Tomo Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Hi All, I'm going to buy another sat nav as I am sick to death of being taken for a ride. Ha ha! Serious now. Which one to buy. Let me know what you have and how you find it. I want one that I can put the height lenght etc in as I have come across to many roads and bridges that are just too little for me, not that I have a huge MH. I have only ever used tomtom but I am willing to try other makes. Somebody I met this week at Cheddar had a garmin and was very pleased with it. I have looked at Which and I'm still not sure and there is nothing better than hearing from real people. So come on let me now what you've got before I have to go and spend hundreds. Thank you in advance, I hope! Tomo One life live it (still trying) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 The latest TT's like my 5100 don't display 3rd party poi's very well, I've kept my old via125 to display them if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJA Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Hi Tomo Can I suggest you look at this Topic on this forum which will either help or confuse. http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Which-sat-nav-is-best-/42015/ As you can see from my comments on it I have been a Tomtom user for years but now also have a Motorhome Garmin. You can see my thoughts on both. I currently have a Tomtom GO5000 and an older Via 125 with a Motorhome map on. As Colin says the POI situation with the new Tomtom's is not ideal and I would definitely agree with that. It may be worth while considering whether or not you can put the Caravan/Motorhome map on your existing unit for about £80 for the moment as this will mean that all your POI's and the methodology of working the unit will be as is. It however will not give you free lifetime map updates You will be able to put in vehicle dimensions and from experiance the routing is different from Car routing. Can't promise you will miss a bridge for example but todate we have not had a problem. The newer units use a very different methodolgy which essentially requires you to learn how to work the unit again just like switching to a Garmin will entail. The methodology is okay but does Not have some of the facilities the old units had like Limited Speed or the more detailed POI display for example. You will see from reading the above mentioned Topic that I think the Garmins information as you travel and its search facility are better than the Tomtom's but that I have experienced some concerns about the mapping accuracy and routing in the area I live in. The Tomtom appears to be far better in this area. Only yesterday I found that the Garmin in Car mode directs me up a single track road where I live which has sleeping policemen and was an unpaved unadopted road until recently and is a route I have never contemplated taking in the 30+ years I have lived here. It saves 100yards at best. Hope the above helps you in your quest. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Do you already have a tablet with GPS? If so, why not try CoPilot Caravan app for £50ish. I've been using the standard CoPilot for over 3 years and it does everything I want it to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkc Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Just one point, if you are considering the Garman with the built in dash camera make sure that you try its fit to your vehicle. The screen does not auto rotate like most SatNavs, plus the need to have it point through the best area of the screen and it's very reflective glass screen can make it a pain to get the ideal mounting position. A nice piece of kit, but a flawed design IMO. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 We have had a TomTom 1005 Camper & Caravan Sat Nav since 2012 and each year I look at changing I because we bought it before 'free lifetime map updates' arrived on the scene, but having had a chance to try to use the Garmin Camper, was not impressed. Did look at the GoPilot but decided again to update our current satnav and look again next year. I did email TomTom to see if they are coming out with a new Camper one but not had any reply from them yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Hi, I have several devices, none of which is perfect..(what is perfect???) Each has it own quirks. Snooper Ventura, 3 years old, has some strange mapping on it which doesnt seem to know the major town names,, and route planning for multidrop type routeing is a convoluted process via creating favourites and renaming them, horrible but if you can get your head around the process, works quite well. Tomtom start 25 with downloaded maps of France, functional, but no vehicle size option, just car or lorry. Copilot on a samsung 10 inch tablet, .. 2 problems, firstly size of tablet and how to mount it, secondly volume of sound instructions insufficient but feasible by winding up hearing aid.. I like the "drag a route"feature.. not yet found out how to add my own poi, but am told that it is possible, using csv files. Garmin,, old quest device, my original device, was my favourite fo plotting route on computer, then transferring to device. Limitation was out of date maps, and small screen size. Considering possibility of newer Garmin, but which one to go for ? best of all, is decent maps, common sense, and keeping alert for obstacles, read the warning signs, speed limits etc, and enjoy your outings.. dont completely TRUST your satnav, it is only as clever as the idiot who programmed it. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I've got a TomTom GO 750 and a Garmin Camper 760 LMT-D. I'd go for the Garmin Camper if i were you and if quick, there is a 6" version (660 LMT-D) on offer in Aldi at £150 but they won't be around for long at that price. That's the same as mine apart from screen size. Brilliant gps which covers UK and full Europe. Comes with all ACSI campsites installed.......even little farm sites! Lifetime free mapping updates too which is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchman Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Hi Tomo! I had a built in sat nav on my autotrail, it decided to just stop working! Anyway, as we were coming back to Europe for winter, taking our time we needed a sat nav. Looked at quite a few and bought a snooper 6800, very good! Can put in exactly size and weight of van and has 24000 sites built in, also has a 7" screen which is a nice size. Also has lifetime map updates, worth a look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesleykaren Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 hi, I use Copilot and find it very helpful - although only with a car, but its nice and cheap, its on my phone, tablet and computer and you get regular updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedone Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 We have a cc edition Snooper and it works very well, I put in bigger dimensions to be on the safe side. Different animal to previous tomtom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Tomo - 2016-07-15 7:24 PM Hi All, I'm going to buy another sat nav as I am sick to death of being taken for a ride. Ha ha! Serious now. Which one to buy. Let me know what you have and how you find it. I want one that I can put the height lenght etc in as I have come across to many roads and bridges that are just too little for me, not that I have a huge MH. ........................................................ Thank you in advance, I hope! Tomo One thing to be aware of is that no current sat nav mapping includes actual road width data. All the data includes is road categories plus legal restrictions on vehicle widths and weights, plus height obstruction data (low bridges etc). Most sat navs do not use this data, but the truck type sat navs do. In order to avoid narrow roads, therefore, the sat nav has to prioritise routes that are unlikely to involve narrow roads, meaning they will prefer major roads over secondary roads, and secondary roads over minor roads, and so on. Because there are many secondary, and even minor, roads that are perfectly wide enough to be used by wider vehicles, but the sat nav doesn't (can't) know which they are, the truck type has to play safe. It will therefore prioritize major roads until nearing the journey end, when it will use the best available combination of secondary, and eventually minor, roads that gets you there while avoiding weight and width restrictions, and where relevant low bridges, to reduce the mileage on the lower category roads. So, it should not send you down narrow roads, but may do so where there is no alternative. It should not take you down roads that have width or weight restrictions, or under bridges that are too low. However, mapping always lags reality, and restrictions are continually being changed, so there can be no guarantee that the width and weight restrictions will be fully up to date. Height restrictions are more permanent, but temporary height restrictions are unlikely to be mapped. Others have mentioned the need to look out for wayside restriction/warning signs, to which I would add that initially plotting your route with the aid of a decent road map, that indicates road widths graphically, preferably also with topographical information, is by far the best starting point. Then review the proposed sat nav route against the map, and add waypoints as necessary to force the sat nav to follow your preference in lieu of its. The technology is very clever but sat navs are, in the final analysis, just dumb machines that base their routing "assumptions" on their installed logic and mapping data. Where the maps are wrong, and they are from time to time and place to place, the sat nav doesn't stand a chance. I would also add that all sat navs have their quirks, and the technology is continually changing. Asking which other folk find good or bad is therefore liable to glean responses from those using machines that are five or more years old, possibly still using the same maps they came with, as well as those with more recent machines who keep their maps fully up to date, and all points between. You will also get replies from those who have made themselves familiar with the various options available on their particular machine, and those who merely use it "out of the box", and from those who check their routes on a map, and those who follow the sat nav "blind". Whether the truck type sat navs are really useful for motorhomes is a matter of personal preference, of where you seek to go, and of how large/heavy your motorhome is. If over 3.5 tonnes MAM I would begin to consider the truck type (the heavier the more seriously), if over 3.0 metres tall ditto, if over 2.15 metres wide ditto, and if over 12 metres long definitely! However, you will doubtlessly have noticed that rural bus routes use mile upon mile of minor roads, and buses are not notably narrow, short, or light. I have personal experience only of Garmin units, and my most recent was bought in March 2012. The above is based on my use of my own Garmin units, plus information gathered from this forum, and from enquiries of the manufacturers. From what others have said on here the Snooper units do not accept personal points of interest (POIs), whereas both Garmin and TomTom do. My unit has a database of about 50,000 POIs, which are easy to manage and update from my PC. Garmin have two free downloadable mapping programs (Mapsource and Basecamp) that allow the mapping to be installed to, and viewed on, a PC. Both have a facility to switch to the on-screen map location in Google Earth, which in turn allows direct access to Street View (except Germany). POI locations are indicated on the maps by movable symbols, which transfer to Google Earth. Researching and correcting POI positions is therefore possible and easy, and the POIs can then be transferred directly to the sat nav via another free downloadable Garmin program. From what others have said, these facilities are not available on TomTom units. If you stick to the reputed major brands, and buy a recent model with "lifetime map updates", and then learn how to get the best from it for your purposes, you should eliminate most of the nasty surprises. However, you'll still get caught out from time to time - there is always that unexpected diversion etc. But that's just life! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Thanks Brian for a very interesting and informative post. I met a guy at Camping Orgiva (one of your haunts, I seem to recall - nice to meet you) who had a Winnebago. I asked him how he managed with such a large vehicle. His reply was - where ever the local bus can go, I can also go. I met up with him again, a few weeks later, in Rocio. He was following his satnav around Seville and ended up being sent through the arrivals ramp at Seville airport. He said it did raise a few eyebrows - Winnebago towing a car :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 And nice to meet you, too, Robert. :-) Ah yes, the Alpujarras, though I didn't think Orgiva was the high point of that trip, pleasant as it was. I think that went to Alarcon (not in the Alpujarras) - though it has been messed up an incongruous Parador and poor DIY refurbishment. Shame really, though it could all be put right if anyone wanted to. Yes one does get into the odd scrape from time to time - especially when someone has reversed the direction of travel on a one-way street and the sat nav can't cope, or put height barriers on what was an unrestricted parking area down a narrow lane in a village! OTOH, I'd probably never have tried to access either location without the sat nav, and both turned out OK - eventually! :-D Like I said, that's life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigrem Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I have used TomTom since it was a programme on a PDA and have been satisfied. Unfortunately TomTom decided to remove the function which allowed you to write your own itinerary so none of their new units allow you to do this, and as Brian mentioned its a good idea to check on a paper map and put in waypoints to make it go where you want not where it wants to take you. I did mange to track down a refurbished Go 750 which has the facility, but when that goes belly up then I will move to a Garmin, unless Tom Tom reinstate Itinerary planning, Unfortunately TomTom never answer my questions. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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