Sat Navs

[Guest Tracker]

With Santa on his merry way this might be a good time to find out please?

 

Which are the easiest Sat Navs to use - by which I mean the easiest to enter, and to delete or amend, single or multiple full 7 figure postcode destinations please?

 

Also of interest is how easy and intuitive it/they are to enter and update POI's such as European Aires de Camping Car or similar?

 

I have a 5 year old Navman icn510 and whilst the European mapping works well and it can display my speed (albeit delayed by a second or two) in MPH or KPH, which is very handy in Europe, entering a destination in the often unhelpful 4 digit only postcode or street list is neither simple nor intuitive and deleting can be even worse. Also with multiple destinations it gets really confused and changes routes at random intervals!

 

Great fun - specially at night!

 

Thanks folks.

[twooks]

as an added issue,

reviews that I've seen imply that the sat navs with added gadgets - eg blue tooth - seem to have a tendency to freeze if you try to get them to multi task [are they male ?? :-> ]

how widespread is this problem - or is it just a whinge from a voluble few?

 

B-)

[spospe]

Tracker

 

We have a Tom Tom 730 and have used it mostly to loacte Aires in La Belle France. Inputting the coordinates is easy (touch screen) and it does seem to work well, especially for finding our way over the last little bit of the journey at night or in reduced visibility (fog, snow, heavy rain).

 

One useful feature is that the TT730 can store up to 2G/B of MP3 music files, good for when the radio is not so good.

 

No experience of other makes, but TT does seem a popular choice.

 

Michael

[Guest Tracker]

Thanks Michael - I too have heard many good reports of TomTom (and no bad reports to date?) and at present one of they would be my first choice.

 

We don't need or want fancy add ons like Bluetooth or mp3 etc - just a good simple, reliable, easy to use Sat Nav that does exactly what it say on the label!

[Usinmyknaus]

Tracker - 2008-11-13 5:54 PM

 

Thanks Michael - I too have heard many good reports of TomTom (and no bad reports to date?) and at present one of they would be my first choice.

 

We don't need or want fancy add ons like Bluetooth or mp3 etc - just a good simple, reliable, easy to use Sat Nav that does exactly what it say on the label!

 

Tracker, suggest you avoid the Tom Tom One XL. Mine cannot be updated since it stopped connecting to my PC when two months' old. From the web it seems to be a quite common fault. Tech support is by e-mail and to date completely ineffective. People I know with the more expensive 7 series models have had no problems.

 

Bob

[Way2Go]

My definition of a quality, well designed piece of technology is one where you can make it work without constantly referring to the manual.  You have that in the TomTom range of products.

It doesn't really matter which one you use as they all pretty much use the same software although the higher end models in each series have one or two additional bells and whistles.

They are also in the process of moving from the version 7 to version 8 software so there will be a slight difference between those models using version 7 and version 8 software.

EVERY version on the market includes 7-digit post codes and EVERY model can be customised by adding your own route planning and additional POIs.

Your device connects to your PC via some software called HOME and your maps can be kept up to date by using the 'mapshare' facility.

Every week you can download a new copy of 'QuickFixGPS' which anticipates where the satellites will be which helps to get a GPS location fixing much quicker than before.

The main difference between models in the same range is the maps.  They will either be 'UK & Ireland plus the Major Roads of Europe' or 'Western & Central Europe (incl UK)'.

I have not played with the Garmin range but understand that the new 'NUVI' is a top drawer device.

W2G

[Bill Ord]

I'll be buying a new sat. Nav. to replace my current CoPilot in the new year but not till the French mapping is up to date as at present the road numbers on TomTom are still showing the old RN numbers. There is one other MAJOR issue I have with Garmin that on a demonstration didn't appear with TomTom. My current SatNav and Garmin are mostly unable to recognise any place name beginning with St when entered as a destination., as you can imagine this is a major problem although it is "get roundable" by various means. As I spend several months each year in France this is a major irritant. TomTom tell me that new mapping will be available in April 2009.

 

Bill Ord

[twooks]

just in time for jollies - although a bit late for Santa

 

but presumably any update to the new version will b available and seamless?

 

thanks for the info, I realise it must be pretty boring rerunning stuff you've already explained especially w2g

thanks a drillion for your patience as well

 

 

B-)

[Frankkia]

We have 2 Garmins. - A 7200 large screen for the 'van and a small nuvi 250 which we can take out in a pocket on the bike or walking.

