What car sat-nav?

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Hi all,

I need a car based sat-nav for some European travel in my Defender in the coming months and don't know anything about the models available.

I'm very impressed with the sat-nav built into my Discovery 3 but alas I can't take it on these trips due to a host of reasons.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

Cheers,

TMKTC

 

[fred gordon]

I have a basis Tom Tom One European version. About £100. Works for me and is easy to hide in the car when not in use.

 

[gregs656]

I went all round Europe with a tom tom one with the european maps on it last summer. Didn't miss a beat and was very handy for finding campsites, shops etc between sites.

The only slightly annoying thing that we found was you couldn't put it onto night mode when ever you wanted.

 

[Wallenstein]

another vote for tomtom - there are loads of add-ons you can download, dead handy to have a list of supermarkets / petrol stations available.

 

[Shewie]

I picked up a refurbed tomtom 910 from an ebay shop. Had no end of trouble with it so I raised a case with tomtom and they replaced the hard disk inside and rebuilt it with the latest maps and software. As I'd bought it from the bay and it wasn't new I didn't expect them to help but all I had to send them was a copy of my ebay receipt and that was that.
We toured 2000 miles round France last summer and it never let us down.

Great customer service if you ever get any probs.

 

[HeltorChasca]

I had a multitude of problems with my TomTom and chucked it back at the suppliers. I went with Garmin in the end. Absolutely fantastic and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one. All the best........hc

 

[CAL]

I've used TomTom on a PDA, some phone based GPS software, google maps (on a phone) and a Tom Tom One at one time or another. The TomTom One is what I have now and its by far the easiest and clearest to use. A friend of mine has a similar Garmin unit and he swears by that. If I were to buy again I would go Tomtom but either is a good bet.

Depending on what kind of time scale you are on Halfords regularly run a sale on GPS units around bank holiday and Tomtom sell refurbished units on their own site.

Hope this helps.

 

[gsfgaz]

Garmin mate , good set up

 

[Toddy]

I've got a Tomtom.
I like it, won't travel distances without it now, but it drives my menfolks nuts.
It's very *literal*, and the shortest route is not always the best one, especially some of the places I drive but it's still a very good thing.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[R3XXY]

I like my Garmin.

 

[Robbi]

used a TomTom in a hire car on tuesday ....it took me the most direct route...over a mountain in the grampians.....got completely stuck in snow and had to be rescued by the grampian police ( thanks lads )

 

[Shewie]

I've got a Tomtom.
I like it, won't travel distances without it now, but it drives my menfolks nuts.
It's very *literal*, and the shortest route is not always the best one, especially some of the places I drive but it's still a very good thing.

cheers,
Toddy

You could try adding some new voices Toddy, they're free on the web if you google tomtom voices. Billy Connolly, Roger Melly, Darth Vader and John Cleese are particular favourites

 

[Adrian]

Garmin without a doubt

 

[Toddy]

You could try adding some new voices Toddy, they're free on the web if you google tomtom voices. Billy Connolly, Roger Melly, Darth Vader and John Cleese are particular favourites

I did wonder about the Sean Connery one but I'd be kind of discombobulated when I got in a muddle and he said in a disappointed tone, "Turn around when possible"

cheers,
M

 

[DanDan The man called Dan]

I have used very expensive ones and I have used cheep ones. (as a lorry driver and a taxi driver) They basically all do the same thing and do it the same way.

The expensive ones tend to be expensive because they have features you'll probably never use or you are paying for the brand. If you want something to use as a sat nav i.e get you from a to b. Don't get too bogged down, go and buy the cheepest. I think mine is a garmin, it cost about £80, the interface could be better but i'd pay a lot more but it works as well as anything else i've used and has proved more reliable.

Dan

 

[andythecelt]

I've always fancied downloading Nigella, she could direct me all day long

 

[g4ghb]

My tip is to ensure it accepts post codes!

I have had a couple (one in my current 307) of built in sat navs that you had to enter the address. Works fine but takes SOOOOOO long and is so much easier to ask someone their postcode

 

[Wallenstein]

Re. Toddy's point about the most direct route not necessarily being the quickest.

The new TomToms have something called "IQ" routing... basically every journey you take is recorded, and when you connect back to your PC it sends the data over the internet to a central database. This collates info from 1000s of other users, and it lets it work out which routes are busier at a particular time of day.

So although a main A road will be quick at midnight, at 8am you might be stuck in traffic, so the IQ might send you a longer distance but quicker time.

The other point is that I never do a long journey without checking the route first - you can easily tell the SatNav to go via a particular road if you know it's quicker.

Just like following a paper map really, the SatNav is just a tool and you always need to exercise some thought before using!

 

[pteron]

I have had a TomTom One for years and it works fine, simple and reliable.

I have just bought a TomTom 950 for my new car and have to say it's fantastic. It has live traffic info via a built in GSM modem and will redirect you if there is a jam ahead. Great stuff.

Funnily enough, I've found TomTom customer services to be rather poor, but unfortunately I consider their nav user interface to be far superior to Garmin's.

In the plane and when walking I use Garmin.

 

[Rebel]

I have both Garmin and Tom Tom.

I prefer Tom Tom mapping for car navigation but there's not much in it between the two.

I prefer Garmin for foot navigation - Tom Tom isn't even in the running there.