Paul M Who Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hi I'm looking at buying an in dash sat nav for a Fiat Ducato. A double DIN with 6-7" screen. Can anyone suggest a good one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Not what you asked Paul, so my apologies, but you will pay a lot more for the built in units than for a portable, and AFAIK, you will also pay a lot more for any map updates. Also, once installed, you tend to be locked into that technology. My reaction would be to buy a portable unit that can more easily be updated, that will cost much less initially, and to fill the hole in the dash with either a decent radio CD, or a radio DVD player with a pop-out screen. That way you keep abreast of the technology at lower cost, and still have excellent navigation, plus your own choice of entertainment media. If available in Australia, look at the Garmin or TomTom deals that include free map updates for the lifetime of the unit. You pay a bit more for these, but even then, based on UK prices, the whole unit with the map updates is not significantly more expensive than a single map update for some of the built in units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Wow, just realised you are in OZ, must be one of the farthest away forum members we have ? I have had a Tom Tom one (new edition !! in 2006) for a few years, updated the map several times, last time January this year, updates for a year as well included. Never had any problems with it, make sure you get one with an SD card slot (some now only have internal memory) then you can upgrade the memory size as required, this 'future proof's' the unit, provided they don't do any 'Software nasties' to obsolete the older models. I'm not tight (wife says otherwise !) but i like things i rely on to last. Ray ps. like Brian,I am not keen on 'in dash' fitted units,look smart but are soon outdated, get a portable unit. unless the 'in dash' one is ungradable. memory wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul M Who Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yes I am a long way away now but the SatNav is for a motorhome I'll be buying in the UK early next year. My wife and I are about to retire and we are planning on traveling in Europe, UK and ROI next year. We will be checking out the new models at the Motorhome Show in October at the NEC in Birmingham. I've been looking at SatNavs and have come up with three options. 1. Portable - Tom Tom, Garman etc 2. Tablet based - iPad etc 3. In dash I've looked at the Meos in dash which comes with Sygic software and Tom Tom maps. The Sygic package can also be used on a tablet and it come with free map upgrades - so they say. The reason I was leaning towards the in dash is because it incorporates radio, CD, DVD, Bluetooth phone, SD slot, USB slot, iPod/iPad connection, Aux input and MP3 support. I know that they are more expensive but when considering the total package they seem good value. I'm just trying to get an overview of current user opinions as most of the reviews and tech forums are 2 or 3 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 ....well, (and in line with what I've posted on here before) with a number of caveats I would disgree with Brian. The first caveat is that it all depends on what you are trying to achieve. I wished (all at the same time) to replace my obsolescent portable device, add a reversing camera monitor, and add the ability to play MP3/WMA music, something that the fitted, Ford radio didn't support. I didn't particularly want to end up with several units, and wanted a neat and unobtrusive solution. I priced up reasonable satnavs, costed reversing monitors, etc, but couldn't get a combination of units that fulfilled my requirements, or costed-in against a combined unit. As a result (and working to a budget), I started looking seriously at combined units. If your requirements are similar to mine, one may be worthwhile. The second caveat is that I wouldn't buy a unit with proprietary navigation software - future support, and in particular expensive map upgrades (as Brian mentions) put me off that (along with the fact that the navigation device being replaced was a proprietary Blaupukt unit with absolutely no future support forthcoming). In addition, it is often difficult with these to add your own POIs. I'm computer literate, and don't mind doing some work, but I like to be able to source sets from various locations, and find the usual aire, stellplatz, campsites, etc. invaluable in touring. For me, any system has to support this. So, a number of manufacturers (Alpine, Blaupunkt as examples) are currently basing combined units on IGO software (originally designed for the PDA market, but transferred to the portable, and now the in-car markets). Map updates are readily available for download and not over-expensive (c£80 for the whole of Europe, both East and West, for example, with subsets available at intermediate prices). They are non-proprietary (literally hundreds of device types use them, and they are based on Teleatlas (TomTom) mapping). At least two versions of the software are available, IGO8 and IGO Primo, the latter being newer, and more oriented to the fixed in-car market, but may be more difficult to customise with POIs. Looking for devices that use navigation based on this software may provide you some clues. The website http://www.naviextras.com (used in "guest" mode) ...gives a good idea of map availability and pricing, and the supported device area gives an idea of the manufacturers that use the IGO software. (Patently, selecting any supplier of maps has potential future issues, but the market for these is large). FWIW, I bought a Zenec ZE-NC524 http://www.zenec.com/en/products/naviceivers/ ...though would have preferred the 526 if I could have got one at the time. It has its little quirks, but does everything that I wanted, and a few other things as well. For £479 plus self-fitting costs I got my navigation with TMC, rear-view monitor, digital music, easy POI, fully integrated with steering wheel controls and commands via the radio speakers, and the added benefit of DVD playback by extension to the TV, and Bluetooth Hands Free 'phone. If you have an Ipod, there are options to couple that as well. The free up-to-date map upgrade worked fine, and there is masses of room on the SD card from which the navigation software runs to add other maps or POIs. The IGO Navigation software carries a multitude of functions, and is good for planning and storing routes. I did consider a Blaupunkt New York running IGO Primo, but both that and the Zenec are targetted on the German market, where the Zenec commands a higher price, (higher than the UK selling price). Hope this different view helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 And I agree with Brian, have just spent a few days in the comfort of my study, with Garmin connected to PC, we use laptop when away. Preparing routes on large screen PC (via Garmin mapsource) and then loading routes to sat nav with waypoints, for overnight stops (camp-sites and Aires) along with places of interest. We are away for 6 week trip next week to Italy/Croatia. Cant imagine doing this perched in the cab...