Which GPS/Sat Nav have you got?

Gilly B

Gilly B

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,264
Name
Gillian
Edit My Images
Yes
:help: - My Hubby and I are looking to buy one for the car and for him to use in the coaches (coach driver). We know nothing about them and tried to read up a bit last night on tinternet.

Have any of you peeps got one? if so, which one, why that one, and what do you think of it?

We just want the UK one with no phone or mp3 player.

We have read and looked at the Navman F20, Tom Tom one & Road Angel 6000.

We need to buy one this week to hopefully try it out to go down South for a funeral next Tuesday.

All your comments will be taken on board.

Thanks Gillian:thumbs:
 
hi gilly ive got the f20 myself and i know about three others who have it nice little system at the right price imo
 
I now have a built in system but also a Navman PiN that is absolutely stunning and regularly updated too ... :D ... it is based on a PDA type unit which suited me because I use the other facilities but it is also ultra portable as well as being extremely good in the car too ... ;)




:p
 
Get a TomTom.
 
Garmin Nuvi 300 with European mapping, full postcode search etc etc. Easy to use, very good display, totally hand portable (batteries last for a few hours when out of the car cradle) for when you want to find places when out an about in a city. Garmin is meant to have better mapping than the system Tom Tom use (though apparently Tom Tom have just bought the company that Garmin use so that might change for future models).
Also Tom Tom customer support is rubbish (allegedly :D) and Garmin's is superb.

Only downside is that Garmins only have one or two voices and Tom Toms have more and you can buy loads more silly ones

Rich:)
 
Tom Tom for me too. We both have one and have no probs at all. :thumbs:
 
I have a TomTom & think it's great but I would not recomend use of a SatNav for a coach. They tend to direct you down back lanes / rat runs & it could get a coach rather stuck :)
 
Acer D100 - looks like a tomtom, but was half the price at the time [about 18mths ago] Its been totally reliable, easy to use, in fact the only downside is that the postcode seach only does the first bit and number of second, so for instance, SW1 6DP, would only search for SW1 6 - which can be a problem if you dont have a street name or a house number, which is often the case for public places. Otherwise, no silly voices, nothing more than I need - a navigation system that gets me where I want to be!
 
Thanks Guys. I am going to print this out and have a chat with Geoff. Anyone else reading this that has a system, then your comments will also be welcome.

Gillian
 
Drove to the Isle of Skye using the Navman F20 - only real experience i've ever had with a sat nav. First impressions were really good but 1700 miles later i felt it was lacking in features. Like for instance it knows how fast your going but doesnt take this into account when telling you to "turn left now" etc so it's and not always clear - particularly at lower speeds.

My bro used to work at motorworld for about 3 years and only just left - he says the TomTom's are garbage. He recomends the Garmin satnavs all the way.
 
Tomtom 510 for me can't fault it
 
I use an ipaq with tomtom on it

pocketgps speedcam database takes care of the roadside cash machines :D
 
I have some Sony thing which seems really good. She does like letting you see the scenry though!
 
I had a TomTom pda system (Navigator 5 I think) and it was absolutely brilliant. Then I bought a BMW with a factory fit Sat Nav. Utter rubbish by comparison :( Mapping is useless and it just doesn't seem to be intelligent like the TomTom system. For example - with TomTom, if it tells you to come out of London on the M4, but you decide to go on the M3 it says "fair enough" and directs you home on the M3. With the BMW system if it decides to take you on the M4 but you go on the M3, it spends the entire journey trying to get you to turn around and get back onto the M4 :bonk:

What I'm trying to say Gilly is, IMHO the TomTom system is superb. I'd go back to it at the drop of a hat!
 
I've just upgraded to a Tomtom Go XL. I just wouldn't be without it. The bigger screen is really nice, plenty of volume on the voice directions, really fast start up and acquisition of satellites and the speed camera database is essential license protection these days. ;)
 
chewyuk said:
I still use a MAP :)
Although having been in many cars with them on I have a question, Do you get to choose the voice ?
Click to expand...

Yep - there's about 3 or 4 English speaking voices and just about every other language you can think of.

You can also download other voices. At the moment i have

Darth Vader " Your journey to the darkside has begun"

Yoda

Ossie Osbourne " Take the f'cking motorway" :D

Clint Estwood

John Cleese
 
We have just been reviewing the models that you guys have or suggested we consider. The one Cedric has upgraded to seems to top our list at the moment. We have one big, big query with this and other Tom Toms - the battery life is only 2 hours! Whilst we appreciate you can plug into a cigarette lighter and keep it charging, Geoff is concerned that some coaches either don't have cig lighters or are 24 volt. Any ideas how to overcome this issue? :shrug:
 
I have a Garmin sitting in its box on top of a cupboard since it went senile on me.

