WHICH SATNAV

[GrahamE]

My TOM TOM is in need of map and live traffic info updates and even with the discount being offered it comes to about £70 ish. The unit is now about 5 yrs old. The new Tom Toms come with lifetime updates along with Garmin. So for 2 yrs subscription I can get a new unit and not have to pay out the following yrs. My question is which system is better Tom Tom or Garmin, and no I don't want the Caravan versions as the price doesn't warrant the use.

 

[JonnyG]

IF you have a smart phone tom tom do an app £15 a year this includes all mapping of wherever the uk Europe ect you simply download it to your phone,and you get live services too. ive used it for a year now all over Europe and its hard to fault. if its a stand alone unit then garmin and Tom Tom are both past masters, which is the best? who knows on any given day any sat nav could be the best or worse.

 

[Mike_374351805]

Hi. I recently changed my car and phone. I already have satnav in the car but am a gadget nerd.I bought an iPhone and I downloaded the app HEREmaps (it is recommended by the Caravan Club and is free) and played with it. You set it up when you have wifi, start it before you leave and it works using GPS. Running round locally, it seems to work ok. My wife downloaded to her android and it also worked fine. Never used it in an emergency but seems to work ok. Maybe others can confirm or otherwise.
Regards, Mike

 

[JonnyG]

Nothing wrong with here maps although as yet it doesn't offer live services It was Nokia owned and based on Nokia's navteq mapping so it should be good. I've read that several German car manufacturers have bought it out right so maybe in the future live services might become avaliable

 

[DeliDave_]

We had a TomTom and got a bit fed up as it always tried to take us down lanes where presumably the speed limit was higher instead of a dual carriageway or main road,didnt matter which setting,shortest or fastest we used.Have a Garmin 760 now and so far touch wood it seems to stick to the major roads as far as possible.
The 760 is the caravan/motorhome version but presumably the algorithms are the same on the slo version.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

We have the Tom Tom Go Live Camper & Caravan (no longer available) and like it. In caravan mode it does take you a longer way around staying on main roads than perhaps it needs to as most classified B roads are OK for our 2 berth van.

The unit has European maps free for life, but the Live traffic info was only for 1 year. I rang Tom Tom today and spoke to a very nice lady to find out the renewal price for Live info and she stated it was £47 PER YEAR, so I said no thank you. I did however try to bargain that I reduce the mapping to UK only (as we don't go abroad) and in exchange get the Live info for free. She went away and spoke to her manager who said that was not possible, but as I'd contacted them (and was a good customer ) they gave me a voucher for £10 to spend on anything on their website. Better than nothing I suppose.

 

[GrahamE]

Well I got a Garmin in the end, £100 with free maps for life and free live services for life (linked to my phone) It has hands free phone, Uk and Euro maps and as its linked to my phone I can park the car and the phone will take me back to where I left it should I forget. Thank you all for your comments.