SATNAV Systems

[Brian Kirby]

Thanks Eddie.  Any views on which model to go for with full European mapping?

[Guest JudgeMental]

Brian Kirby - 2008-06-08 12:30 PM

 

Thanks Eddie. Any views on which model to go for with full European mapping?

 

you will need a 7xx series model, mine has USA and Europe and is the Nuvi 770T. most on GPS forum go for the 760T with Euro mapping - have seen it for £182.

 

it also has free traffic, built in FM transmitter etc....

 

I got a 4 gb SD card for £8 from amazon. I download all POI's to this. also it is full of music and audio books. So when listening to something from the Nuvi via FM it automatically drops volume when a turn or instruction comes up. FM can drift as you motor along so you need to retune it now and again.

 

there are new models out, best to look at Garmin site as I have not since beginning of year when I purchased this one.

 

are you still traveling? where are you now?

 

 

[Herri]

Just be careful which model you buy as I bought the Garmin Nuvi 660 assuming you could pre-plan your journey on a PC and you cant.

I also believe you cant download Michelin routes to this model.

 

The traffic information is pretty useless, which may not be the fault of Garmin as its dependent on the signal strenght and the country in which you are travelling. I find the UK to be the worse. (same as the radio) you can be sat in a jam and still its not mentioned anywhere.

 

[Brian Kirby]

And now a general warning! 

My apologies to JudgeMental, but it seems things at Garmin have recently changed.  Garmin Nuvi units were, as he says above, until recently sold with CDs/DVDs that contained both the mapping and the MapSource programme, so enabling the maps to be installed onto, and used on, a PC, and routes then uploaded to the Nuvi.

This is no longer the case.  The Current Garmin Nuvi 7xx models do not come with the MapSource programme.  All the mapping is pre-loaded on the Nuvi units, and there is no accompanying DVD/CD containing either the maps, or MapSource.  You get one licence to view the mapping on the Nuvi, and that is all.

I am advised by Garmin that anyone wanting MapSource for European use now should buy a Zumo 550 model, which still comes with the necessary DVD.  There are alternative Zumo models with different mapping options. 

This does seem a bit odd, since Zumo models are firmly aimed at bikers, while the Nuvis are aimed at car drivers.  However, that seems to reflect Garmin's view of what the market wants.

If you want the MapSource facility, therefore, you would be well advised to consult Garmin before buying, making it very clear before you buy that you want to be able to use the PC based mapping and routing facility of MapSource.

You should also be aware that versions of the mapping sold on SD and mini SD cards do not contain MapSource.  It seems versions of the mapping sold on DVD do come with MapSource, but the full European mapping on DVD seems only to be available from the USA ($149.99).  Versions on DVD are available in UK (around £50), but seem to be update versions only, requiring a MapSource product already installed to the PC before they can be fully used.

Be warned, and check very carefully that what you buy is what you actually want, and that you have everything necessary to be able to use it!

[Basil]

Hi Brian,

 

Having just returned from Europe and fully experienced the Tom Tom 720 (with the latest TMC/RDS traffic attatchment), I have found it a resounding success and it is 'light years' ahead of any of the others that I have had experience of (Garmin and Navman). As I had only used it a small amount until now I was not happy to give comprehensive feedback on its use only on the functions I had tried.

For the first time, since we have used satnav, my better half found she was happy to put the paper map away completely and felt confident in the sat nav doing its job and just take in the scenery.

There were no apparent 'glitches' on the mapping and all roads that we used were shown on the 720 in correct positions, there was even one road (a bypass)that was shown on the TT that was not open until August. It showed new roundabouts that had only been opened months earlier, shown by signs that were advising of road changes with the date of opening on them, you don't get much more up to date than that!

The 'Itinery' function was great, which I believe was one of your needs, and was so easy to manipulate during the journey with no need to access the PC at all, all alterations and corrections required were carried out easily and clearly on the satnav itself.

The 'Traffic' function via the TMC/RDS attachment, of which I had an earlier disappointing model the cost of which was refunded, worked faultlessly and saved us a couple of problems during the journey. The routing was clear and 'sensible' and the spoken instructions the best I have heard and used. The additional built in warnings were really helpful (if you are stationary for a given length of time it reminds you which side of the road you should be on) and the 'Safety Camera' warnings were impeccable, we found some we did not know were there on roads we have used for years hidden behind bridges and up the top of embankments (you can tell the French don't play cricket! :-> :-> :-> ).

