SatNav

[MontyT]

Has anyone got any comments on the new AA SatNav?

 

[rob_jax]

The last time I looked, the AA doesn't have a factory building microprocessor electronic devices - so it's actually a re-badge of the Evesham Nav-Cam 7700.

Not one of the market leaders (TomTom and Garmin), and is reported to have some drawbacks (not current technology - slow to lock onto satellites when you turn it on) and some advantages (loads of AA points of interest pre-loaded)

It looks like a good price, but it's from a previous generation of devices - you may want to look at TomTom ONE UK (or Europe) or the Garmin equivalent (currently #2 to TomTom)

Robert

 

[MontyT]

Thanks for that Robert it confirms my thinking so Tom Tom it is. Any idea on the best place to buy from (Price wise)

 

[rob_jax]

I always let two of the internet price search engines look up the prices; typically www.pricerunner.co.uk and www.kelkoo.co.uk

Then if a place like Amazon or someone else I've heard of before is (very) close to the top, I'll order from them.

However, it's also worth a check with real shops like Tesco, Halfords, PC World, etc., to see if they are beating the web-prices

Robert

 

[MontyT]

Thanks again but one more question. Any comments about NavMan as noticed this evening that our local Asda is selling a NavMan system for

 

[lolly_5087162]

Hi Mal

Our engineers at work use Navman - no problems reported.

Lolly x

 

[MontyT]

Thanks lolly

Mal x

 

[blu]

Hi Folks

Im interested in this sat-nav thread.I am looking at buying a sat-nav and was particularly interested in the tomtom due to being able to install the locations of lpg filling stations from the tomtom website.However on reading reviews im concerned about many tales of them freezing up and the customer service leaving a lot to be desired.any experience of this anyone?

Cheers

Sean

 

[LMH]

Hi Sean

I have a TTG and wouldn't be without it. I have had no probs locking onto a satellite etc. It does sometimes like to direct you through city centres but I ignore that. I travel all over the country and apart from one bad experience near Birmingham, wouldn't be without it. I don't do maps.

I can't comment on the customer service because I have never been in touch with them. However, I would say that I think the TT website is not very user friendly at all.

Over the next week or so, I am going to install the traffic alerts thingy as i got caught up in horrendous traffic tonight so I think that would be useful.

Lisa

 

[blu]

Hi Lisa

I been torn between ttg510 and navman f40 but think i will go for tomtom.which model do you have,what are its best features and are there any you dont like

Cheers

Sean

 

[MGreen_5040958]

We too have had problems with freezing up & just switching it self off during a journey which is a real pain. The only way to get it to work again is to reset it usually with a bent staple. We do not use it very often, so I can't say how often it is likely to happen, but it did belong to my son who has moved to London and no longer drives there, and he used it rgularly for about 3 months after purchasing it and it was a regular occurence. He took it back to the shop and they phoned Tom Tom, and did technical testing over the phone and said there was nothing wrong with it. It is difficult to prove because it is working when you take it back. They did exchange it but the new one was the same. We have found that if it is used plugged into the cigarette lighter and not used on the battery it does not seem to happen, but as we only use it when away from home (on holiday) that could be just a fluke.

 

[MGreen_5040958]

We too have had problems with freezing up & just switching it self off during a journey which is a real pain. The only way to get it to work again is to reset it usually with a bent staple. We do not use it very often, so I can't say how often it is likely to happen, but it did belong to my son who has moved to London and no longer drives there, and he used it rgularly for about 3 months after purchasing it and it was a regular occurence. He took it back to the shop and they phoned Tom Tom, and did technical testing over the phone and said there was nothing wrong with it. It is difficult to prove because it is working when you take it back. They did exchange it but the new one was the same. We have found that if it is used plugged into the cigarette lighter and not used on the battery it does not seem to happen, but as we only use it when away from home (on holiday) that could be just a fluke.

I mean't a bent paperclip not a staple

 

[stevieg330]

Hi,

I have a TomTom Go 510. Fantastic bit of kit. I don't get any locking up problems with it but it does not like it's battery going flat!

I found that if the battery does go flat then it will not come on again with the power supply connected until you reset it which you may have to do several times (Paper clip and reset button) before the screen will come back on.

I've also noticed that if it is connected to the PC via USB it will not come on again indicating that it won't charge the battery (if flat).

Now I know about these quirks then it is no problem (I don't let the battery run down lol!) and it really is a great piece of kit.

