motorhome sat nav. advice please.

[Shwmae]

snooper ventura s6450 v tomtom go live camper & caravan

 

We are looking for a sat nav to replace our garmin nuvi after some close calls with low tunnels/bridges and unsuitable roads.

We have pretty much narrowed it down to the above but would be grateful for any advice from anyone with experience of these. Thanks. :-)

[flicka]

Hi Shwmae & welcome to the forum.

 

There are many threads on the "Motorhome Matters" section of the forum regarding the Snooper Ventura range. They range from "love em" through to "hate em" but not so much regarding the Tom Tom equivelant.

Try this link to have a look at a few.

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/search/query.asp?action=search&searchforumid=3&searchforumid=16&keywords=snooper+ventura+&author=&days=365&Submit=Search

[Randonneur]

We have had the TomTom C&C since June and all I can say is that it is excellent. We will, hopefully, be travelling through Spain to Portugal soon so will be able to give it an extended test. We did travel to UK recently and forgot our maps and the TomTom did a sterling job without any hiccups.

[BGD]

We use Tomtom Go 720, and recently got a "dodgy" chap to put a cracked version of the latest 2012 Europe maps on it, plus the "Truck" version of the software.

 

When in "Truck" mode you can set the dimensions and weight of your vehicle, and it'll only give you routes that are suitable for that.

 

Once away from the motorhome, on our scooter, Kathy simply switches the device back to ordinary mode.

 

Have used it so far up and across Spain and through the middle and Southern regions of France, on wiggly, off main road trundling and city centre navigation, and we are VERY happy with this system.

[Iain Strachan]

Hi and welcome, We use a Snooper s6000, which also allows you to set in different rigs, size, lengths height, weight etc. you can switch between them depending on the one your driving. Has proved very good. Also has ACSI campsites and Bord Atlas campsites. Which is very useful. Enjoy your touring.

Cheers

[WildBill]

We recently bought the Snooper Ventura pro 7000. It allows height, length, width, weight dimensions etc. This it uses to calculate what class of road etc to suggest. It also takes into consideration the speed you will be alowed to do because of your size/weight when calculating time etc. The machine has over 20,000 sites listed, home and abroad including CC, C & CC Camper Stop and ACSI sites. We were in need of a site late one night due to being locked out of ours, it came up with a list of sites close by and we ended up going to the CC site at Five Acres near Chard just ten minutes away.

An added couple of features which we discovered it has were a digtal radio, a TV tuner and also a traffic service, which warns of traffic problems en route. My wife found the TV as we were driving along. She decided to have a play, one minute I was getting directions and the next Eastenders was on.

A really good feature is lane guidance. When you come of the motorway/dual carriage way and need to get into a lane for a junction/roundaboute, it shows you which lane to get in.

 

Hope this is of some use.

B-)

[Randonneur]

WildBill - 2012-11-16 11:39 PM

 

We recently bought the Snooper Ventura pro 7000. It allows height, length, width, weight dimensions etc. This it uses to calculate what class of road etc to suggest. It also takes into consideration the speed you will be alowed to do because of your size/weight when calculating time etc. The machine has over 20,000 sites listed, home and abroad including CC, C & CC Camper Stop and ACSI sites. We were in need of a site late one night due to being locked out of ours, it came up with a list of sites close by and we ended up going to the CC site at Five Acres near Chard just ten minutes away.

An added couple of features which we discovered it has were a digtal radio, a TV tuner and also a traffic service, which warns of traffic problems en route. My wife found the TV as we were driving along. She decided to have a play, one minute I was getting directions and the next Eastenders was on.

A really good feature is lane guidance. When you come of the motorway/dual carriage way and need to get into a lane for a junction/roundaboute, it shows you which lane to get in.

 

Hope this is of some use.

B-)

 

The TomTom C&C has all the same features as the Snooper but no TV (illegal is the driver can see it).

[Brian Kirby]

But be aware that road widths are not, as yet, mapped: only legal restrictions. These units seem to get around this problem by prioritising main roads (presumed suitable for all classes of traffic) which, in some areas, can result in long detours to avoid more minor roads that in many cases are perfectly passable.

