Satellite Navigation Systems .. advice required please

[sundial]

Today I boughta NAVMAN PiN 570 combined GPS and PDA ... it was reduced by £100 ... special offer as dealer is discontinuing them.

First thing I did when arrived home was check out the reviews on the Internet ... and they are all rather bad ... poor battery life, failure to get a fix until 10 miles into journey, unable to pre plan journey with contact list addresses, screen freezes and required total reboot which lost all PDA data ...

Had I known all these shortcomings I would have chosen a different model and gone for a straight GPS without a PDA ... now hoping dealer will change it for a better model.

Do any of you have experience of using other makes of Sat Nav Systems in UK ? Can you recommend any? ... Or advise which others should be avoided? .. I hope to buy one for less than £300 .

Have heard that TOM TOM are good .. but dont know about others.

Thanks

Dunk

[Gruntfuttock]

Hi,

I can recommend the TomTom Go series of units. I use the base model myself, the 300. The models above this, the 500 & 700 have bluetooth, which means they can interface to your phone. I think this gives a hands-free facility to your phone but you'll have to check.
I'm very happy with mine. You can pre-plan journeys and navigate between postcodes or places. There isn't anything it doesn't do, for me anyway. You may have special requirements however.
Not being able to get a GPS lock can be caused by heating elements in some windscreens having a shielding effect on the unit. A plug-in antenna is available if this is a problem in your car.
There are many review sites on the web but I find that looking at amazon.co.uk is often quicker when comparing units and reading users comments.

[Rod]

Hi Dunk,

None of the Sat/Nav systems are perfect and most people have tales of being sent the wrong way etc. I have recently purchased a Navman ICN520 which has been ok most of the time. You have the ability to input places to avoid and can preview your route before you set off.
The window mount is excellent and holds it firmly and reception, despite having a heated windscreen element, maintains a good signal (Mondeo). It has a rechargeable battery life of 4 hours and comes with 12v car power cable too.I bought mine off Dabs.com for £199.00. (This included European maps too).
I did some research before I bought and felt this was the best for the money after reading reviews - I felt about £200 was my budget. If I have a gripe about it it takes up to 5 mins to lock onto a satellite - but this can vary.
Other than that it is good value for money & is slim,comes with a case, and can easily be carried if walking.

:)

Rod

[Rod]

Hi Dunk,

Further to my last post here is a review on it

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/navman-icn520-gps.php

:)

Rod

[sundial]

Thanks Rod and Tony .. perhaps I'm being a bit hasty in my criticism ... after first finding all negative reviews I tried Amazon and found some very good reviews ... and also found some good reviews here

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co. ... views.html

So I think I need to give it a go and see for myself ... it was a bargain price at £149 and thus an impulse buy ... but when reading all the negative reviews after arriving home assumed I had bought a red herring

Will unpack it and give it a trial tomorrow .. and keep my fingers crossed that there will not be any problems ... I had been thinking about buying a GPS device for some time because after missing a junction on the M25 and getting lost I ended up very late for an appointment .

Cheers

Dunk

[Bry1975]

Being a Professional driver, well I cover 100,000miles a year :)
We use Dayton Sat Navs! Overall they're pretty good usually takes less than 1-2mins to sort route. I still use A-Z maps as some of these places aren't easy to find with Sat-Nav industrial estates schools etc.


I think the Gaffa got 'em for £199 but he bought 30 of them!

Regs

Bry

[endure]

I bought a Garmin I3 for £130 from Comet. It's not very fancy but it's excellent as a simple get you from A to B machine. It usually takes about 10-15 seconds to lock onto satellites when it's turned on. It will run off batteries or car 12V supply. One minor fault is that there's no battery charger built in. It uses AA batts.

[Crouchy]

I use a Tom Tom 500, got me from door to door Essex to Euro Disney, and Overloon in Holland, and back with no drama's. Really makes you wonder why people spend £2k for the dealer fit hard wired versions.

as Tom Tom have just revised their product line these can be had really quite cheap. However, if you don't travel abroad i am sure that the 300 will do you fine.

As an aside, anyone who uses the Bluetooth on their Satnav or any device should always disable it if you intend to leave it in your car, even if it is out of line of sight. Thieving scrotes simply have to enable the search for devices on their mobile and walk thru the car park, the phone will then locate anything of interest, and your laptop/PDA/mobile/Satnav becomes their next Burberry baseball cap.