Hope this helps with your decision

Kind Regards

Steve

 

[GeorgeB]

SATNAV,

What ever system you use you will find that its a great bit of kit, but just one caveat, DON'T FOLLOW IT BLINDLY! if you do IT WILL drop you in the brown smelly stuff big time!

Won't mention the make, but last year going through Rouen, it wanted to take me under a railway line through an arch with a clearance of 1.8 metres, not quite a good idea with a caravan in tow!

 

[LMH]

Hi blu

I've got the 500.

I haven't had any problems operation wise at all and I use mine on a regular basis. I'm definately going to get the traffic alerts.

Best features, nice and easy to see the screen. Battery will last four hours (well mine does). Nice and portable. I save my favourite destinations. Sound linked to speed of car. I have speed cameras on mine too and I have set the sound to notify me by a bell when I am approaching speed restrictions. Quick to re-calculate a route if I choose to ignore its suggestion.

Only thing I don't like is it likes to direct you through city centres. Unless I want to go through a city centre, I always ignore it.

Lisa

 

[rob_jax]

TomTom is (rightly) the most popular brand, and maybe it's no surprise that you hear of more issues - but as a percentage of those sold - it doesn't appear to be a real problem.

My TomTom 700 (Europe), and my work colleagues have either the TomTom ONE Benelux or TomTom 510 (Europe) - and no failures (39 employees in the company)

But they aren't happy running on partially charged batteries - need recharging and possibly a reset. But it's best to run the device from the 12 volt power cable.

Robert

 

[LMH]

Rob

How do the traffic alerts work? Do you have to receive them through a mobile?

Lisa

 

[rob_jax]

Lisa,

Two ways - free or subscription service

The free way is to buy a special radio receiver module that fits into the back of the TomTom (check compatibility) - in the UK I think the traffic data stream is carried by Classic FM (the module autoseeks the right radio station - doesn't affect the car HiFi). Most popular in Germany and Holland, not available in all European countries.

The subscription service works by pairing your (Bluetooth and GPRS) mobile phone with the TomTom - then your TomTom receives accurate real-time alerts for the road ahead. The GPRS feature on the phone means you don't pay for the call (like Broadband at home it's always on) just the amount of information. Europe wide service.

Which is best - the subscription service

Robert

 

[Robert_374242026]

Hi,

I have a TomTom Go 510. Fantastic bit of kit. I don't get any locking up problems with it but it does not like it's battery going flat!

I found that if the battery does go flat then it will not come on again with the power supply connected until you reset it which you may have to do several times (Paper clip and reset button) before the screen will come back on.

I've also noticed that if it is connected to the PC via USB it will not come on again indicating that it won't charge the battery (if flat).

Now I know about these quirks then it is no problem (I don't let the battery run down lol!) and it really is a great piece of kit.

Hope this helps with your decision

Kind Regards

Steve

Hello Mel ,we have had the TTG 700 over a year now and i echo Steves reply . I find no problem with speed warnings in fact my wife has a good laugh at what sounds i put to each speed ie cow moo,trumpets and so on. Having petrol stations on it is a boon espeialy when abroad and on a motorway and you do not know when the next service place is going to be , i have had to go off into a village where i have left too late to fill up.

 

[molecart]

You might try www.totalpda.com for your satnav. They do reconditioned units at a decent discount.

Regards,

Norman

 

[Steve L]

I have a tiny Garmin i3 which does the job fine for me.

I do have to say that (me included) sat nav's can makeus lazy and we should still have regard for using maps to get a general idea of where we are heading.

On a daily basis I use a sat nav to find lodgings and local construction supply merchants which is all very helpfull and without my little sat nag as I call her we'd be right up the creek without a paddle.

Being not much bigger than the top of a coffee mug also means that I can keep it away from prying eyes. You all too often see these days people drivinground with their sat nav proudly plonked in the midddle of the windscreen which is not only a massive advert to a thief (even the suction pad ring gives the game away) but also illegal, as by law the only thing allowed on the front window is your tax disc and operators license if your a LGV.

Steve L.

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

TomTom mapping is inferior to that of Navteq and Tom Tom is more about gimmick features than some other brands.

You can get a lot for your money with TomTom but that does not help with turn alerts and the actual navigation system and turn alerts that most are buying a Satnav for.

I think Rob is wrong with his summary that TomTom are rightly the most popular brand as to many units are sold due to the fashionable name of TomTom and inexperienced salesmen selling gimmicks not the best features you need for getting from A to B.

TMC traffic alert systems are far from perfect on TomTom and other Satnavs. UK roads covered by traffic alerts are limited,

coverage is not very good with only some major roads covered by the networks.

