Satnavs....?

Hi,

Just to recap ona previous thread, have there been any major satnav technolgy?

I asked this a few months ago; Tomtoms were apparantly favourite.

Is this still the case, or have htings changed?




regs,

David

 

the 710 still seems to be the one lots of added gimicks out there like sat nave with a camera in it (wtf) but tomtom seems to be the sat nav ipod at the moment.

 

thanks....

 

Thing to consider though: satnav theft is absolutely rampant. Any sign of a satnav in a vehicle makes chance of break in something like 1000% more likely. Apparently crims commonly have with them a device which can detect whether the device is in the car (this might be hearsay).

As such a device you can pop in your pocket seems worthy of consideration and the Tom Tom devices don't look pocket friendly.

 

satnav mobiles?

Def worth a thought.

Ive borrowed my Dads 300 periodically + never had a problem but theres always a first time. I've just got a new van and i don't really want it damaged either.

A mate was talking around combined mobile/sat nav combos....anybody know any thing about that?





cheers,


David

 

The Tom Toms are still my favourites and are by far the most popular range of systems out there - I work part time at Halfords and they sell far better than the others.

Navman have bought out a new model which might be worth considering if you're on a budget - the new 'F20' has been released since your last thread and this offers the same basic features as the TomTom One GB (full 6-7 digit postcode search navigation) but its £20-30 cheaper. I still prefer the TomTom One, and if it was my money would spend the extra, but this is partly because I'm used to them.

I've had more of a play with Garmins Nuvi range too, and they're pretty good, but still second to the TomToms to my mind. I find the maps are a bit garishly coloured to look at, which makes them more distracting for night driving, and the menus aren't quite as intuitive as the Tom Toms (for example, to input the postcode of your destination on a TomTom, the touchscreen has letters and numbers on the same screen, but on the Nuvi 310D you have to switch from two different screens, one with letters and one with numbers, which makes it slightly more time consuming to input).

Best advice I can give really though is go into your nearest Halfords and have a play with them all, get someone to show you how they work and see which systems you get on with and find the easiest to operate. They may push the Garmin Nuvi range quite hard, even if you go in wanting to look at TomToms....I'll leave you to work out the rea$on$ for that though

As for the Phone based satnav systems, I don't know loads about them, since we don't sell them, but I know the basics. They'll involve a GPS receiver (often bluetooth) and an add-on software package for the phone (AFAIK you need a phone with 'Symbian' OS for most packages). You can get TomTom software for the phones which is decent, but to obtain this legally is pretty costly from what I've seen, though most people seem to get hold of it through 'other sources' in which case it can work out very cheap .

Such systems will require a bit more fiddling and technical knowhow to work than 'off the shelf' solutions, and if you go down this route make sure you get a good GPS receiver as this will really make or break any system since its so reliant on getting and maintaining a good satellite signal.

Also take a look here for reviews on satnav systems and the phone based options - a wealth of information here.

Hope this helps!

 

It does indeed, just as your post when i last asked was very helpful. Thankyou very much.

Theres is some conjecture at the moment whether I get my Dads TT 300 passed down to me, so that he can update with a new one with software to include Ireland (where my sister lives).

Thanks again, Will.

Appreciated.



David

 

I use Tom Tom on a T-mobile MDA vario. This is a PDA type phone, and I use a Holux GPS adapter. Works quite well. The only main issue i have with it is how long the Holux takes to get a fix. Once its got one i have no complaints.

 

A mate swears by his Nokia N70 running To Tom mobile + bluetooth GPS module. Naturally its very pocket friendly too.

 

I use a tom tom 1 the new ones are very slim. they also have full post code. Used a navman on a pda. It kept sending me the the most long winded routes it ended up out of the window in frustration. Since getting a tom tom life is now more serene

 

cheers......

the tom tom usually does alright for me .