Which GPS?Why not the cheapest Garmin or Tom Tom?

[Eriba trafic]

;-) Two years ago i bought what turned out to be the least expensive Garmin I refused to buy one until i had seen that it could use LAT/LONG in degrees seconds or numeric

 

That replaced one i bought at Lidel the Lidel one was a disaster missing a lot of roads VERY long start time and VERY poor reception and still cost £9 MORE than the Garmin

 

I very happy with my small (square) Garmin it finds its way well with only a few disasters :-|

 

When i looked at GPS units they dont seem to have changed much (?) *-) I saw the same Garmin i have for £20 more than i paid in the same chain 2 years ago 8-)

 

What isthe benifit of buying a "becker" "archos" or other large screen GPS costing around 3x the price of the small model???

 

Would it be useful for me to enter the 5980 POIs i have on my USB?? How DOSE that work?????Do they "boing" at me every time i get close to one???

 

Which GPS should i consider buying for my New camper (Just 4 weeks old now) and why is "Tom Tom" better than Garmin???? :-S

 

Up to now i take my lap top out before i leave and look at the stops i might want to use which includes cost & often images (plus lat & long)

 

I have all my POIs printed out as first ref by post code then i have a camping car stop guide (without lat & long! And a michelin campsite guide from 1999 in case i feel im braking down or need a shower

 

Will a new GPS full of POI loader & POIs improve travels with my camper *-)

[Hawcara]

Which Garmin do you have? (?)

[Eriba trafic]

It says "Nuvi 255"

[Frankkia]

!) I wouldn't go for the Archos holder. Although I am an Archos fan the GPS add on would appear to be rather limited. It only come with mapping for the locality where it is purchased ( so in the UK you get UK and Ireland).

 

2) Why do you want to change the Nuvi? It is a capable piece of kit and most of the recent kit is no better. I would consider paying Garmin for the map updates for the life of the system (one off payment). This will get you the most up to date maps to download several tomes a year.

 

3) Download to your computer the free POI loader software from the Garmin web site then you can download lots of different POIs from various web sites to suit your particular needs - www.poihandler.com isa usefull starting point. These can then be loaded on to your Nuvi.

 

4) I prefer the Garmin to a Tomtom but it is personal taste some others will prefer the TT. We are all different. My preference is based on the software of both and the fact that Garmin is trusted in many air and shipping companies and if it is reliable enough for them it will do for me.

 

With any sat nav (no matter how good or expensive) it is always a good idea to check the route it proposes before you set off. They are usually right but can lead you a merry dance if you don't watch 'em.

 

I have 2 Garmins on the go 1) with a large screen (7") ((non portable as it doesn't have an internal battery))which is on the dash of the 'van all the time and 2) a 255 which can be slipped in my pocket for use when out and about walking or on the motorbike. The big 'un is easy to focus on when driving and is very clear but I have used the little 'un and it is fine even in the big cab.

 

Have a good New year and don't rush out to buy something new in the sales just 'cos it is newer - your old Garmin will probably give you many more years of good service - I still have an old Garmin streetpilot which (when I get it out of the drawer it has been sitting in for some years) is still capable if a little slow by modern standards.

[cheetahdavie]

Her indoors is the cheapest??

What I mean is that she says "that way" and thats the way we go! Been together 59 years..married for 50 of those..and she has never been wrong???

Sat nav??

Just drive and do as you are told

[Frankkia]

Yeh! But with a sat nav the boss shouts at the sat nav and not me!

 

WIN WIN!

[Eriba trafic]

Thats re-assuring B-) I spent several hours in shops trying to try sat navs before choosing the 255

 

I looked at the sat navs in the £250/£350 price range firstly as i always found one i could try *-) The basic models tended to be "buy & try" :-S

 

I found a shop which has a new sales girl she took the time to show me the GPS i wanted which just happened to be the least costly & on offer :-)

 

The Garmin was my preferred GPS I did look at the Tom Tom having been told it was better (?) In the end the Garmin was the best value quicker in use (in the shop) & has proved to be fast & reliable in use

 

My main reason for asking hear is that im sure 99% of those using this forum have a GPS for their motor home & so any GPS with a downside would be known. AS no one has made a big thing of the TOM TOM/Garmin divide im sure there equal

 

When i bought my 255 they had to take great care not to give me the wrong model (?) Perhaps mine cant be updated??

 

The Garmin i have works well for my needs so well im afraid to change its configuration adding a POI installer Id like to buy a second GPS THEN try to add a POI installer & POIs 8-) Should i buy a second Garmin 255??

[Derek Uzzell]

I have no personal experience of GPS receivers, but this is a link to a website that reviews them and that has cross-references to other useful sites.

 

http://gps.toptenreviews.com/navigation/

[rolandrat]

I have a very old (now) Garmin nuvi 250w which I use when we go abroad and it suits us well. It is very easy to use and problem free. I still prefer to follow my nose though. When you have spent your life tramping all over the country you never need to use a map unless you are looking for a destination you've never been to. When I was a kid I was given a run to the city of London with 20 deliveries and it was some experience, I didn't realise how arrogant traffic policemen could be until I went there.

