david lloyd Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Hi everyone I am currently using TomTom Navigator 5 on a PDA for satellite navigation and so far it has proved really useful. However, there are a few things I don't like about the setup. I have a powered GPS cradle with a windscreen mount which, together with the PDA itself, makes it quite a cumbersome unit that I cannot use when on foot. The new Knaus has Remis windscreen blinds and I have to detach it and replace it every day. Also, the software version has full postcode search but only accepts street and house numbers not house names or farm names etc. This means I cannot enter sites by name. Finally, it only gives me the choice of fastest, shortest, walking routes or to avoid motorways/toll roads. We have just used it on our recent French trip and although I hardly had to use a map at all, it did route me down some tricky roads so an option to except minor roads would have been useful. I was initially thinking of the Garmin C510D (currently on offer at around £299) but I have since been pointed in the direction of the Garmin Nuvi 350 which is also self contained and has all the europe maps on a hard disc rather than on SD cards. It can be used on foot in towns and cities. I believe it has a facility to search for a particular house or farm name (but I have yet to confirm this) and it is possible to set the route for a particular type of vehicle such as a bus. The best price I have seen so far is £359 but it goes as high as £499. Does anyone else use a stan alone GPS unit? Anyone use the Nuvi and how do you find it? Any other possibilities? Any advice or comments would be appreciated. Best regards, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Hi David, there is a word of warning out advising us not leave any evidence of a GPS, not even the round sucker mark on the windscreen as yobs have been breaking in just to search for your GPS, which have good resale value to the 'fences'. If you go back to posts about 12 months ago, possibly about Jan or Feb. last year, you should find loads of information on GPS. Other members of this forum gave me all the info: I needed to find the right GPS for me. Best of luck with your search, David Powell.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Hello again David, Some GPS information starts on page 40 (NAVMAN GPS) 2005-05-03. But talks of other makes & types as well. At least that is some where to start. Cheers David Powell..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 Thanks ranger Yes I am always conscious of leaving the PDA mount out on view too. We are taking advantage of the weather and going off for the weekend but will have a good look at the past threads next week - in the meantime, if any one has a Nuvi 350 perhaps you wouldn't mind giving your thoughts on how well it performs? Many thanks, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hi, Which ones will accept Lat/Lon positions, being typed in ? Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I always use Mrs Clive to show me the way. Any suggestions of replacing her ladyship are met with indignant comments about me insulting her fine navigating!!! "How dare you", "wash your mouth out" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 How many satellites can "Mrs Clive" receive simultaneously? Does she accept lat/long co-ords being typed into her? Do you have to plug her into the 12 volt socket or does she come with her own batteries? (lol) D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Clive's probably got her wired up to his solar panel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Entirely possible but then again maybe an inverter is the required power source? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
net-traveller Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Just to confue the issue may I suggest that you look at www.becker.de. The stand alone satnav, Traffic Assist, works pretty well for us. No need for an external antenna and can be used on the passenger lap or roaming round the dash. Found this out by accident as it wouldn't stay put on the windowscreen. It does now due to a good clean of the windscreen. It will also find 4/5 satellites while in the house, nice to know where you are! The software is navteq. Becker also make built-in units for the luxury car market so have a fair pedigree. Got it from Transleisure, Leeds. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 First, you need to approeciate that there are only 2 suppliers of map databases. Which is why both TomTom and MavPlan (and probably lots of others, boast of full mapping but lack it for some countries (the whole of Ireland, for example, is mapped for only the very major roads and is thus completely useless. Second, although many write their own software, all I've tried have problems. We used a TomTom 700 on a 10 country trip through Europe ending last week and it worked well except in The Baltic States which are not mapped at all. TomTom does not allow you to select vehicle type or alter the speeds on minor roads so it doesn't use them, but it does have a useful speed limiting feature. When I limited planning to a max of 100 Kph, I found I tracked the ETA given by TomTom extremely accurately, except through traffic kams and road works. (The 40mph limit for road widening on the M1 from Jcts 8 to 12 added just 6 mins to my journey!). But you must review routes before using them. I found TomTom's Itinerary planning feature invaluable - if you don't like the route just add a waypoint, either Town Centre, Address or point on map and off you go. If you already have a PDA and Laptop, your cheapest upgrade route would be to use either MS Autoroute or NavPlan. Both can take a GPS input and be used for routing - and Autoroute has full mapping for Ireland. Take the earlier warnings VERY seriously. Remove both GPS, Fittings and any marks from the windscreen or come back to a smashed side window - tyhe opportunist thief's easy way in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajking Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Hi Just to put my 'pennerth' in. I have used TomTom for a number of years and it is fine for normal size vehicles but does not allow for large. I have been looking around and have come across Copilot 6 which apparently has an RV option which avoids sharp bends, narrow roads, and, I believe, low bridges. I am thinking of moving over, does anyone use this software? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MandC Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Hi David Just bought the nuvi 350 after agonising over a choice of satnav. I've only used it the once so maybe not good feedback just yet. I already have a query into Garmin, because I wanted to put in village names - and of the ones I picked several could not be found. I had to resort to the old faithful £2.99 road map!!! It seems OK on postcodes - but thats no good if you haven't got one! It does allow a bus setting - I'll have a go later and see if I can work out if it actually avoids small roads or if it just amends the drive time! The manual is absolutely useless - tells you next to nothing. Mine was £399, and it includes a built in MP3 player. I got it from Comet who are doing a deal to give-away an ipod shuffle (£49) foc with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmann Gipsy Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 After much thought, we bought a Mitac Mio C710 (Their latest model) last week. It seems excellent, with pretty much every feature including Bluetooth phone connection. It's GPS reception is unaffected by the overcab, and input is by postcode, name, country etc. Preloaded with street level European mapping too. It has settings for "Bus" and "Lorry", but the only thing about them is that it seems to route you as if you are driving an artic or massive coach rather than a smaller vehicle. Fine if you have a Clou Liner etc but not for a 20ft overcab like ours-it basically takes you a VERY long way round, avoiding roads that we could easily get down. I can highly recommend it so far for UK use-we are off to France on Friday, so hopefully it will work as well there!! B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest starspirit Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 My Navman icn 510 works well enough but should you get a glitch the backup from Navman UK is BLOODY AWFUL so I would not buy their products again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted August 15, 2006 Author Share Posted August 15, 2006 Thanks everyone for the comments - MandC please keep me informed when you have a little more use from the Nuvi 350. Best regards, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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