 

You will hear users of both Garmin and TomTom say theirs is the bestand I wouldn't say any of 'em is wrong. All sat navs have their little frustrating bits and I have had both problems and pleasant surprises with both brands. As a purely personal prefrence I have gone with the Garmin (most modern aircraft and shipping have Garmin and if it is ok for them ....) as I prefer the software and ease of updating.

 

The Garmin will do the full postcode and lat and long inputs. Also on both above models they can accept SD cards with additional memory for more POIs and music. We play our music from the 7200 whilst on the way via the cab radio and when it wants to give directions it mutes the music - speaks the directions and then resumes.

 

Re the St. problem mentioned above I have found that with several brands. There is also the hyphen problem (some names may be displayed as St-Peter-of-Paris (made up name) and and others as St Peter of Paris) and if you type it in the wrong way it will not accept it. I usual find it by just typing Peter.

 

n.b the 7200 is a bit pricier than most but it has an a/v input so can either be used for reversing camera or as an extra screen for telly watching say from a sat box or video recorder.

 

Have a bit of fun in Halfords and get them to show you the merits of all their sat navs until you find the one that fits your requirements exactly.

 

Cheers

[ron.]

From experience of using the Tom Tom 730T my advice is to look beyond these cheap Tom Tom & Garmin systems on offer, as far as motohomes are concerned, as they are designed for cars. Neither has the facility to avoid narrow and other unsuitable roads to my knowledge which means that you are forever having to double-check the routes suggested by map - just what you bought the thing to avoid.

 

The ten year old GPS in my car is far better in use than the 730. It gives the choice of choosing main roads, fastest routes, shortest routes, etc. Junctions are much clearer and map coverage can be on a scale of anything from 125 yards to 50 miles, without the need for temporary zooming. If these basic requirements were available that long ago can anyone explain to me why these were dropped in favour of gimmicks of a secondary nature?

 

I know that these systems are very popular but I feel that this is down to price rather than on road quality.

 

Very disappointed user.

 

 

[gadjo]

I have a TT one Eurpoe, no Mp3 player no blue tooth dont need them, very good came in very handy in France this year, but it has taken me down some tight roads and scrapes. But with the best will in the world it does not know how big I am, bless it.

 

Has any one used or know of anyone who has used/got/ likes/dislikes those new (??) Syrus Proline truck sat navs??? I am very tempted as the dimensions of the vehicle can be programmed in supposedly reducing the risk of getting stuck.

 

To me if these work as well as the TT it would be the answer to all our prayers ;-)

 

I just dont need all the other stuff and being a tight git begrudge paying for it if i dont use it.

[colin]

I've been looking to get gf a new mobile with built in satnav, the idea being she doesn't have to remember to swap from moter to moter, just carry her phone. I then thought it would be good to get a S60 phone with a big screen (she might be in 40s but eyesight is getting worse than mine), and she could enter data and email+ we could use viewranger when walking, but it seems more complicated than at first due to many of the phones seem to crash and also needing to pay a anual lisence for gps, any one got any recommendations?

[Brian Kirby]

ron. - 2008-11-14 11:54 AM From experience of using the Tom Tom 730T my advice is to look beyond these cheap Tom Tom & Garmin systems on offer, as far as motohomes are concerned, as they are designed for cars. Neither has the facility to avoid narrow and other unsuitable roads to my knowledge which means that you are forever having to double-check the routes suggested by map - just what you bought the thing to avoid. The ten year old GPS in my car is far better in use than the 730. It gives the choice of choosing main roads, fastest routes, shortest routes, etc. Junctions are much clearer and map coverage can be on a scale of anything from 125 yards to 50 miles, without the need for temporary zooming. If these basic requirements were available that long ago can anyone explain to me why these were dropped in favour of gimmicks of a secondary nature? I know that these systems are very popular but I feel that this is down to price rather than on road quality. Very disappointed user.

I agree, Ron.  However help may be at hand if you follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/6l3x2j

Also, there will be an article in the December MMM by Mel Eastburn on sat navs, following on from some research he has been doing, so it may be worth waiting to see what he has to say.

[ron.]

Interesting one Brian, thanks for that. I will wait on more feedback on it from users as well as researching the dearer units.

[Brian Kirby]

They are based in Sevenoaks, Ron, and said that although they do not have a shop, if anyone cared to phone them at the number on their website first, they would be welcome to drop by for a demonstration.  The Mapping is Tele Atlas and the routeing software their own.  If you buy one of their vehicle devices, they supply a software DVD that contains the mapping, so that routes can be planned on a PC and then uploaded to the device.