Large areas offer no reception even in city areas and in the countryside there can be next to no reception.

When towing a caravan be aware that the traffic alert systems will re route you around hold ups, but the route may not be suitable for a caravan towing.

Satnav forums are full of questions about reception issues for traffic alert systems, reception can be affected by car window coatings and heating sytems. An FM alert unit that attaches to an external aerial seems to offer ther best results for reception but even then many also fit an aerial booster to maximise the efficiency of the units.

James

 

[Essexeddie]

I too have the Garmin i3. For the money its as good as you can get. Its the third Sat Nav I have had, the first was useless, the next a Navman was complicated and difficult to use, also the maps were out of date so I sent it back.

I would not trust any Sat Nav whilst towing a caravan, always keep an eye on a good map.

Edd

 

[rob_jax]

Hi James,

The TomTom review data came from the independent SatNav web-sites, including sites such as GlobalPositioningSystems.co.uk, and is not my personal review - although having used both I agree with the industry consensus.

My wife has a Garmin i3, and it's OK, except for the scroll wheel - but you can't expect a touch screen at that price break.

There are no factual differences in the overall mapping accuracy between TeleAtlas and NavTeq. Quoting an industry reviewer:

"To perform the test, I made sure I had the most recent databases available from each vendor in a popular GPS device. On the NAVTEQ side I used the most recent maps available from Garmin. For the test I used a Garmin Nuvi loaded with Garmin's "v8″ maps which shipped in July of last year. On the Tele Atlas side I used a TomTom GPS loaded with their newest map release which shipped in December of last year. So yes, there is a difference in ship dates, however these are still the most recent maps available on those devices today.

my list of 500 total addresses was complete I set out on the painstaking task (literally painstaking) of trying to find each of those 500 addresses on both GPS devices. If I couldn't find the address right away I didn't stop there since I didn't want to test how easy it was to enter an address on each device (although I did learn quite a bit!). Rather I wanted test to see if the address existed in the GPS.

I expected to have overall lower matches since I would assume new housing developments (streets) pop-up more often than new business addresses. I was able to find 86% of the addresses from the NAVTEQ maps and 92% of addresses from the Tele Atlas based maps. The difference between map vendors here was again 6%."

So this reviewer found a 6% difference in favour of TeleAtlas - and a similar 6% for business address.

So James, you may want to review your statement on NavTeq being better. Source gpsreview.net

Robert

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

I did not wish to start some petty Satnav war.

Garmin units have been shipping with Version 9 mapping since last August time I understand, if you've had Navteq V8 maps on most Satnavs that use Navteq since then you have been sold old stock. AA Satnav were one of the first units to ship with V9 Navteq mapping that has been available as an update since around January to Garmin and some other users.

Quality of mapping does not just relate to address finding only, it relates to positioning and the points you get prompts.

Navteq as far as I am aware is still rated as a better mapping system than Teleatlas by most in the industry.

TomTom is inteneded as a comsumer based product I understand where as Garmin and some others are based on Industrial/Military based Satnav requirements.

Overall performance of Satnav mapping has Navteq as the market leader for overall performance.

From GPS review

"recent GPS Magazine product reviews (TomTom GO 910, Magellan RoadMate 3000T, Garmin StreetPilot c550), I mentioned that I prefer NAVTEQ's mapping data. That prompted some questions from folks wondering what, if any, there differences are between the two products.

NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas both provide mapping data to GPS manufacturers, online mapping services, and generally any other application that might need street-level mapping data. The conventional wisdom has always been that NAVTEQ is "better", but more expensive, and TeleAtlas not so good, but cheaper. Here is some more specific data:

In general NAVTEQ has more current mapping data in the United States. Want to see for yourself? Google Maps uses NAVTEQ mapping data, but Google's GMap Pedometer site uses TeleAtlas maps (no doubt the result of NAVTEQ's unwillingness to let Google use the open API).

Now Check out a view of the same area of New Jersey via Gmaps (using TeleAtlas data) http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/?centerX=-74.03115749359131&c... , then checkout the same map using Google Maps (NAVTEQ): http://maps.google.com/maps?q=hoboken,+nj&spn=0.015104,0.027479&hl=en

Clearly the NAVTEQ map is more up-to-date. Try it out yourself using your own address."

NAVTEQ is generally considered better, so why does anyone use TeleAtlas? No surprise here, TeleAtlas is cheaper. "

As a forces user I would trust my sources rather than other reveiwers as well.

James ( sorry for the delay in replying )