I now use a TomTom in the car and a BlackBerry 8800 when wandering around Rome :)
 
Gilly B - this may be of no use - but might help.

The navman F20 has a mini-usb socket on it for connecting to a laptop or computer. To cut a long story short about 100 miles into our trek to skye we noticed the cig lighter charger was damaged - but luckily i had a USB cable and we were able to charge it via my iBook that was in standby mode with the lid down. The iBook will happily stay in standby for days but it appears the power output on the USB still works.

So you may be able to charge it via a long USB cable and a laptop in bag under his seat or whatever - bit extreme i know.
 
Gilly - my TomTom has a batt life well in excess of 2 hours. Probably more like five. But it will still be an issue I suspect.
 
The Tomtom can be hard wired into the car Gilly, in fact it's something I may do or get done. The problem is the Tomtom draws just 5 volts which is stepped down from the 12 volt car supply by the lighter socket itself.

The elegant answer is to run the supply from a spare 5 volt fuse in the fusebox - easy enough to do for any auto electrics place. Some people have got round the problem by wiring a cig lighter in line from a 12 volt feed.

I believe Tomtom are working on a hard wired option, but it will undoubtedly be wired through the radio and give auto muting, cost a bomb, and need to be professionally fitted.
 
I'd say 2 hours is a bit pessimistic for battery life - probably more like 4, but it's very dependent on how bright you have the backlight which makes a big difference.
 
Geez thanks you guys. Food for thought... :popcorn: Ummm! we are going to have to think about this a little more and maybe pick your brains for any other queries that may crop up. Geoff (Hubby) not only wishes to thank you peeps but is gobsmacked at the terrific number of responses from you all. :clap::clap::thumbs:
 
We have a navman icn720, i think! Its an older model but hubby is really chuffed with it. God knows he needs it LOL, the poor thing gets lost going down the road LOL
 
TomTom One here, but I don't normally use it on the battery. The supplied mount is not brilliant - keeps on coming unstuck - but otherwise I like it.

Now can anyone help me out from under this bridge? :lol:
 
CT said:
Yep - there's about 3 or 4 English speaking voices and just about every other language you can think of.

You can also download other voices. At the moment i have

Darth Vader " Your journey to the darkside has begun"

Yoda

Ossie Osbourne " Take the f'cking motorway" :D

Clint Estwood

John Cleese
Click to expand...


:lol: sounds great!

I use the traffic master smart nav
its a bit expensive compared to the rest but as they are a customer of mine I wangled a really really really good deal
a female voice, not robotic at all and totally legible :thumbs:

I did try the tom tom briefly whilst driving another car
but one particular phone call went something like this:
"where are you"?
F'knows
"don't you have a tom tom"?
yes thats why I am bloody lost
"What was that bang?"
that was the friggin' tom tom hitting the the closed car window
"Huh?"
I thought it was open and tried to toss it out :D
so I am not particually a fan of that system
 
I have a TomTom Go 510 and have to say it's been great (apart from one time it nearly got me stuck down a muddy one track lane - learned NEVER to go the shortest route again!!).

I use mine for work alot as I'm a community midwife and work in an area I don't really know. It has helped me find lots of addresses, and more often than not, will take me right to the front door (handy at 3am!). You can choose different backgrounds, voices, etc. You can also connect your mobile via bluetooth for hands free phone calls (but I prefer not to have phone conversations whilst driving so don't use this function). Also tells you locations of speed cameras (very annoying when driving on the M25 as it beeps about every other minute!).

I wouldn't be without mine - it's taken me to Dorset and Yorkshire with no problems, and it will also re-route itself if you miss or take a wrong turn, or you can choose to avoid part of the route. Best money I ever spent!
 
Well Guys the decision is......... Tom Tom Go XL (UK). We have taken on board all of your comments especially Min's about a muddy track. That is what Geoff was conerned about with 57 passengers on board!:eek: Also Cobra's - I'll keept the windows shut :lol:
Anyway, we have reserved one in Currys (£5.00 off for reserving one) that matched all the internet prices and we pick it up tomorrow afternoon.

If I don't post on here by midnight tomorrow night, could you peeps instigate a search party, as Geoff is going to want to try it out to get home from Shrewsbury. :nuts:


....now let me see SY1 - SY16 that's via Bristol - isn't it?:thinking: :lol:
 
I'm back! We are now the proud owners of a Tom Tom Go XL. It wasn't Min who said the suction pad kept falling off, it was Silkstone. That was the only drawback with the Tom Tom until we spoke with the guys in Currys. They have redesigned the suction pad and is now a lot stronger. Geoff is now a happy bunny. :thumbs: Oh! and it got us back from Shrewsbury okay too :lol:
 
I use the sun and stars to guide me or if I'm feeling lucky I ask the wife to read the map.

Wedded bliss :love: :love: :love:






:puke:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top