[Guest JudgeMental]

Eriba trafic - 2010-12-26 5:38 P

 

Will a new GPS full of POI loader & POIs improve travels with my camper *-)

 

without a doubt YES. it helps make life much easier.......

[Guest Tracker]

Several years ago when I found myself navigating as well as driving alone I splashed out on an, at that time, expensive Navman which, whilst it certainly helped stop me going off track - or rather helped get back on tracjk when I did take a wrong turn, never did work as well as I had hoped.

 

About three years ago I upgraded it to the cheapest TomTom available that had full European (EU) maps and full postcode, plus lat/long navigation input and POI inputs.

 

That was a smart move as it has not only totally reliable all over the UK and from Norway to Gibraltar but it allows my 'navigator' to enjoy the drive without having her head buried in an atlas or two.

 

Maps may in theory go out of date but the road building programme in most of Europe is not so large that it makes much difference.

 

There are times when I find myself in the middle of nowhere on a new road but sooner or later it rejoins the old one and as these are almost always fine new main or trunk roads with good signage it has never posed a problem so I doubt I will ever buy an overpriced map 'upgrade' unless we decide to start touring non EU Europe.

 

So yes - unless you have a bias towards one particular make I would go for the cheapest of whatever make that does everything that you want it to?

 

I made a small pad that fits on the instrument binacle and holds the satnav in my line of vision (no give away sucker marks - plus it's closer and easier to read) and is removable plus the smaller the unit the easier it is to hide conveniently when not on the move.

 

The pad clips over the front lip of the speedo unit and hooks onto a clip fitted into the windscreen heater vent with a length of elastic.

 

Cheap, simple and takes a few seconds to fit or remove!

[PCC]

I use my Nokia phone. Comes with free satnav. Also holds a good chunk of my music collection which I plug into the stereo unit in the van. Allows me to surf the net. Gives me email. And it works as a phone!

 

Satnav covers anywhere in the world for free and also has a walk mode for cities.

 

Saves having to carry lots of different bits of kit around.

[Tomo3090]

I'm with Tracker on this one. Our TomTom 1 was bought 4 years ago and I just plug it in to the lap top every couple of months and it upgrades the map corrections people have sent in. It has all the POIs inc. Caravan Club and C&CC sites, aires, LPG stations, fuel stations, and general vanning stuff I could wish for. It has rarely put a wheel wrong from North of Scotland to Sicily and has been a life/marriage saver!

 

I looked at a new one a week before Christmas and the new TomTom doesn't seem to have the same street coverage for Europe as mine.

 

I might exchange it for one of those you can put in the vans dimensions one day because I could use it when I'm truck driving too, but until I can jusify the price I will stick to the one I've got.

[Eriba trafic]

Good idea not to have it "stuck"on the screen ;-)

 

It seems i do want lots of POI programmed into a GPS *-) B-)

 

I gather that the least expensive GPS with update & POI loader will be fine B-)

 

My 255 dose not have a USB (?) It dose but the power lead plugs in to that 8-)

 

I wonder?? Is my super base model in fact up gradable with a simple USB to my laptop (?) (?) ;-) *-) which will of course charge at 5v The Garmin came with only the 12v cigar lighter "power supply" I will try B-) B-)

 

Thank you too for the GPS guide link im going along to compare B-)

[Frankkia]

The Nuvi 255 can be plugged in to your puter with a suitable USB lead to upgrade the maps or the operating software at http://www8.garmin.com/support/download.jsp

 

The figure 8 in that is correct.

 

You can also download the POI loader software to your computer then add POIs to it. When you have a collection of POIs you can put them on a SD card (max 2Gb) and insert the card into the SD slot on your Nuvi. It will ask you if you want to install them on the machine. Answer yes and those POIs will be available to search for from the main menu on the screen. Simples.

[Eriba trafic]

B-) You must have know id just plugged my 255 to the USB on my laptop 8-) And it says i can install POIs even on this ultra inexpensive & now in phone/GPS terms,stone age Garmin *-)

 

I used the link which lists POI loader v2.5.4 Do i download this to a file then add all the POIs which are listed as "Garmin" compatible files

 

Are they the .asc files?? As it says the .ov2 are for TOM TOM and (in this case describes the .asc as being for "the rest"

 

Then once i have them on my laptop & transferred to an SD card plug it in & hope for success *-) *-) 8-) Is that all correct?

[Homenaway]

Hi,

I've just got a Garmin 1340 for xmas and have been looking at loading campsite and aires POI's.

If you belong to the Caravan Club log in then they have a downloadable idiots guide to installing the club sites and CL files which have to be in .csv format (which I use Excel for). the Garmin website also has some useful help documents for adding POI's  

Steve

[Eriba trafic]

Im not

 

Garmins site is rather sped out where are the notes?

 

I will have to wait until the morning as ive only got a 4 gig mini SD card (in my phone) im told 2gig max ill buy a 2gig mini SD card tomorrow

 

My only worry is loosing all my maps.First time download for GPS *-)

[Frankkia]

It is a normal 2 gig SD card not a mini! It just wont read the HD versions i.e above 2gig.