With the latest enhancements that will upgrade the 720 to the same functions of the new 730 but are only partly in use currently I am well impressed.

For future trips we will no longer be carrying the laptop PC as it is now an unused piece of kit. Photo's will remain on SD cards, (they are so cheap to buy now it does not warrant downloading off of them to hard drive) all mapping and journeys on the TT, e-mail and Web on the Wi Fi internet phone wherever you happen to be, complete independance, and all will fit neatly into your pocket.

 

Bas

[Guest JudgeMental]

Brian Kirby - 2008-07-07 3:31 PM

And now a general warning!

Versions on DVD are available in UK (around £50), but seem to be update versions only, requiring a MapSource product already installed to the PC before they can be fully used.

Be warned, and check very carefully that what you buy is what you actually want, and that you have everything necessary to be able to use it!

But you have purcahsed a mapsource product already it is in your GPS? So you can purchase the "update" DVD and it will work perfectly?I think with the price of the model you have purchased is approx £200 and the update DVD is available from the likes of Amazon for about £44 so I still think for the flexibility and degree of PC planning this provides it is worth it.In the future when you upgrade mapping you will be able to install the same DVD it on both PC and GPS, so this is a one off situation.....It is all relative, and I have paid the price in the past of being an early adopter of GPS technology, and paid £800 for a GPS with not even POI capability........:-D You have to remember most are happy with a GPS with simple A to B capability. Not many are bothered about planning long convoluted Europeans trips with frequent stops....except the (decidedly)odd motorhome owner like you, me and Basil! lol *-) The zumo comes with fittings for car and motorbike and lots of car owners buy them - I nearly did. My prehistoric 2610 is primarily aimed at cars but was waterproof and could be used on bikes as well, and still attracts a good price on eb*y from bikers.regards Eddie

[little-jack]

Dont know if this is relevant, but just returned from France, using Tomtom 720 - what a nightmare, largely because the option use toll roads is yes or no - therefor from Le Mans to le Havre, I cant programme a route to use the le Havre Toll Bridge only so the suggested route is far longer, also if I chose fastest route it will direct you miles out of the way, if I use shortest route it goes straight through city centres, I also found it late giving directions when two changes were required in quick sucession. My brother has an older Advent (I think) sat nav which did not seem to suffer these problems and gave much better route options.

[peterandirene]

Saw a satnav in Maplin the other day which advertises that you can restrict roads by length width and weight of vehicle. Sounds ideal for motorhome. Anyone know anything about it?

[Guest JudgeMental]

peterandirene - 2008-07-07 7:00 PM

 

Saw a satnav in Maplin the other day which advertises that you can restrict roads by length width and weight of vehicle. Sounds ideal for motorhome. Anyone know anything about it?

 

unless its from a major manufacturer like Garmin or TT I would not touch it *-)

[Way2Go]

little-jack - 2008-07-07 6:35 PM . . . just returned from France, using Tomtom 720 - what a nightmare, largely because the option use toll roads is yes or no - therefore from Le Mans to le Havre, I cant programme a route to use the le Havre Toll Bridge only so the suggested route is far longer, also if I chose fastest route it will direct you miles out of the way, if I use shortest route it goes straight through city centres, I also found it late giving directions when two changes were required in quick sucession.

Shortest is shortest and fastest is fastest.  ANY device will only do as you ask.

If you want the fastest it will take you the fastest even if you appear to be going miles out of your way - it's stiil taking you from point A to point B by the fastest route and the same applies to the shortest route.

Regarding "I cant programme a route to use the le Havre Toll Bridge only" yes you can.  It's called Itinerary Planning where you set up a series of waypoints and plan your route and go on any roads you like.  Any trip requires a bit of planning.  You can't just click a few buttons and except ANY device to behave like a reasoning human brain.

If you don't know how to use Itinerary Planning let me know and I'll post you a "How To . . ." guide ;-)

W2G

[little-jack]

W2G

Thanks for your reply, I just felt that the routing in France was a bit bizare compared with using same device in UK, and I find the yes or no to toll roads a bit too precise - my brothers will avoid toll roads, but still uses le Havre bridge, for example.

If you have the time, I would appreciate your guide on itinerary planning as (obviously) I havent really managed to get my head round it properly.

