Towing,driving and safety

[BriW_5085831]

More Satellite Navigation

I'm towing to Algarve,Portugal in early December. I want a satnav to get me their(easy bit), get me out of a mess when I lose my way in cities like Rouen, and then use as portable when walking off road when I'm there in Algarve. Does anyone have experience of this use and which model/make do you use?

Am I asking too much?

BriW

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I use a Garmin Quest which is small and easily fits in a pocket. I use it if I'm walking looking for streets in an unfamiliar town. It comes ready to use with UK maps loaded but European mapping comes on a CD which you load yourself. I've never tried it on the continent though. See under Equipment & Accessories -Sat Nav problems - your views - for more advice.

 

[rob_jax]

BriW

I believe you will need to splash out on two devices.

A Garmin C320 or Garmin 2620 or TomTom GO 700 or GO 500 would do a fine job of navigating you from the UK to Portugal.

Some of these have an internal battery that allow operation away from the car for a few hours, but they are all specifically designed as road navigation devices. The GPS status page will show you lat. and long. but not a whole lot more.

Regarding Portugal, I have some concerns over the level of detail displayed by the map packages - I believe that the Garmin "Mapsource" maps only show the major roads for Portugal.

TomTom GO 700 says it has full map data for Portugal, but if major roads is good enough for you, consider the TomTom GO 500 which will save you quite a few pounds.

If all you want from the walking mode is a street finder for towns and cities in Portugal, then consider one of the above with extra city maps (except the TomTom GO 700 which is comprehensive).

For off-road walking, then a dedicated hand-held Garmin eTrex device is the way to go (and come back) - these have all the necessary walking features and more importantly - a long battery life.

Also the dedicated walking devices (often) have a built in digital compass - so you can orientate yourself on a bearing / direction whilst standing still.

Whereas the compass feature in a car navigation system only works whilst you are moving.

Robert

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

BriW

I believe you will need to splash out on two devices.

A Garmin C320 or Garmin 2620 or TomTom GO 700 or GO 500 would do a fine job of navigating you from the UK to Portugal.

Some of these have an internal battery that allow operation away from the car for a few hours, but they are all specifically designed as road navigation devices. The GPS status page will show you lat. and long. but not a whole lot more.

Regarding Portugal, I have some concerns over the level of detail displayed by the map packages - I believe that the Garmin "Mapsource" maps only show the major roads for Portugal.

TomTom GO 700 says it has full map data for Portugal, but if major roads is good enough for you, consider the TomTom GO 500 which will save you quite a few pounds.

If all you want from the walking mode is a street finder for towns and cities in Portugal, then consider one of the above with extra city maps (except the TomTom GO 700 which is comprehensive).

For off-road walking, then a dedicated hand-held Garmin eTrex device is the way to go (and come back) - these have all the necessary walking features and more importantly - a long battery life.

Also the dedicated walking devices (often) have a built in digital compass - so you can orientate yourself on a bearing / direction whilst standing still.

Whereas the compass feature in a car navigation system only works whilst you are moving.

Robert

The Garmin Quest has a 20 hour battery back up so it can be used while on foot.

 

[Lol1]

I don't know about walking maps, but Tom-Tom Navigator 5 has road maps for most of Europe. You would need a palm held computer and blue tooth receiver to be able to take it out of the car. If you have one of those posh phones like an O2 XDA, all that is needed is the blue tooth (approx

 

[JoannaLesley]

Isn't it cheaper and easier to buy a road atlas and town maps as required?

 

[rob_jax]

The Garmin Quest has a 20 hour battery back up so it can be used while on foot.

Good point about the battery life - I had ignored the Quest / Quest 2 from my recent look at a replacement for my old TomTom PDA system because of the limited map memory - I really do need most of Europe live - but they could well do the job for BriW.

Robert

 

[Lol1]

Depends on how many town maps/Road atlas you need. I have two road maps one for Lincolnshire and one for Nottinghamshire, each cost

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Awwwwwwww c'mon jo, it's far more "with it" to be seen with a satnav than thumbing through ordanance survey maps with a load of atlas's under your arm. You will see me in High Town every Saturday jo, wandering around with my maids in tow holding my satnav aloft. I'm not looking for anywhere but I just like to pose :O)

 

[BriW_5085831]

BriW

I believe you will need to splash out on two devices.

