Sat Navs

The Sunday Times article in the motoring section was interesting for those who grow to rely upon SatNav for speed camera locations - the correspndent, claiming to be a normally slow driver (or perhaps just one never caught out to date!) was clocked by a mobile unit doing just over the ton!

Whichever model you go for, just make sure you're getting the recently launched 2007 maps included in the price.

Peter

Mick,

Just picked up a TomTom Go 510 today from John Lewis £269. Seems pretty easy to work and synchronise to Bluetooth phone contacts hands free etc.

Simple touch screen instructions. Unfortunately cannot sync. direct to Mac address book, need to save individually as favourites when journeys made.

Not yet got the iPod cable but I'm sure that will come at some stage. Comes with detailed maps of UK and Ireland and large scale map of Europe. More detailed map covering minor roads in Europe is extra, but can be downloaded via the net as long as memory card is big enough.

Regards

Nic

How old are the 2007 maps - it can take two or more years from a road improvement occurring to it appearing on the digital maps in the satnavs.

One change to check for is the A34 M4 interchange which was changed two or three years ago, it did not appear correctly in the maps I updated on my satnav last year, does it show as a roundabout under the M4 or as a series of sweeping curves (a form of clover leaf) on the latest maps.

Also village boundary accuracy should be improving now - as the problems that started to get reported when satnav first started to proliferate in the country are now being fed into the updated maps (assuming that users reported the error to Navteq and the other mapping companies).

The Satnav. war is won, by Tom Tom. If you talk to kids, they no longer use the word satnav, the device is simply refered to as a Tom Tom, like a Hoover.
I have used Tom Tom for years and have nothing but but good experiences. Their maps are the best.
There is no onging subscription cost for the maps, but you might want to download a new one every few years, the cost of this is about 50 euros.
The Tom Tom speed camera details are not quite as reliable as Road Angel, but the navigation is far better. there is an annual suscription to keep cameras updated; about 20-30 euros I think.
The Tom Tom is the easiest to use and my rather flakey teenage daughters (they wouldn't be out of place in the current Big Brother) seem to manage when they "borrow" mine.

Isn't tom tom the one with the option of having the voice of john cleese?

That would be reason enough for me to buy it.



Samuel.

I've had a Navman for a few years now, and in those days it cost something like £750, but I've had my moneys worth out of it. For my work it's paid for itself over and over. To upgrade the maps costs a ridiculous amount, so I just don't do it. I imagine one day SatNavs will be so cheap that I'll just replace it to get current again. I couldn't do without it now.

quote:

To upgrade the maps costs a ridiculous amount, so I just don't do it.

Exactly why one should ensure the maps which come with the device are bang up to date (or at least as current as the market is able to provde)!

Peter

quote:

Originally posted by vln:
Isn't tom tom the one with the option of having the voice of john cleese?

That would be reason enough for me to buy it.



Samuel.

Samuel, John Cleese and others available through Voices extras. Yours for €9.99.

Regards

Nic

Having looked at the TomTom & Navman web sites, it looks as if TomTom have realised the future potential for SatNav and are offering packages for tours, plug-ins for voices etc, that NavMan just haven't cottoned onto yet.
Although my NavMan has a great screen and even draws skies and rivers and sunsets (evening mode), I think I'd probably get a TomTom in the future because they seem to have more imagination and can take it further. I hadn't realised they had become so cheap now! The NavMan looks a little less "Maplins", but the software is very clunky and won't let you update the OS without entering loads of registration codes, and then it froze on me! It seems unnecessarily technical on the PC side of things.
Looks like TomTom have the user-friendly thing sussed pretty well, very unlike the NavMan.

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

Does anyone have experience of the Tom Tom One Europe.

It seems pretty good to me. Basically we want something that you can take out of the box and use straight away.

Also a very stupid question. Could you walk the streets with one, say in London, to help you find your way around.

Regards

Mick

I've got a Tom Tom Europe and it's been pretty good. It's fine in the UK and coped well with a quick trip to Calais to stock up with a few bottles of wine.

It's very easy to use. You may need to watch out though if you pick one up now. There's a new map out and quite a bit of old stock containing the old maps on it.

I bought one and, to be fair, TomTom upgraded the map pretty quickly without much hassle.

I don't see why you couldn't use it as a handheld but you would clearly need to take into account that it thinks you're driving a car and not walking!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I have no intention of ever entering America again until the American government make a public declaration that all of their immigration officials have been done to death in a similar manner to that done to King Edward 2nd. They are horrid and obnoxious assholes who badly represent their country and I hate them.

This reminds me of: "Salesmen are lower than a dead frog decomposing at the bottom of a pre historic lake."

Thanks again, Mick.

I often use my Tom Tom when cycling in London. Just put it in my Camelback, facing the right way and listen to the instructions.