 

You put POI loader on your computer then download all the POIs you want (take a look at poihandler.com and after creating a log in you will be able to select all the POIs which are of interest to you - and select the format Garmin (excel .csv files). Then download them to a folder which you can create, - call it Points Of Interest, on your computer. n.b. you may need to create 2 folders as, depending on where you get the downloads from they may be zipped so put the unzipped files in your Points of Interest folder.

 

Then the 1st time you start POI loader it will ask where they are - point it at your folder.

 

It will ask you where you want to put the finished file and give you the choice of: SD card, Mapsource (if you have it) or your Garmin device. Select SD card. Now insert the SD card and it will ask you if that is where you want to put the finished file - say yes and Bobs your fathers brother.

 

You can now put the SD card in your Garmin and either run the POIs from the card or load them on to the Garmin and you can then use the SD card for something else.

 

To find the POIs on your device. go to "extras" from your "where to" screen.

 

Tips:

 

1) When using POI handler it will ask you if you want the particular group of POIs for a single country or for all of europe - ask for all of Europe - the files dont take up much room.

 

2) If you want a group of POIs with a lot of different sub headings e.g. all of the supermarket groups or Restaurant groups in europe you may need to divide them into 2 groups (say A to M and N to Z) as it can only take a finite number of sub groups.

 

 

[roger s]

We started with a Navman, maps ok but the unit knew its own way back to navman it had been back that many times - totally rubbish.

 

We upgraded to a Nuvi 310/350? - what a difference, quality product, bit slow on the instructions but very good support from Garmin. It did have a tendancy to sent me down narrow lanes occasionally, so it service was transferred to the car and is still in use as a good piece of kit.

 

We got a Snooper Ventura for the van, bigger screen (4") and you enter the dimensions on the vehicle and the weight, so now, not so narrow roads, low bridges or weight limits on bridges. My mate has the bigger version (7" screen) and that runs on same software.

 

Both Garmin and the Ventura are worth a look - depends how much you want to pay

[Eriba trafic]

At the moment my old Garmin 255 seems to be more versatile than id though B-)

 

I very slowly getting there my Garmin uses the micro SD card i now have a 2 gig card. BUT the SD adapter is in the camping car 8-) :-(

 

Im going to try using my phone as a card reader *-)

 

Where do i find POIs??

 

Thats just a question to find other sources ;-)

[Colin Leake]

Tomo3090 - 2010-12-27 1:32 PM

 

I'm with Tracker on this one. Our TomTom 1 was bought 4 years ago and I just plug it in to the lap top every couple of months and it upgrades the map corrections people have sent in. It has all the POIs inc. Caravan Club and C&CC sites, aires, LPG stations, fuel stations, and general vanning stuff I could wish for. It has rarely put a wheel wrong from North of Scotland to Sicily and has been a life/marriage saver!

 

I looked at a new one a week before Christmas and the new TomTom doesn't seem to have the same street coverage for Europe as mine.

 

I might exchange it for one of those you can put in the vans dimensions one day because I could use it when I'm truck driving too, but until I can jusify the price I will stick to the one I've got.

 

As I understand it the mapping they all use does not yet road widths so it is hard to see how knowing the van diamentiions will help.

[Guest Tracker]

Colin Leake - 2010-12-28 5:26 PM

As I understand it the mapping they all use does not yet road widths so it is hard to see how knowing the van diamentiions will help.

 

When on the move most vans come equiped with a device for avoiding unsuitable roads.

It uses a combination of experience from which it soon learns and common sense with which some units were issued from date of production - but which also evoles in many cases.

When working properly it works in conjunction with all forms of sat nav and navigator to override potentially harmful directional decisions.

 

It's called the 'driver'!

[Travelling Tyke]

Hello,

 

For a good cheap Satnav this takes some beating:-

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/myguide/mg4328bt/sat-nav-myguide-4-3-uk-europe/dp/SB04404

 

and a Happy New Year to all.

[Keith T]

The choice is very much personal.

My first one was a Garmin, whcih was Ok, occasionally sending me down a road not suitable (dead-end and cart-track comes to mind!), but I found it stopped/froze too often.

 

I then changed to a Tomtom, and at the same time upgraded as I was going to be travelling/driving through Canada, and needed one with North American mapping,and what a great bonus that was.

 

Once you work out the way it is programmed, it's OK, though i do find the 'via' is somewhat difficult unless you have a paper/computer map as well! Also in France,at least, you either have to select 'pay' or 'not pay'Autoroutes, when often we need a mix of both.

 

I have to agree that the best form of navigation is 'driver' based and needs research prior to the journey, but with the 'aid' - using that word specifically - and not reliant on it, it's a useful tool,and does help a great deal most of the time, esepcially on motorway junctions and when following signposts which may or may not included the destination you want!

There are still several occasions with the MH where I won't follow the directions she gives, though...and mostly I beleive I am correct in my decisions!

 

The 'Live' updates on Tomtom are good though, as is the connection to the web when looking to find hypermarkets in France!! Our previous experience was to see a large sign stating what to follow, then all instructions disappeared, and often even when seeing itfrom the main road or Autoroute, finding it was totally impossible!