Out to you

Crouchy

[dutchguy2]

You did nothing wrong here. If you don't like the Navman Navigation software you can always run it with Tomtom software.

All it is is a PDA with pre-installed Navman navigation software and maps. If you want it will act as any other PDA on which you can run any software you want.

Cheers,
Jos

[thenikjones]

If you are starting from scratch, I'd recommend a TomTom GO as they are pretty foolproof and reliable. A mate has the 700 and it works great as a hands-free unit for his mobile phone.

I use a PDA based system as I always carry a PDA and added SatNav later. As dutchguy2 says, you can use any software you want with a PDA.

Make sure everything is satored on as large a memory card you can find. This way, even if you hard reset the PDA you still have the data available.

PDA SatNav works but I find it SLOW - slower than a dedicated unit. This is PocketPC problem, though - I'd love to see how a Palm or Nokia/Symbian unit works. To be honest, if I didn't carry a PDA anyway I'd go for a dedicated unit. The PDA advantage is that is it easy to update if the PDA is powerful enough - I've gone from TomTom3 to TomTom5 with no problems.

As well as turning the bluetooth off to avoid theft, remove the cradle and give the windscreen a wipe in dodgy areas - I read that scrotes see the "ring mark" and know there's a good chance of a SatNav unit being left in the glovebox. Or drive a rusty Skoda as no-one's bothered to break into mine yet.

[Nick]

If you use TomTom as a hands free, don?t you have to have the Bluetooth enabled ?

I saw a program on TV that showed how crooks with PDA's can hack your phone and use it for all sorts of calls if your Bluetooth is enabled....... without you knowing.....until you get the bill..!!!!!

I don?t know if it is the same when you are using your TomTom.

Personally I have Smartnav, absolutely brilliant, no screen, just a female voice that never gets annoyed when I don?t follow her instructions

[Ron Jr]

I borrowed a Magellan Road Mate 700 on our vacation to Ohio. It worked almost flawlessly. The only time she messed up (we nicked named it Josie) we were trying to find a Japenese steak house that wasn't in her memory, I had not updated the maps. She was off by about a half mile. We were scared at one point as we had come to rely on it and the route it set was not the one I would have chosen, it started on rural highways not interstates.

[Gruntfuttock]

Thanks Rod and Tony .. perhaps I'm being a bit hasty in my criticism ... ... because after missing a junction on the M25 and getting lost I ended up very late for an appointment .

Cheers

Dunk

Hi,

missing junctions will be an issue whatever unit you have as all the maps are always slightly more out of date than printed maps. The M25 has had lots of work done on it over the last 12 months which means that in my case, my 14 month old Tom Tom maps are out of date. You can of course purchase up to date maps...for a price. Or download them if you know where to look :D

Getting the initial GPS lock can take a variable amount of time from unit to unit; but on my Tom-Tom it takes about 3 minutes max and once it locks it is rock-solid.

[KCampbell]

Another postive vote for the TomTom Go units. I've got the 700 model, which (here) comes preloaded with the entire US and Canada maps.

I've used it throughout WA, British Columbia, Arizona, California. I also have the British maps loaded and use it when at our place in Scotland. I've been able to find all sorts of POI lists online which I have downloaded; locations of GATZO cameras, CAMRA pubs, Somerfields', Pictish sites, you name it.

As has been mentioned they all use the same maps, and can suffer from being out of date. I love the hands free feature for my bluetooth phone.

I absolutely, positively, wouldn't be without it. I hate trying to find places, particularly late at night or after a long flight, and find life much, much simpler with the TomTom.

I have mine setup to use a British Female voice :-)

Kevin

[Griswold]

I use a TomTom ONE in my car and a Garmin eTrex Legend when out walking.

Am more than pleased with both of them. :D

But I always carry a paper map with me too. :D :D

Sound advice from Crouchy re dissabling Bluetooth. Also, you should remove any mounting bracket when you park your car as they are a dead givaway. And if the mounting is a windscreen suction type then wipe your windscreen too - the crafty bastards are now looking for that tel-tale circular mark they leave behind as an indicator of the likelyhood of a sat-nav system inside. :shock: :shock: :shock:

[Rinaldo1711]

Any updated advice? My wife wants one that must combine fixed camera warnings. Looks like TomTom or Garmin are the popular ones.

[markc]

I too would recommend the TomTom models. I've got a 910 and it's pretty good.

