Sat Nav

[ScootCargoOps]

Does anyone know what the best car sat nav unit is out there? (TomTom or Garmin etc)

Or is it worth waiting for the Tom Tom Go 710/910?

Many thanks all

[Spitoon]

Tom Tom is pretty good but not quite as good as one that came built into a car that I had - don't know whose satnav it was. Main difference seems to be the quality of the database - it occasionally thinks I'm in a middle of a field (when I'm not, honest) or tells me that I should go up a one way street the wrong way. Don't know what the new Tom Toms are like but if the database and processing is the same you may find the same little things. That said, if I hadn't had the built in one first I would think the Tom Tom was the dog's...........

[PPRuNe Pop]

I took quite a while before I decided which one I wanted. The prices varied dramatically but in the end I decided on a Navman icn 635 and I am most impressed with it. It comes with a 512mb card and the prices I saw before and since were anywhere from £279-£599. The £279 was in Dixons. It has got a large limpet to stick it on the windscreen which can easily be removed to avoid leaving it for the crooks to smash the glass!

It has a full coverage of the UK and main roads on the continent. Accuracy is above average I feel.

[timmcat]

If budget is pretty relaxed, go for smartnav (http://www.smartnav.com/).

I've got it - it's brilliant. Press the button, speak to a human, tell them exactly where you want to go (business, shop, petrol station, cash machine, anything) and you are on your way. As it's operated by trafficmaster, there is constant monitering of congestion on your route, with automatic guidance around any problem areas.

Expensive outlay and subscription though.

[spannersatcx]

Try here (http://www.pocketgpsworld.com) for reviews and forums.

[ScootCargoOps]

Many thanks people. This gives me a lot to review and think about.

[bakoo]

I worked for one of the biggest electrical stores in England for a few years recently before i decided i better get on with training and can say there is only one GPS Unit to consider, and thats TOM TOM!

We got one back in 12 months and that was a simple press the reset switch case. The worse GPS by far, Acer N35, We had them coming back daily. The Garmain units was OK and NAVMAN units have a poor database. Sony too have poor database but good features.

Tom Tom 300/400 and 500 are the best, unless you have one built into the car, and even then some inbuilt GPS systems are poor.

[Conan the Librarian]

Just don't try contacting TomTom customer support. I went for Copilot 6 Live and it is very good apart from the fact it always assumes you are on a road and tries to snap to the nearest one. Yes, it can be fooled occasionally, but so can we all.

Driving has become much more pleasant since going for SatNav.

Conan

[ScootCargoOps]

I ended up buying the TomTom 910, fantastic unit! i've had it about 3 weeks and no problems at all.

[FunkyMunky]

I recently went for the TomTom software (no hardware unit) to replace the software that came with my GPS PDA. The difference between the "medion" software and the TomTom software is astounding :ok: Route planning is quicker and easier; the interface works better with a big fat finger (the OEM software really needed the stylus because the buttons were so small - useless when in the car) , and the safety camera databases available online are quite handy.

I was planning to get a SDIO bluetooth card or a GPS enabled phone, and subscribe to the "Traffic" feature. It supposedly re-routes you around all the major jams on the fly, but I havn't heard many reviews of that function alone, and I'm not sure if it's worth it.