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scramblers Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 In the main I agree with the other contributers, portable is best. My SatNav is the Garmin Nuvi 1490 wide screen and free lifetime updates. One of the main reasons for my purchase was that is has a mini SD card slot. When I toured New Zealand and America I simply purchased the Garmin maps for New Zealand & Australia ( 1 sd card) and another card which covered USA, Canada and Mexico. IMHO, a portable SatNav with the right spec is far more adaptable than an in dash unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-07-26 2:40 PM ........have just spent a few days in the comfort of my study, with Garmin connected to PC, we use laptop when away. Preparing routes on large screen PC (via Garmin mapsource) and then loading routes to sat nav with waypoints, for overnight stops (camp-sites and Aires) along with places of interest. We are away for 6 week trip next week to Italy/Croatia. Cant imagine doing this perched in the cab...... Planning (at least routes to save) on the PC is not something I normally do - I tend to be somewhat more "spontaneous" with my travels. Nonetheless, I understand that it is fairly easy to create routes using Google Maps/Earth, save them, and import them into IGO8 (via the SDcard). The web gives details, and I'll possibly try it one day. Since all the data used for external interface with IGO8 is in Google Earth (.kml) format, access to all the POIs (e.g. sites, aires, etc) for offline route planning are readily available, as the files loaded into IGO are read natively by Google Earth (indeed, that's how I test my edited versions ;-) ). So, I can load a POI file that I created/downloaded for my satnav directly into Google Earth on the PC, and zoom right in to check the look of any place. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 The Sat Nav to suit the new Fiat Ducato dash mounting is a Tom Tom unit only available from Fiat dealers & some of the dealers appear to be short on knowledge regarding them. There is also ongoing discussion on the Swift Talk forum regarding their requirement for a software update by Fiat to get them operating correctly (read into that what you will 8-) :-( ) Some Swift owners still waiting for software release. They are much more than a de-mountable unit & from what I can determine are not the Caravan/Truck units, enabling you to enter vehicle dimensions. (but as indicated above Fiat Dealers don't seem to know much about them) Unless you need the "Blue & Me" facility - not worth the money or hassle IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul M Who Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks guy, somethings to think about. BTW Robin I checked out the Zenec site and they have a ZE NC620DMH which is specifically designed for Motorhomes and Caravans. Comes with 21,000 POIs for Camping Grounds, and camping stops (aires, stellplatz etc). You can also enter the vehicle dimensions and weight to avoid those embarrassing hold ups for narrow streets and low bridges. It's not cheap but it comes with everything a Motorhomer could want including a reversing camera function. I'm still looking though. Thanks everyone for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Paul M Who - 2012-07-27 6:21 AMThanks guy, somethings to think about. BTW Robin I checked out the Zenec site and they have a ZE NC620DMH which is specifically designed for Motorhomes and Caravans. Comes with 21,000 POIs for Camping Grounds, and camping stops (aires, stellplatz etc). You can also enter the vehicle dimensions and weight to avoid those embarrassing hold ups for narrow streets and low bridges. It's not cheap but it comes with everything a Motorhomer could want including a reversing camera function.I'm still looking though. Thanks everyone for the info. IMO, these preloaded sets of POIs are of little value. The downloadable sets freely available on the web (Bordatlas, Campingcar-infos, Archies Europe - over 30,000 campsites on this one alone, etc) are generally much more comprehensive, and more importantly, regularly updated. As long as you can get them onto the device you purchase (see one of my criteria) then you are better off using these. As for the dimension/weight thing, I'm afraid that I share the current level of cynicism about the state of the underlying mapping, and its ability to properly support such function. It is at best (IMO) a very blunt instrument, just as likely to mislead you as those devices that don't have such function (but maybe in different ways ;-) ).AFAIK, all the Zenec Naviceivers (and the great majority of such devices from other manufacturers) have the ability to monitor a reversing camera.Good luck with your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Tend to agree and go portable with the sat nav. Fill the hole with a double din unit that takes a rear camera,Radio, plays DVDs Ipods (Usb input) and takes a video input that can be used for viewer for satelite. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveNZ Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Our 2015 Burstner came with inbuilt Zenec It is a bad joke that they fitted this. For a start it does not take post codes so totally useless in UK. We tried to use it but gave up as many of the CL sites only have a farm name and postcode so just no way of programming it. Went off and purchased a garmin. Just so much easier!! One occasion we tried with Zenec for Bishops Canning. At the turn off it was showing the destination flag but the instructions wanted us to go 80Miles back and restart. Now the van is back in NZ we cant get a NZ map. Even as a backing camera it is useless as the radio must be on for the camera to come on. At least the radio works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 The software used in the Zenec will be either IGO8 or IGO Primo. It does take UK postcodes, but you need to enter then with the intermediate space (e.g. W1A 1AA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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