 

So, if you have a wide, heavy, tall, van they should keep you out of trouble. If you have a 3,500kg van of less than 3.0 metres in height and under 2.3 metres wide you will probably travel much further than is necessary, down less agreeable roads, as a consequence. If you are happy with that, and it gives you peace of mind, fine.

 

Otherwise, using a map to plan your route first, and then placing various waypoints onto your sat-nav to guide it down your preferred route, will achieve the same result (avoidance of narrow roads, low bridges and weight restrictions) over shorter distances, and on nicer roads.

[WildBill]

Randonneur - 2012-11-17 8:20 AM

 

WildBill - 2012-11-16 11:39 PM

 

We recently bought the Snooper Ventura pro 7000. It allows height, length, width, weight dimensions etc. This it uses to calculate what class of road etc to suggest. It also takes into consideration the speed you will be alowed to do because of your size/weight when calculating time etc. The machine has over 20,000 sites listed, home and abroad including CC, C & CC Camper Stop and ACSI sites. We were in need of a site late one night due to being locked out of ours, it came up with a list of sites close by and we ended up going to the CC site at Five Acres near Chard just ten minutes away.

An added couple of features which we discovered it has were a digtal radio, a TV tuner and also a traffic service, which warns of traffic problems en route. My wife found the TV as we were driving along. She decided to have a play, one minute I was getting directions and the next Eastenders was on.

A really good feature is lane guidance. When you come of the motorway/dual carriage way and need to get into a lane for a junction/roundaboute, it shows you which lane to get in.

 

Hope this is of some use.

B-)

 

The TomTom C&C has all the same features as the Snooper but no TV (illegal is the driver can see it).

 

Yes agree, TT does not have TV but how many people watch TV while driving?? We came across the TV by accident. I believe that TT also has issues with the traffic feature not being available. We researched both for ages and at the time the only thing that influenced us was the 7" screen on the snooper. Both are good machines and you can pick up the TT for a good price from various places. MH Facts/outdoor bits were doing them at a good price at one time, they still maybe.

[Randonneur]

WildBill - 2012-11-18 10:19 AM

 

Randonneur - 2012-11-17 8:20 AM

 

WildBill - 2012-11-16 11:39 PM

 

We recently bought the Snooper Ventura pro 7000. It allows height, length, width, weight dimensions etc. This it uses to calculate what class of road etc to suggest. It also takes into consideration the speed you will be alowed to do because of your size/weight when calculating time etc. The machine has over 20,000 sites listed, home and abroad including CC, C & CC Camper Stop and ACSI sites. We were in need of a site late one night due to being locked out of ours, it came up with a list of sites close by and we ended up going to the CC site at Five Acres near Chard just ten minutes away.

An added couple of features which we discovered it has were a digtal radio, a TV tuner and also a traffic service, which warns of traffic problems en route. My wife found the TV as we were driving along. She decided to have a play, one minute I was getting directions and the next Eastenders was on.

A really good feature is lane guidance. When you come of the motorway/dual carriage way and need to get into a lane for a junction/roundaboute, it shows you which lane to get in.

 

Hope this is of some use.

B-)

 

The TomTom C&C has all the same features as the Snooper but no TV (illegal is the driver can see it).

 

Yes agree, TT does not have TV but how many people watch TV while driving?? We came across the TV by accident. I believe that TT also has issues with the traffic feature not being available. We researched both for ages and at the time the only thing that influenced us was the 7" screen on the snooper. Both are good machines and you can pick up the TT for a good price from various places. MH Facts/outdoor bits were doing them at a good price at one time, they still maybe.

 

Sorry to disagree with you but the TomTom does have thee traffic feature, we have used it today and it gave us the traffic delays where there were roadworks on the N10.

[WildBill]

Randonneur - 2012-11-19 6:43 PM

 

WildBill - 2012-11-18 10:19 AM

 

Randonneur - 2012-11-17 8:20 AM

 

WildBill - 2012-11-16 11:39 PM

 

We recently bought the Snooper Ventura pro 7000. It allows height, length, width, weight dimensions etc. This it uses to calculate what class of road etc to suggest. It also takes into consideration the speed you will be alowed to do because of your size/weight when calculating time etc. The machine has over 20,000 sites listed, home and abroad including CC, C & CC Camper Stop and ACSI sites. We were in need of a site late one night due to being locked out of ours, it came up with a list of sites close by and we ended up going to the CC site at Five Acres near Chard just ten minutes away.

