Help Car Sat Nav

[Phil Chitty]

Help

I'm getting to the stage where a car sat nav would be a really handy tool as I have to carry out so many site visits around the country now.

I really don't know where to start.
I've looked at a Tom Tom 300 and that looks ok and they currently go for about £275.00 on e-bay but a mate has a Navman unit that he says is cheaper and better.

Anyone got one of these things, how much did you pay and what unit did you get?

[ashbypower]

Phil,
I run Tom Tom on a PDA (IPAQ) it the dogs. Also have all the functionality of Window CE, ie outlook, internet, et al.

£275.00 From Earls court Rd Bargin.

Brian

[John Kennett]

Phil

I've got a Garmin i3 and I'm very happy with it.

They're available for £170, which is way cheaper than most of the competition. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of some of the more expensive products, but it gets me places and it's really easy to use (as you might expect from a Garmin!). You can also load up the speed camera database and use it like a "Road Angel" which is a bonus

John

[codprawn]

I use TomTom on an ipaq with either a bluetooth GPS or my trusty old Garmin12. Also use a laptop with autoroute and GPS.

I find that for point to point navigation in cities etc TomTom is fantastic - have used it abroad quite a bit as well. You can download free speedcamera stuff for both systems.

For wandering about without a specific destination in mind I prefer autoroute on the laptop.

Mate of mine bought Roadangel or whatever it's called - cost him £500 and he finds it isn't as good as his Ipaq with TomTom.

If you go for the Ipaq get a dash mounted cradle - makes life far easier!!!

[laser]

i have tomtom on my HP iPAQ and a wireless bluetooth GPS, works brilliantly, cant remeber how much it was now as it was a couple of years ago.

Has never got me lost except onece, in the middle of the new forest where there are tracks everywhere!!!

I also use it for walking, sailing and loads more as i have OS maps on there and also charts!!/.

[Mollers]

Or what about Tom Tom Club Wordy Rappinghood?

[Andre]

Phil

I have bought the TOM TOM 700 as recommended to me by Paul (Jackeen), thanks again Paul good choice

I shopped around and the best price I could get was at the airport (less VAT ) I was flying out for the weekend to Poland. so pounds 425.00 . I took it with me when I went to pick up the rib and was anxious to see how I would be directed along a road I have done many many times in the last 20 + years. It is a fantastic piece of kit . If you don't like the road selected you just ask for an alternative one, a choice of language , male or female voice

the 700 comes with a 2.5 Gbt hard drive so the whole map of Europe is included and that is what I wanted. If you only want UK then probably the 300 or 500 model will do.

If you have blue tooth with your mobile then you can set it up with the Tom Tom and have hands free phone for use in the car

I will demonstrate it to you tomorrow if you are down at the LM

Also important Service back up. Here I am most impressed. Yesterday it would not switch on so following the instructions I send an email to the SUPPORT . I got an immediate reply telling me to locate the reset hole and using thin wire to trigger it off. This worked like a treat. I can find my way home now


Phil, go on the internet and do a search for Tom Tom 700 and you will find lots of sites offering that product and the prices are from 499.00 to 540.00 don't know about the 300 or 500

[Pete7]

I've got an A3 petrol station car map and I'm very happy with it.

At £1.99 its accurate, portable, accepts upgrades via a pencil or highlighter and doesn't talk back or tell you off if you miss a turning unlike an expensive box of tricks or a wife

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Pete7

I've got an A3 petrol station car map and I'm very happy with it.

At £1.99 its accurate, portable, accepts upgrades via a pencil or highlighter and doesn't talk back or tell you off if you miss a turning

Got to be honest when travelling around Spain we did find that the paper thingy was very useful and the only sort of crash liable to stop it from working just doesn't bear thinking about!!!

The beauty of the Ipaq over the dedicated car systems is that you can also use it for OS maps and nautical charts etc etc - much more versatile. Not only that but you can use aerial photo overlays as well so you can actually see just where you are!!!

[Scary Des]

Originally Posted by Pete7

I've got an A3 petrol station car map and I'm very happy with it..............

Luddite

When they work well they are great but boy can they let you down
I was taking a couple of Germans from a meeting near Chester to a meeting in Sheffield and not paying much attention (to the road or the Germans).The GPS took me of the motorway and up some initially promising roads in the right sort of direct Eventually found myself in the back streets of Glossop looking for a road my gps had made up. Didn’t impress the Germans ‘ Why are your autobahns so small’ ‘bit of a deprived area can’t afford full sized ones’ Des

[Tim M]

Woolworths have the cheap Navman one now for £199. Seems to be good value.

[Mark Halliday]

I got a nav system yesterday. It came free with a brand new Rangerover HSE V8 which I picked up from Landrover yesterday.

By the time I got to the M40 I had bust it!

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Mark Halliday

I got a nav system yesterday. It came free with a brand new Rangerover HSE V8 which I picked up from Landrover yesterday.

By the time I got to the M40 I had bust it!

Doesn't mean you're selling the disco does it

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Scary Des

Luddite

When they work well they are great but boy can they let you down
I was taking a couple of Germans from a meeting near Chester to a meeting in Sheffield and not paying much attention (to the road or the Germans).The GPS took me of the motorway and up some initially promising roads in the right sort of direct Eventually found myself in the back streets of Glossop looking for a road my gps had made up. Didn’t impress the Germans ‘ Why are your autobahns so small’ ‘bit of a deprived area can’t afford full sized ones’ Des

Should have taken them to Torquay - I know of a nice little hotel where they would be very welcome!!!

[The Jackeens]

Definitely Paul's way of learning French Phil !

Nice French lady on le Tom Tom.

He knows all the words for taking the next left and going round roundabouts and stuff.

No bloomin use in the caff though

missus

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by The Jackeens

Definitely Paul's way of learning French Phil !

Nice French lady on le Tom Tom.

He knows all the words for taking the next left and going round roundabouts and stuff.

No bloomin use in the caff though

missus

You can have some great fun with TomTom - was NOT amused to discover my brother had changed the voice on my to Ozzy Osbourne!!! You can also have John Cleese - Joanna Lumley and loads of others.

[The Jackeens]

Originally Posted by codprawn

John Cleese

John Cleese is next (my choice)

missus

[Nos4r2]

Just remember not to use whichever one you DO buy when driving anything tall (luton transit, lorry etc).
All the ones I've ever used don't route you to avoid low bridges...

[Andy]

TomTom Go700 - Excellent - although does auto reboot occasionally

[eupa]

Agree with codders about lap-top , and Autoroute express. The only problem with a laptop is ensuring that it is securely anchored and easily visible.
I find the small screens eg tom tom, ipaqs and most of the inbord stuff TOO
SMALL. to see. I use as back up an IPAQ 5455 with Fugawi soft and or the ppc version of Autoroute. I tried to find a small laptop with a 9" screen and the only one it seems is one of SONY's vaio- eat your heart out JW!!!!!!

Jonathan