Don't use "shortest route" as an option though, unless you are prepared to drive down a lot of single track roads! I tried it for a laugh in Wales this weekend - the roads were only just wide enough for my car!.

Re: Bluetooth - you should never need to disable it on your (removable) sat nav - it's not switched on if the sat nav is switched off (i.e. when you've parked up and taken it off the mount).

It's really quite useful to have it connected to the phone for hands free calls and traffic/weather updates, etc.

Cheers,

[Neil]

Not liking loads of wires and stuff all around the interior, I have the Route66 nav software on my Nokia 'phone. At £49 including the GPS reciever it was a bargain. Very good piece of kit, however the sreen is quite small.

Not used much now as I've replaced the car and got factory sat nav fitted. My wife still uses her Nokia with Route66 and swears by it (or should that be at it!!!) and mine is useful if I'm out in a different car.

Neil

[GeoffD]

Don't use "shortest route" as an option though, unless you are prepared to drive down a lot of single track roads! I tried it for a laugh in Wales this weekend - the roads were only just wide enough for my car!.

That made me smile. A family member runs a coach company and often bemoans how Sat-Nav can send them off down lanes that they get stuck in. :twisted:
After his experience of lots of different Sat-Nav's, his only advice was to ensure you can get frequent map updates at reasonable money.

[Rinaldo1711]

Thanks Gents - looks TomTomish :)

[mart broad]

Hi

I have a TomTom one as my base unit,it is also small and light enough to carry as a handheld and it does well,i also have speed cameras enabled and find that a useful resource.

Theese things love motorways and main roads but get over the limitations and they are in conjunction with the good old A-Z a great tool.

Martin

[Rinaldo1711]

Her ladyship has decided that the Tomtom XL is 'cute' and has instructed me to acquire one. Anyone know of anything nasty about this one?

[Rinaldo1711]

Her ladyship has decided that the Tomtom XL is 'cute' and has instructed me to acquire one. Anyone know of anything nasty about this one?

[mart broad]

Gerry

Heard nothing "nasty" but because its the new kid on the block quite a lot more money,if she just wants occasional use the the TomTom 1 does the business for a lot less wonga all you are buying is in reality a slightly bigger screen.

Tip if you do buy on then i found the bay excellent for spare holders,charger leads,cases etc the manufacturer prices are as always OTT.

Martin

[Rod]

This one on E-Buyer seems highly rated worth a look:-

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/store/74/cat/G ... Navigation

Rod

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Always found Tom Tom ok - regardless of the model - map updates are an issue regardless of the brand :roll:

New car (Honda) has it built in - still has a few roads missing from recent 'improvements'........

[Griswold]

Any updated advice? My wife wants one that must combine fixed camera warnings. Looks like TomTom or Garmin are the popular ones.

Hi Gerry.

If you go the TomTom route then the speed camera warning database that can be downloaded from PocketGPSworld is IMO far superior to TomToms own one, and is much cheaper. A one off subscription (unlimited downloads for one month) is just £2 whilst an annual subscription, (what I do) is £17.

Updates are very regular, there were two in July alone, and the system covers all speed cameras, (Gatso, Truvelo and Monitron fixed location speed cameras; Mobile locations where camera vans and police regularly check your speed; Red-light traffic light cameras; temporary camera installations, e.g. Road works; and SPECS, those motorway average speed cameras.

Worth having a look at - there were over 200 camera locations added/modified in the July 27th update :!: :!: :!:

Have a look at.......................

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/

They also have an excellent forum section.

If you go down that route then also have a look at this page.................

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/tomtom-ogg-files.php

Basically, it allows you to have voice announcements for all speed camera alerts instead of the bells, beeps and buzzes you get with TomToms. far better, as the voice announcements also include the speed you should be doing - so no need to look at the screen.

Hope this is of help.

p.s. The PocketGPSworld database also works with Garmin and other units, but not the voice announcements I linked to.

[Quinny]

I've used the TomTom Go 700 from one of my collegues on a few occasions. Works great! He's also connected it to his phone and uses it as a handsfree-set. It can even connect to the internet through your phone and download trafficjam information to guide you around traffic jams.

I would advise you to check you phone if it is compatible with the TomTom software, though. If it is fully compatible you can even read and compose/send sms messages and browse your contacts on the TomTom unit. Otherwise it will only to the sound for the calls.