An added couple of features which we discovered it has were a digtal radio, a TV tuner and also a traffic service, which warns of traffic problems en route. My wife found the TV as we were driving along. She decided to have a play, one minute I was getting directions and the next Eastenders was on.

A really good feature is lane guidance. When you come of the motorway/dual carriage way and need to get into a lane for a junction/roundaboute, it shows you which lane to get in.

 

Hope this is of some use.

B-)

 

The TomTom C&C has all the same features as the Snooper but no TV (illegal is the driver can see it).

 

Yes agree, TT does not have TV but how many people watch TV while driving?? We came across the TV by accident. I believe that TT also has issues with the traffic feature not being available. We researched both for ages and at the time the only thing that influenced us was the 7" screen on the snooper. Both are good machines and you can pick up the TT for a good price from various places. MH Facts/outdoor bits were doing them at a good price at one time, they still maybe.

 

Sorry to disagree with you but the TomTom does have thee traffic feature, we have used it today and it gave us the traffic delays where there were roadworks on the N10.

 

As I have said, both machines are good, we bought the Snooper as it was a good price at the time and we wanted a large screen. It was not until after I bought the Snooper that someone said that TT had a problem with the traffic feature. If they do not, then I apologise for the mis-info. B-)

[Tin Man]

Brian is right.

 

I always plan my route on the map first. I've a Garmin Dezl 560 which allows three different modes, car, motorhome and truck. I have found that narrow roads are just as appealing to it when

in motorhome mode or even truck mode!!

 

I don't trust any of them to provide a suitable route.

 

They should all have a warning... Do not use this route unless checked with map first!

 

:-D

 

Cheers,

 

John

 

(Tin Man here, CourtJester somewhere else).

[Tin Man]

Following on from Brian's posting, if you have a Garmin satnav you can download and use free software from Garmin called 'BaseCamp'. This allows you to connect your device to your computer and then plan your route by using the map on your device and just clicking on various points along the way to your destination. i believe these points are called 'waypoints'.

 

Then just send the route to your device.

 

 

 

 

 

[George..]

Interesting to see some one who has bought a Garmin 560(I assume theLMT). If I don't win one in the C.C.Club competition then I probably will get one Christmas.The Club are doing it for £300 after cash back , this seems to be a good price compared to Snooper. Are you fully happy with it ?

[Brian Kirby]

Tin Man - 2012-11-20 10:51 AM

 

Following on from Brian's posting, if you have a Garmin satnav you can download and use free software from Garmin called 'BaseCamp'. This allows you to connect your device to your computer and then plan your route by using the map on your device and just clicking on various points along the way to your destination. i believe these points are called 'waypoints'.

 

Then just send the route to your device.

True, though I prefer MapSource, also a free download from Garmin. I have mixed experience of sending routes from MapSource to a Nuvi (2495LMT), though. Mainly because the routing logic on these later Nuvis is notably more sophisticated than either BaseCamp or MapSource, resulting in unexpected variations to the route directions from the Nuvi in the field.

 

I have therefore tended to "force" the route with MapSource, by inputting waypoints, and then transferred just the waypoints to the Nuvi, saving them as "Favourites". It is then relatively easy to create routes using the "Trip Planner" app on the Nuvi by calling up the stored waypoints from Favourites.

[Tin Man]

Thanks Brian. I'll try out MapSource.

 

I prefer my Garmin to Snooper George. I did have a Snooper 2000 and I sent it back!. You weren't able to put your own POIs on it and the 'inbuilt' POIs were not all correct.

 

Regards,

John.

[George..]

Thanks John, must admit i like Garmin mapping, I use a Garmin Oregon 400t walking sat-nav at present,I added routing capabilities to it and use it all round Europe and apart from not being able to factor in Height,Weight and Width info it works well in the van.Instead of voice instuctions it just beebs prior to a change.

Happy travels

George

 

[Graham6905]

Could I ask that anyone reading this alerts their Satnav provider help desk of any mapping errors they encounter, or that they visit http://mapcreator.here.com to request thatNavteq mapping, used by Garmin, Snooper and Navigon update their mapping info.