Thanks

little jack

[Brian Kirby]

I think little-jack illustrates very well the advantage of having the mapping available on a PC, so that a route can be selected using one's own preferences, adding waypoints to shape it as required.  Bits of fastest, mixed with bits of shortest, mixed with bits of "preferred", and then upload that to the sat nav unit to just talk you along your pre-designed route.  Perfick!

That, precisely, is the advantage of certain of the Garmin units over most, if not all, of the others.  However, Garmin is narrowing the number of units on which this (MapSource) facility comes "out of the box".  That is the point of my warning, so be sure that what you intend buying will do what you want from it, and be sure you have everything you will need to be able to use its full potential.

[Way2Go]

whoops . . . finger trouble ;-)

[Way2Go]

little-jack - 2008-07-07 8:14 PM . . . I find the yes or no to toll roads a bit too precise - my brothers will avoid toll roads

So will your TomTom.  If you want to go from A to B and part of that route involves using a toll road it will alert you to that fact with a big red screen.  You can then choose to travel on the toll road or not.

I'm not sure why the navigation should be any different whichever country you're in?  I use mine extensively for work and play and have travelled throughtout the UK and EU without there appearing to be any difference.

I can't compress the Itinerary Planning guide enough to get it under the 100k limit so send me a PM with an email address and I'll gladly post you a copy ;-)

W2G

[Way2Go]

Brian Kirby - 2008-07-07 8:50 PM

"I think little-jack illustrates very well the advantage of having the mapping available on a PC, so that a route can be selected using one's own preferences, adding waypoints to shape it as required.  Bits of fastest, mixed with bits of shortest, mixed with bits of "preferred", and then upload that to the sat nav unit to just talk you along your pre-designed route.  Perfick!"

> I agree with you to a degree as I also use a map to plan my routes before producing an itinerary.  I then copy it to my TomTom.  BUT, it can also be done just on the device without a map but involves a certain amount of zooming in and out.  You can set up an itinerary with 'this POI' followed by 'this road' followed by 'this map locations' etc etc.

"That, precisely, is the advantage of certain of the Garmin units over most, if not all, of the others."

> That I have to disagree with Brian.  Without getting into a device v device war ALL TomTom units have Itinerary Planning straight out of the box without any add-ons and it would appear that the newer Garmins also have it.  If you chose to use a map then transfer the data that is your/my choice but it 'can' be done just using the TomTom.

> I just wanted to make that point clear so that people were not misled into thinking that they had to choose a Garmin if they wanted that facility.

W2G 

[JohnP]

I use the Garmin maps version 2008 on a Nuvi 760. The Mapsource on my PC is version 6.11.6 which is about three years old.

The two seem completely compatable because in effect what you are doing is inserting waypoints on the PC and then loading them to the Garmin.

This worked extremly well in France and although the out of date Mapsource may not show all of the latest road changes these are included in the route when the waypoints are loaded onto the Garmin unit.

[Basil]

JudgeMental - 2008-07-07 7:06 PM

unless its from a major manufacturer like Garmin or TT I would not touch it *-)

 

Completely agree with you on that Judge.

 

Bas

[Basil]

little-jack - 2008-07-07 6:35 PM

 

Dont know if this is relevant, but just returned from France, using Tomtom 720 - what a nightmare, largely because the option use toll roads is yes or no - therefor from Le Mans to le Havre, I cant programme a route to use the le Havre Toll Bridge only so the suggested route is far longer, also if I chose fastest route it will direct you miles out of the way, if I use shortest route it goes straight through city centres, I also found it late giving directions when two changes were required in quick sucession. My brother has an older Advent (I think) sat nav which did not seem to suffer these problems and gave much better route options.

 

Hi little jack, as has previously been said by W2G you can in fact programme that route, we had a similar thing when we programmed a route onto Ilse de Rai where as I had selected no toll roads when prompted it came back with 'no possible routes to that destination', due to the toll bridge from the mainland.

Simply by setting the route with toll roads allowed, then running through the route and adjusting to avoid any toll roads that we did not want to use the TT guided us to our destination.

I find it strange that you were routed through city centres as we found the complete opposite of that in fact that was one thing that I preferred over our previous Navman that always seemed to take us into cities unless you selected 'Avoid Urban Areas' which then tried to skirt around all towns and cities on some of the most convoluted routes.

Also the we found that the two changes in quick succession, as you described it, was notified early on before the first change and then again as you went through the action. It has just occured to me, are you using a 'computer voice' as some of the voices available are unable to give full instructions, you have to use the right one or some of the direction information will not be spoken?

 

Bas