A Garmin C320 or Garmin 2620 or TomTom GO 700 or GO 500 would do a fine job of navigating you from the UK to Portugal.

Some of these have an internal battery that allow operation away from the car for a few hours, but they are all specifically designed as road navigation devices. The GPS status page will show you lat. and long. but not a whole lot more.

Regarding Portugal, I have some concerns over the level of detail displayed by the map packages - I believe that the Garmin "Mapsource" maps only show the major roads for Portugal.

TomTom GO 700 says it has full map data for Portugal, but if major roads is good enough for you, consider the TomTom GO 500 which will save you quite a few pounds.

If all you want from the walking mode is a street finder for towns and cities in Portugal, then consider one of the above with extra city maps (except the TomTom GO 700 which is comprehensive).

For off-road walking, then a dedicated hand-held Garmin eTrex device is the way to go (and come back) - these have all the necessary walking features and more importantly - a long battery life.

Also the dedicated walking devices (often) have a built in digital compass - so you can orientate yourself on a bearing / direction whilst standing still.

Whereas the compass feature in a car navigation system only works whilst you are moving.

Robert

Rob

Thanks for your comments. I thing I'll try tomtom 700. Had a demo today and it gave some minor roads in town we stay in. Suspect the off road is not going to happen.

Any more info on the Garmin Xtrex?

BriW

 

[rob_jax]

Rob

Thanks for your comments. I thing I'll try tomtom 700. Had a demo today and it gave some minor roads in town we stay in. Suspect the off road is not going to happen.

Any more info on the Garmin Xtrex?

BriW

BriW,

You can find the Garmin eTrex range on the Garmin web-site wwww.garmin.com and look in the products pages.

You should see some of the eTrex models have colour screens others monochrome; some just show lat. long. and direction, others can display an OS style map; but importantly some have digital compasses - this is worth having.

Robert

 

[JoannaLesley]

Not in High Town tomorrow your lordship. However, do you have a view on the Widemarsh Street fracas?

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

As someone who hates shopping I dont go there much jo but most seem to agree to keep it pedestrianised. The problem with Hereford is lots of side roads (off the main thoroughfares) are closed off, one way etc. channeling all the traffic onto just a few main roads, Commercial Rd. Edgar St. Whitecross Rd. Bath St. and the New Bridge. Hereford must be the only town/city with a ring road going through town. You dont have to be a Town Planner on

 

[ProfJohnL]

with regard to Sat.Nav systems.

I love maps, old and new, and when planing a journey across new territory, I will usually review the maps of the area to gain an overall impression of the route.

Since becoming self employed and having to visit a number of premises in strange towns and cities, whilst an AtoZ or equivalent is a a useful tool, it is not as practical as a sat nav whilst driving, for two main reasons.

Firstly the sat nav calculates your actual position, and secondly, (and I assume most systems do much the same) the audible instructions giving you prior warnings of a change of direction, and then the instruction to turn in x metres/yards is very reassuring especially when having to negotiate multiple lanes of traffic in busy city centres, where it is dangerous to stop to look at the map.

Their ability to recalculate the route in the event of a diversion is also very reassuring.

I believe it would is foolhardy to totally rely on Sat Nav's, in case they breakdown, so a working knowledge of reading conventional maps and carrying the relevant ones on your journey is still a sensible fall back.

 

[Damian]

Bri, if you have the TomTom, and the detailed maps of the area you intend walking in, TomTom has a walking option, so should serve your purpose

 

[BriW_5085831]

Bri, if you have the TomTom, and the detailed maps of the area you intend walking in, TomTom has a walking option, so should serve your purpose

Thanks Damian

Is your experience of 'walking option' with TomTom in UK or abroard?

 

[Mike_5041089]

BriW - I should think that Marriage Guidance Counsellors will soon be issuing them to warring couples as they certainly stop the "see that left turn back there? - well you should have taken it!?" problem from human navigators. We did a 3000 mile round trip to Switz last Easter without one directional argument. Mind you SWMBO does argue with the female Sat Nav voice over??!!

 

[Steve L]

As someone who hates shopping I dont go there much jo but most seem to agree to keep it pedestrianised. The problem with Hereford is lots of side roads (off the main thoroughfares) are closed off, one way etc. channeling all the traffic onto just a few main roads, Commercial Rd. Edgar St. Whitecross Rd. Bath St. and the New Bridge. Hereford must be the only town/city with a ring road going through town. You dont have to be a Town Planner on