Edo

No normal person can defend American Immigration Officials, they really are the scum of the earth. Horrid, loud mouthed, low intellect scum.

As a Buyer i have met thousands of lying, deceptive, commission orientated salemen and I trust them no further than I could throw them.

I will admit that salemen are polite which is the last word you could use to describe American Immigration Officals.

Regards

Mick

Mick

quote:

As a Buyer i have met thousands of lying, deceptive, commission orientated salemen and I trust them no further than I could throw them.

I'm glad you hold your valued suppliers and business partners in such high esteem!

Cheers

Jim

Mick,

Further to previous message I discovered that Amazon are doing the same model (510) for £231.75 as opposed to John Lewis's £269. John Lewis it seems can be "knowingly undersold" by an internet seller, even one as big as Amazon.

Safely used Tom Tom in anger over the last few days between Newcastle and various parts of Manchester. Very good gadget, even though there are a few quirks you have to get used to like accidentally turning off too early if going by voice alone.

Regards

Nic

Ref: US customs, I know what you mean, but the two times we went through with the kids when they were younger, they were excellent.

One time, having got off the plane the kids needed to use the loos / be changed which took ages. This meant we ended up at the back of a massive queue. The immigration officials sought us out at the back and fast tracked us straight through to the front without being asked, and in Miami they also provided us with iced water.

The time I returned to the UK from a 5 month trip to Peru via Miami with a mountain of survey equipment was another matter!

Mick
Flying in the face of the collective wisdom of the forum, I went out today and purchased a Garmin660FM. It looks like a tremendous bit of kit.

Chaps

We have decided to go for the Tom Tom one Europe and everywhere has sold out of the bloody things.

Regards

Mick

quote:

Originally posted by nicnaim:

quote:

Originally posted by vln:
Isn't tom tom the one with the option of having the voice of john cleese?

That would be reason enough for me to buy it.



Samuel.

Samuel, John Cleese and others available through Voices extras. Yours for €9.99.

Regards

Nic

It's Sylvia or The Don for me, trouble is we have a Garmin - doh

Diccus

Chaps

The Tomtom One Europe arrived today and setting it up was a piece of cake.

It is dead easy to use and will make life an awful lot easier.

I will be taking it to Spain and I will let you know what it is like to use out there.

Regards

Mick

Good luck Mick. Let us know how Poland is at this time of year!

Garmin NUVI 370 or 670 might be worth a look. I played with a 370 this weekend. Has US and European maps. Just larger than an iPod. I don't have one yet but I will.

Don't be so hard on the people who run our customs and border ops. Somebody has to do it, and they have to love their job. No offense to you and yours. It is "them and theirs" we worry about.

Skip
I agree. I got the Garmin 660Fm (which I think is the 670 in the US). Fine piece of kit.

I understand your defence of your border people but you have to experience the joys of arriving in the US as an alien to appreciate Mick's pov. As with all these things it is often a matter of luck as to whose booth you end up at and what mood they are in. The lines can seem interminable at the end of a long uncomfortable flight but I try to just go with the flow and be pleasant and polite to the official when I get to the desk. Generally I find they are perfectly pleasant in return. They probably get more than their share of inebriated, surly or just rude people in front of them, or people who haven't got the wit to complete the relatively simple forms properly. That would try my patience in an 8 hour shift in the arrivals hall.

quote:

I understand your defence of your border people but you have to experience the joys of arriving in the US as an alien to appreciate Mick's pov. As with all these things it is often a matter of luck as to whose booth you end up at and what mood they are in. The lines can seem interminable at the end of a long uncomfortable flight but I try to just go with the flow and be pleasant and polite to the official when I get to the desk. Generally I find they are perfectly pleasant in return. They probably get more than their share of inebriated, surly or just rude people in front of them, or people who haven't got the wit to complete the relatively simple forms properly. That would try my patience in an 8 hour shift in the arrivals hall.

PM fits in to which category ?

Never had any problems with US immigration. 3 times '80 NY with the big book, '99 Florida and Oct '01 Minneapolis a small wait for each and brusque staff but not rude. Perhaps someone else brings out the worst in them or they can't afford a second home?

Howard

Re: the GPS Units. Youngsters now call ALL units TomToms so I guess the fight is lost. A certain NAIM dealer might not object though.

OOOOh Howard you are awful............but I like you!

The fact that to a whole genration a vacuum cleaner is a Hoover didn't stop james Dyson did it? I just preferred the mmi with the Garmin. And if I wanted to follow the young herd I would hardly have spent the cost of a Spanish villa on Naim hifi would I??

No judgement on my part just an observation.I'm not saying one GPS thingy is better or worse than any other. Mind you plenty would have rather Dyson hadn't built a tornado.
BTW do the Garmin units allow and search on a full postcode? Units that were built into Vauxhalls recently would only resolve to say RH11 and then give you a list of streets. If you didn't know a street near a new estate you could not get directions.