly is navigate; either as car or 9say) as a truck 9when towing); it'll alert you to speed cameras (download necessary) and the best part s that Garmin take your feedback seriously and we get regular updates both for the system software and also for Emily the English speaking voice of the 2720! In a nutshell, Garmin are the world leaders in this field.

 

[ian_5109116]

i have a brilliant navigation system that has never failed to get us to our destination home and abroad and without the patronising voice,its my wife Jackie, so my unique system is called "JACK NAV "!

 

[cris_408518]

How does it work when the wifes at home ?

And does the wife know where every Tesco, Sainsbury's etc is and where the nearest petrol station or car park is.

And can you unplug the wife so she is silent ;-)

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

hi, we have the tom tom 700 its great.its very clear and has a hard drive.someone told me you can upgrade free its just a matter of finding it on the et you would need to do a search.we havent had to update ours yet.the only thing i would say is is you have say a car with a heated or reflective screen like a pug 307sw then you would need to buy an aried about

 

[jon_5062082]

hi, we have the tom tom 700 its great.its very clear and has a hard drive.someone told me you can upgrade free its just a matter of finding it on the et you would need to do a search.we havent had to update ours yet.the only thing i would say is is you have say a car with a heated or reflective screen like a pug 307sw then you would need to buy an aried about

 

[Stephen_5077753]

Thanks for the replies

I went to Hallfords and looked at the Tom Tomss. Two sales assistants both told me that you had to upgrade them each year for a cost of about

 

[LMH]

Thanks for the replies. Have just ordered the Garmin Nuvi 300.

Will let you know what I think of it.

Lisa

 

[joeby]

just bought the tom tom go 500 with remote control no need to touch the screen ,and free promotional offers for map & safety camera updates from ebuyer for