Sat;Nav's

[pensioner]

I accept that most of you have yours built in to the car, but I haven't and I'm hoping there are some out there in the same situation
Has anyone bought the one advertised in the magazine, (no names no packdrill) and if so how did you find it and get on with it.
I bought it as it's a nice large screen, map updates for life and a built in camera, which as it happens is very good quality recordings, but I'm finding getting to grips with it difficult and some features very confusing.
I've spoken with the supplier several times but I'm still not happy.

 

[emmerson]

I took a long time to sort mine out, pensioner. I think the clue is in your user name - like me, you're too old for modern technology!!!!!!!!!!!
Mine is a straight-forward Tom tom which has some features that i don't need, so just ignore.Pick out the bits you want, and leave the rest.
I was given a dash cam and a reverse cam for Christmas and they are both still in their boxes because I cannot make sense of them. The reverse camera apparently shows films and plays music! What the h*ll for? All I want is to see the towball to make hitch-up easier. Plus it does not have install instructions, and repeated emails to the manufacturer are ignored.
Stick with it pensioner, or find a twelve-year-old to help you!

 

[FrintonMike]

I use the grandchildren for anything new but I do have a garmin sat nav and use it in lorry mode and it seems to work well but if going anywhere new I do use google maps to see if the route is ok for a caravan..

 

[pensioner]

I too had a Garmin but it didn't have lorry mode whereas this one has lorry,,motorhome , caravan or single car,,with all the C.C. and C&CC site locations built in.
The problem is its inconsistances not anything about how to set it up,,and it's now on its way back to the dealer as they agree, having had a long phone chat, that there does appear to be a fault, plus its the second one they supplied.
This was my reason for my initial question, I was hoping that some one,,or two,,had bought one and had similar trouble, or maybe they have one and its perfect.

 

[thomas_374576025]

hi i would go to halfords and buy a tom tom go at the moment they are selling them cheap you cant go wrong easy to use cheers .tom

 

[JonnyG]

i have not bought a stand alone sat nav for 7 or 8 years not since the smartphone started to boom.. instead i have Co pilot . and Tom tom phone apps...The co pilot western Europe cost me 30 odd pounds a fair few years back live services is £7.50 a years and it has settings for car walk bike HGV and Motorhome,,although how good the Motorhome or HGV is when you don't have a function to put height width and weight in i don't know.. The new Tom Tom phone app came out a couple of years ago and cost £15 a year you can download anywhere GB europe America ect all for the £15 which includes live services. both are downloaded onto the phone so theirs no google map style data use don't know if that also applies to waze.. Have always had sat nav's going way back to a Garmin street pilot that merely showed a line to your destination and i mean straight line not on the roads... no sat nav is perfect but both these seem to use very good Algorithms and plenty of variety in your settings... i decided i didn't want to carry so much stuff around with me when out and about or worry about leaving a sat nav somewhere, so decide the one thing does all was for me hence the smartphone sat nav apps

 

[emmerson]

JohnnyG, for this old man, all that might as well be written in Serbo-Croat! What the heck are Algorithms, apps and downloads? I just want simple toys to play with!
That is the major problem with modern technology; they assume that we all understand the language! I've just returned the reverse camera, because it is just too complicated. I'll now go to Maplins and hopefully, buy a simple one, same as I had before.
Or, better still, fit bigger morrors!

 

[otherclive]

Ive got a Garmin as I prefer the standalone satnav that can be sited on the dash. Its a few years old now but covers all of Europe with the free lifetime maps that came with it. They get updated every three months so are more up to date than those in a car installed satnav. I specifically bought the Garmin for towing as I can program it on the home computer such that I didn't get sent down unsuitable roads. For 99% of a journey it would be okay, but sometimes the approach to a site has specific directions. Also rather than just letting it do its own thing I programme my preferred route prior to setting off that means it is really just a guidance tool for the route I wish to take. Of course if there are route problems such as a RTA then I either sit in the jam or ask co-pilot to use the maps and find an escape route.

 

[Keefanmaxx]

We have a built in sat-nav in the car, but with the position being low in the centre console, I don't like using it. I have a Tom Tom Go whateveritis with lifetime map updates and voice control which is much better as it can be put where it's best for me or Mrs Keith. :cheer:

 

[Mel]

The Smart phone as a Sat Nav is a great plan. My daughter uses hers all the time. Until she came to see us on site in rural North Wales and had no phone signal. No phone signal means no sat nav. The conventional sat nav in our car didn't have the same problem.
Mel

 

[JonnyG]

The Smart phone as a Sat Nav is a great plan. My daughter uses hers all the time. Until she came to see us on site in rural North Wales and had no phone signal. No phone signal means no sat nav. The conventional sat nav in our car didn't have the same problem.
Mel

Hi Mel. That is not the case for sat navigation app you pay and own like the 2 I mentioned . You download the maps via WiFi, onto your phone, they are always there just like a stand alone sat navigation.

 

[JonnyG]

JohnnyG, for this old man, all that might as well be written in Serbo-Croat! What the heck are Algorithms, apps and downloads? I just want simple toys to play with!
That is the major problem with modern technology; they assume that we all understand the language! I've just returned the reverse camera, because it is just too complicated. I'll now go to Maplins and hopefully, buy a simple one, same as I had before.
Or, better still, fit bigger morrors!

I do know where you're coming from emmerson, I'm not computer savvy, but I have picked up a few self taught bits. Algorithms? Yeah your right emnerson techie stuff but in quick English, it decides things, and on Sat navigation as many other things it's the difference between an OK and a good sat nav

 

[RayS]

I struggled with one of the big screen car or car plus caravan sat navs for some years. Despite frequent map updates it was totally unreliable in Europe showing us as off road on a section of Spanish autovia I know personally to have been open for at least 6 years and directing us to pedestrian only rputes which had been established a similar time.
The bulit in satnav in previous car was also useless when towing and very difficult to programme in situ. I now use a very basic Garmin which once you have mastered it is pretty good so long as you plan your route in advance and force it to go the way you want by putting in way points or shaping points. It will show filling stations etc. If so set.
Personally I think this is the way to go rather than spend a lot extra on a built in unit which judging by one I looked at in a BMW is not easy to programme and certainly cannot be removed into a nice warm house and set up in comfort with perhaps Google Earth on a nearby laptop to check the junctions. As a famous general once said. Time spent in reconnaisance is seldom wasted

 

[robf1234]

hi from google maps ,,you can download whole chunks of area on to your phone for offline use free ,,great if you know ruffly where you are going

 

[Hutch]

I use a 10 year old Snooper unit designed for caravan use, fully updated with, CC, C&CC, ACSI , etc. And with fully programable input for the size of your caravan. My in car satnav, Hyundai Santa Fe, will take me off a motorway and then back on if the traffic is slower than 40 mph. Just what you really want.