In car navigation

[aiman]

Thinking of getting a Becker Traffic Assist 7914 for about £320

Any comments on this system and any better pricing availabilities?

Thanks

[windy1]

I got a Garmin i3 from Staples for £160. All I really wanted was a camera warner (you can get a free database of speedcam locations/alerts off the web at http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/garmin-poi-loader-speed-cameras.php ) so the nav bit comes for free. Great little device which you can take with you when you leave the car - highly advisable.
There are lots of great satnav products out there and traffic info is the coming thing. However, the field is rather volatile with new candidates appearing monthly, e.g satnav boxes with an RDS feed from the car radio, mobile phones with TIS as part of your data bundle etc.
Consider carefully which countries you travel as the mapping products are very expensive. Also ponder how big it should be and where to mount it: my Toyota has 9 airbags including the wscreen pillars, so you might get a face full of supersonic Garmin.

[ORAC]

I got a TomTom Go 700, cos it has an internal disk drive with all the maps of Europe. Lots of sites where you can load free updates on pubs, speed cameras etc. Also links with a phone via bluetooth for touch screen calling handling etc. :ok:

[windy1]

Speechless is right that you might have to pay for the speedcams dbase. However, all the dedicated camera alerters I looked at (inforad, snooper, microfuzion etc ) all wanted a lot more than £2 per month so if the pgpsw dbase does go chargeable, it may well be cheapest.
Speedcam alerters are illegal in Germany (maybe elsewhere?) so if you do plan to add that facility to your satnav, you need the ability to control whether it functions or not.

[Looooong haul]

A TomTom one that I got from Dixons is great as it is small and easy to install in rentalcars when abroad. Have to buy the additional countries separately.:ok: :ok:

[PPRuNe Pop]

I have a Talex simple speed camera alerter, 'possible mobile camera site' and excess speed alert. I am told by Talex that this year, maybe now, I don't know. Laser and radar alerts are likely to become illegal.

PPP

This is snippet from the proposed Bill before parliament. I personally, would not waste my money.

The main focus of the Bill is products which detect and/or interfere with the equipment used by the police to enforce speed limits. Specifically, devices such as laser diffusers, laser detectors and radar detectors are likely to become illegal. Laser diffusers prevent police laser guns from achieving a speed reading on a vehicle by interfering with (scrambling) the laser beam; laser detectors alert drivers to the fact that they are being targeted by a police laser gun; and radar detectors inform drivers that they are being targeted by police radar guns

[Practice Auto 3,2,1]

Tom Tom 700. Super bit of kit. Had mine just over a week now and I love it.

ORAC, got any links to these free sites. I'd love to have some Maccy D's as POI's :} :ok:

[Conan the Librarian]

Thing that put me off Tom Tom was the customer/potential customer support and as a result bought CoPilot 6 instead.


Conan

[SyllogismCheck]

Orac or Practice Auto,

Can you access your phone's phone book from the TomTom 700 in order to dial out or do you need to locate the number on the phone itself? Ie. Can I leave my phone untouched at all times?

[spannersatcx]

Practice I have them if you want, pm me an e-mail and I'll send them over. Sometimes a godsend to navigate to the nearest feeding hole!

Having the speedcamera positions on your sat nav is not illegal, but having a radar/snooper thing that detects them is, or soon will be.

[Practice Auto 3,2,1]

SC. Yep the Tom Tom connects via bluetooth to your mobile. You can then 'import' the numbers from your phone onto the unit. You never have to touch your phone. BTW it also displays texts (sms's) that you recieve :ok:

Spanners, cheers, pm on way.

[timmcat]

I've got 'SmartNav (http://www.smartnav.com/)'. Great bit of kit, basically a dash mounted button is pressed and the independent hands free GSM unit connects to a call centre. You tell the girly / laddie where you want to go (this can be town, street, post-code, business name, even supermarket's, cash machines etc) and the route is downloaded in seconds to the in-car sat-nav unit. Synthesised voice directions coupled with (optional but recommmended) guidance on a screen fitted to the dash send you on your way.
Other good points? It's run by Trafficmaster so it checks on traffic conditions before and during the route, amending it on the way if required. If you break down, the call centre will contact your roadside assistance organisation and tell them exactly where you are. There are also options for speed camera location alerts, and RAC Trackstar (http://www.ractrackstar.com/) (car nicked? They can tell plod where it is).
Bad points? Cost - retails around £649 including fitting, and subscriptions work out at about £30 a month for nav, speed camera, and trackstar services (if you take all three).

[Gunship]

Tom Tom 700. Super bit of kit. Had mine just over a week now and I love it.
ORAC, got any links to these free sites. I'd love to have some Maccy D's as POI's :} :ok:

Looks like a great piece of kit.

Just a shame it's abilities is restricted (at this stage) to Europe / USA.

Enjoy it ! :ok:

[SyllogismCheck]

Thanks for the info, Practice Auto.

One last question if I may. What's the voice quality like? You hearing them is generally never a problem, but them hearing you over the background noise in the car is often an issue with most non-fixed handsfree devices. Have you had any complaints, or equally any positive comments, from the other end of the line about how well you can be heard?

I need a decent all in one solution since I used to have a car with both a built in phone in the stereo and built in sat-nav but now have a 'better' car... with neither. :hmm:

[Practice Auto 3,2,1]

Sound quality has been brilliant. People can hear me clear as day even on motorways etc and I can hear them perfectly too. Not had any complaints so far :D

Only 'bad' point (if you can call it that) is that because its not hard wired in like most other hands free kits, it doesnt auto mute your stereo. Not a problem for me though, only takes a second to wack the volume to min!

[effortless]

I have an old PDA with NavMan SmartST. It can be a bit clunky but it comes with all the Eropean maps I could want. You have to learn its foibles and when I used it to get to Fairford, it took me through some really tiny roads and accross a couple of fords. I missed all the RIAT traffic and came out at the head of the queue.:ok:

[ORAC]

You can buy a TomTom installation kit which wires it into your radio. Cuts out the radio and puts the caller through the speakers. You can also buy an external microphone for fitting to the subvisor etc.

[Parapunter]

I echo the comments on the Tom Tom one. A superb piece of kit & very easy to use - Fifth gear said whilst there are clearly better systems on the market, the Tom Tom one, is by far the easiest & most intuitive to use & so gave it their top rating. You can personalise the tom tom splash screen too. No advertising, so pm me for details.

[SyllogismCheck]

Thanks for the answers all. I shall have a serious look at that option.