Sat Nav - Should I?

[arbell9]

Hi all,

I am normally an early adopter of new technology, a gadget salesman dream customer. However when it came to sat Nav I didnt bother as for teh few journeys that I needed to go on where the route was unknown, difficult and could not be served by printing 2 or 3 maps of the internet were few and far betweeen. But I reckon that there will be need for one over the next 2+ years as the number of varied hoons increases.

And what should I get. Here are my criteria.

1) Inexpensive,

[Bibs]

My pal runs a

[Killboy]

I was looking at getting one last week after a straightforward 20 mile trip turned into a 3 hour nightmare when I took a wrong turn and ended up on the M6 complete with rush hour traffic and closed junctions.

After comparing what seemed like 1000's of different ones I gave up.

Any advice would be appreciated here to.

[dodgy]

tomtom !!!! i will not drive without it now, and has the speed cams on ( only works if you pay attention to the warnings though )

[greenman]

Hi Alex, When I went with my cousin to trailor my TVR back he used a Tom Tom sat nav, I was so impressed with it I went and bought myself one.

The Tom Tom 710 is the model I went for, and have found it beneficial, also the speed camera alerts.

If you want to see it ,try it, I`m only up the road, Trevor.

[TSD]

I got a garmin i3 dirt cheap. couldn't live without it. they are a bit more fiddly than the tomtoms but work very well. Also loaded it with speed traps. What I really like is that it has a very small footprint without obstructing forward vision. I put it right next to the rear-view mirror. These are real safety devices - and marriage savers. trying to read a map while driving is a thing of the past.

Check out as well

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com

good forums give a sense of what works and what doesn't

[matk]

I think the first thing is to decide if you want one. I've got to say I only got one last Dec but it has made my life far simpler and easier and I can hold heartedly recommend them.

As to which one they all do much the same. I went for a Garmin Nuvi 310 simply because it was far smaller than the Tom Tom and came with free realtime trafic alerts via a n FM plug in. The Tom Toms make you pay extra for this.

[Tentenths]

Yep, Tom Tom is definitely the way forward.

I've tried most of the PDA based GPS software and Tom Tom is far and away the best. Not perfect, but as an overall package it knocks spots off everything else.

But, unless you particularly want/need the additional functionality a PDA offers, a standalone Tom Tom unit is probably the best proposition.

James

[bo90]

What about the Tom Tom One?

Any thoughts, experiences from other makes, problems etc before I commit my sole to a computer bird.

Hi Alex,

I am currently using the Garmin Nuvi 660 after using tomtom pda software for 5 years. Both have their pro's and con's but i think your best move is to go for the tom tom1 and take up Bibs offer!

[mdw]

Just bought a Garmin 310D. No probs so far. As previously mentioned nice and compact. If I am being fussy could do with a bit more volume but perhaps thats my hearing rather than the Garmin. Pics up satelites nice and quickly as well. UK maps are on the unit and europe on a disc. You get a 512 mg sd card which you can loadmost of the middle of europ on to. If you need the lot from almost Russa to Portugal you will need a 2 gig card.

[John V6]

Looked after 300 sites from the Thames to the Humber, from the Nort Sea to west of M1.

All sites out in country down tracks etc.

Used Tom Tom, saved me so much time and made life easey.

[Kato]

I've got a TomTom 300 and bought my dad a TomTom One for fathers day last year! Haven't used any others, but the TomTom is great!

[sandwer]

I had a tomtom - I forget which one, 510 I think - that my wife bought me for christmas a 18 months ago. I had 6 months of using it and some thieving magpie stole it, so I have observations from both sides to share :

They all do the same job, with varying degrees of fussiness.

You can get tired of John Cleese telling you to turn around.

You can get blase about the speed camera warnings

It is too easy to leave the fittings in the car, which gives them a clue that there is one in there...

Never leave it in the car even if you are going into the newsagents for 5 minutes...

I found it awkward leaving the car, and taking having to unhook and take 3 boxes with me - ipod, phone and the satnav

They are cool for getting an idea of how 'out' your speedo is.

Your passengers will tire quicker of the noises it makes than you will

I'm told that there are <cough> lots of tomtom extra maps on torrent sites, if thats the kind of thing you like.

They are good at giving you the confidence of knowing where you are going.

