Sat Nav

[barney rubble]

Hello
I am going to get a sat nav so was wanting to know if anyone had any advice on which is the best for about £100. Want uk, ireland and western europe maps plus automatic updates if possible. Also was thinking of getting a moto g phone. Would this be as good as a proper sat nav in the amount of information it stores?
Thanks
Barney

 

[TheTallGuy]

In my experience, "phone" sat navs are a bit hit and miss in vehicles - especially if you have a heated windscreen, I find they take ages to get GPS lock and often loose it when a call or message comes in. My personal preference is for Garmin devices as I have found them to be more reliable and accurate than TomTom (I'm forever redirecting TT users to the right places) plus quite intuitive; that said I haven't bought a new one for about 7 years as my old one still keeps going (despite serious abuse!) and it has lifetime mapping updates.

If I was buying a new one, it would probably be the Garmin Nuvi 55 - it's £89 for UK & Ireland or £99 for Western Europe. Updates require a PC connection & the Garmin software is a bit crap, but it does the job.

 

[multi power]

i have a garmin, got it about 5 years ago, very hit n miss, it has sometimes taken me right in to the yard but often just round in a circle
i picked it as it had a bigger screen than tom tom n seemed simple to use when i tried in shop
big issue it cant tell the diference between juntions n sharp bends
i definetly wouldnt buy another

 

[tanker]

Never thought of one till the clan bought me a Tom Tom for Xmas...bloomin marvellous thing which hasn't failed me in 6yrs..

 

[TheTallGuy]

i have a garmin, got it about 5 years ago, very hit n miss, it has sometimes taken me right in to the yard but often just round in a circle
i picked it as it had a bigger screen than tom tom n seemed simple to use when i tried in shop
big issue it cant tell the diference between juntions n sharp bends
i definetly wouldnt buy another

To be honest, I think most SatNav units can't tell the difference - ultimately it's down to the person creating the mapping database. The occasions that I've used TomTom units, I've been directed to drive through laybys and hit with barrages of instructions & bits of info popping up on the screen obscuring the map, whereas I have found the Garmin tends to be a bit more concise.

It's probably worth spending an hour in Halfrauds (or similar) playing with the demo units and putting in a few postcodes for obscure locations that you know of just to see what they come up with. At the end of the day, a lot will come down to personal preference.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I used to have a cheap Tom Tom for years that was good, it then went wrong so spent £200 on a Garmin, hate it, don't know if I can reprogram it but don't like that it only gives two options and town locations you have to choose a road or street, just hate it
Bought at Halfords on their advice I may just take it back

 

[Derrick Hughes]

And thinking about it a lot of forumers adviced Garmin, good lesson, good advice is not alway good

 

[nick...]

I got a garmin and cant fault it.it sent me to brocks through the back entrance and i met a grumpy old sod who told me to eff off,other than that brilliant.got me there anyway
Nick...

 

[Major]

We bought a Garmin nuvi not long ago for about 100 quid with lifetime map updates for the UK, Ireland and Europe. You must MUST update the maps whenever you can!

 

[Andy26]

As my TomTom is so out of date, I've been using Google maps on an Android phone, its perhaps a bit dependent on the quality of the phones GPS, but I find it quite good, not many places it cannot get you door to door.

 

[YorkshireAndrew]

Sat nav on my I phone is brilliant although still use a map as well .

 

[Cowabunga]

Once had a Garmin. It was OK apart from driving me up the wall [pun intended]. She kept telling me she was 'recalculating'. I wasn't bothered what she was doing and wished she didn't keep on telling me things that were not important or interesting to getting me where I was going.

Since then I've used the car systems. Both the Nissan and Honda ones are excellent.

 

[bobk]

Once had a Garmin. It was OK apart from driving me up the wall [pun intended]. She kept telling me she was 'recalculating'. I wasn't bothered what she was doing and wished she didn't keep on telling me things that were not important or interesting to getting me where I was going.

Since then I've used the car systems. Both the Nissan and Honda ones are excellent.

That's because you weren't obeying her instructions , sat navs are sh!t if YOU know better .

 

[Cowabunga]

That's because you weren't obeying her instructions , sat navs are sh!t if YOU know better .

Yes but the others know better than to yap on about it.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Some weeks do 1000 mile on a sat nav, many a day I feel like chucking Garmin out the window, Tom Tom brilliant, Garmin is crap, do you now if you miss a turn it it don't tell you to turn round but just add 20 or so miles on to go another way even if your 10 yards past your miss turn, stupid thing it's

 

[Cowabunga]

They must have changed because after 'recalculating' mine would often say 'U-Turn'.

 

[Badshot]

Had a navman that was excellent, but these days just use the google maps bit on my phone, hasn't failed me yet (not that I go many places to use it)

Only problem is you need a very good charger for the phone or it will run flat quicker than a cheap charger will put it in.

That was my experia T, haven't used it on my experia z1 yet.

 

[barney rubble]

Hello

Thanks for all the replys, has given me plenty to think about and also what questions i should ask the salesperson. Did use a Garmin that i borrowed a couple of years ago to go to Brussels and it worked perfectly, getting me to my destination excatly and with no wrong turns, which was good considering the tunnel system in Brussels. Will go into the shop and have a look at both. Will probably end up tossing a coin to decide.

Thanks

Barney

 

[multi power]

Some weeks do 1000 mile on a sat nav, many a day I feel like chucking Garmin out the window, Tom Tom brilliant, Garmin is crap, do you now if you miss a turn it it don't tell you to turn round but just add 20 or so miles on to go another way even if your 10 yards past your miss turn, stupid thing it's

best thing i done was go into the settings n allow u turns, before it would send me round the block if missed a turn

 

[Derrick Hughes]

best thing i done was go into the settings n allow u turns, before it would send me round the block if missed a turn

Thanks

Clever thong about Tom Tom it does that for itself and it don't need the bloody road in Stratford when your on the way on the motorway and you don't know the bloody road I just want to go through bloody Stratford and when you hit the choice of 20 roads you end up 10 miles from bloody Stratford, one day I will go in and strangle the man from Halfords but please no more recomenaditions for Garmin or I will screen

Look it's like this its ok to admit you bought shite you've big boy now you don't have to stand in the corner and look stupid