And marital harmony? Don't make me laugh. Its not always accurate enough to differentiate between underpasses and the roundabouts over the top. Birmingham for example. So you have no wife to blame for the map reading, you know you aren't in the wrong [goes without saying, its part of testosterone, isn't it?], but...somehow theres still a heated argument.

Rich

[MPx]

I've had a Tomtom 910 for a year or so now - with all the gadgets! Love it...but its not all up side.

Pros:

Got me out of difficulty when a bridge over a river in Germany was closed on a return journey - directed me through tracks in fields for 5km until putting me back safely on the right route home - its only mistake at one point telling me to turn right when I was 20feet down going under a bridge.

Usually finds the exact building/house required so no searching slowly up the road sides.

Camera's work with good warning but not foolproof. I pay for monthly updates and they are mostly OK tho warns of some roadworks ones that have been removed.

Traffic works a treat if you pay for that - but requires an extra gizmo stuck on the screen and makes it much less portable and to get out of nickability range.

If I ignore it it just recalcs the route instantly. Its easy to silence if you want to go off track and not "turn around when possible"

Useful info "points of interest" - for car parks, food, airports, etc etc - found us a lovely restaurant in Calais near the Tunnel that we'd have never seen otherwise.

Gives great confidence and removes stress from first time journeys

Dead handy when you're out/away and someone says " lets go to ???????" or "how long will it take us to get to ????" - Just type in the address and it tells you what you need.

Cons:

Doesn't know all the one ways/no entrys so you still have to drive within the law when it gets it wrong!

Doesn't have all buildings/house numbers in its Db

Can only prioritise routes on one criteria (I've chosen "fastest route") Its algorithms make it pick some dodgey routes sometimes (eg through London in the rush hour) when everyone knows that's not the way to go! Just continue to go you're own way and it will get in line eventually!

Worst fault mine has is that its not a strong enough connection between the tomtom and its windscreen base mount so I've to wrap lacky bands round it to hold it on securely enough to keep charging and communicating with the traffic thingy. Not exactly cool in the looks dept.

Wouldn't be without it outside the neighbourhood tho. Definitely think you should get one!

Mike

[obione]

I have recently joined the sat nav club. Got myself a Tom Tom One Europe. Its brilliant and cant fault it, it helped me get the esprit in and out of France a couple of weeks ago, and also warned me of all fixed camera's - and it without doubt stopped me getting caught on one very sneaky camera.

Go get one

[mike40]

TomTom, definately. The One is a good basic no-frills device and they go up in price and features from there.

Mike

[mayevora]

Had a Navman about two and half years and use it very often. Even in this time period, probably now about half the price I paid, and far more up to date as we all know how fast technology changes. Only thing I don't like is the Post Code finder - ie never finds it.

The portables at the mo, I think is the only option (unless costs no object) The built in units are usially an

[esprit350]

I have tom tom on my new pda, so my old medion system is going on ebay next week pm if you are interested?

[dodgy]

the one thing i have found, we compared the amount of cameras on the tomtom database, with the pocketgps site. the p[ocketgps site was much more detailed for the revenue cameras than tomtom.

[Tentenths]

Dave, are you aware that you can install the pocketgps camera database on Tom Tom (whether standalone or PDA)? As you say, it is significantly more accurate/up to date, as well as being much cheaper

[dodgy]

its the one i have always used James although it has to be payed for nowerdays

we did the comparison with my tt300 with pocketgps, and a workmates tt510 with tt database, he ended up asking me to update his tt to inclued the other half of the cameras.

[Bibs]

I paid for the Tomtom camera update and also the traffic service. I must admit, the traffic seems pretty shit so far! It says I'm heading into a 2 hour traffic jam on an empty road and on the way back from Donny made me turn off the M1 into a 3 hour delay on the M11 instead! SAve your money, swerve it!

[arbell9]

Also does they usually come with cradle, cables etc as standard, or do you add them in as extras?

Alex

[mayevora]

Also does they usually come with cradle, cables etc as standard, or do you add them in as extras?

Alex

Cradle and any leads with Navman were inclusive

[Tentenths]

Tom Tom One comes with cable, cradle, and windscreen mount, Alex.

When I bought one for Penny late last year it didn't include a carry case though. Suggest you consider one to protect the unit/screen when it's not in use. Plenty of cheap aftermarket versions on Ebay that'll do the job just fine.

Edited May 28, 2007 by Tentenths