Which Sat-Nav?

[Nick F]

I'm going to buy a car within the next couple of weeks so will need a Sat-Nav unit.

First time I have looked into this market so what's generally the best and what features **must** I have and which can I do without.

I'm looking to spend £100 - £200 for the unit.

I would rather buy a unit which would update with traffic conditions etc.


I'm posting in GD rather than the cars forum as I'm sure many people have units but don't visit that exact sub-forum.

[ikonia]

Tom Tom is fine and seems to be the most "industry standard" out there.

Lots of features like traffic updates, camera alerts etc etc. Some services are subscription based and/or require a gprs device.

[Lowe]

I'm a big fan of the Navman F20. Dirt cheap, but a good little unit.

[Howard]

TomTom One

[Flibb]

Can you run sat nav on your phone? I ahve tomtom on my smartphone, works great. Think you still need a mobile to gte traffic updates. and they can use a fair amount of data.

[Nick F]

I have a Nokia E65 and am on the unlimited data tariff on Three.

I don't however think there is software that works with my phone.

[Howard]

Great if it's a big touch screen smart phone, otherwise don't bother. I have TomTom on my N73 and I hate using it compared to my PDA with bigger screen and touch screen controls. It's useful to have on the phone if I need it and don't hvae the PDA with me, but otherwise far too fiddly

[mycarsavw]

TomTom Classic for me since the outset - nothing classic about it yet though, it's great.

[Saracen]

Personally, having used used quite a few different brands and units, I prefer Garmin. Why? Well, if you exclude all the bells and whistles, they're easy to use and seem (based on experience) to have routing software that's as good as any and better than some. Having said that, they aren't quite as configurable as some, such as TomTom, so for anyone keen on playing with settings, they may seem a bit sparse.

I have not been impressed with Road Angel, personally. When I've had Road Angels and Garmins in the car, the RA has often picked a route that has seemed far less sensible than the Garmin, and on a few occasions when I've known the area personally, I've been left bemused as to why RA have picked the route they have.

There is one great intangible about SatNav systems, and that is that their prime (or sole) purpose being to get navigate you to your destination, your are ENTIRELY dependent on :-

1) The quality of the maps
2) How up to date they are
3) How intelligent the routing software is.

It's primarily on 1) and 3) that Garmin, based on my experience not on reviews, score.

Bear in mind that there's only a small number of companies that supply the maps, but they supply different grades of maps depending on their customer's (like TomTom, Garmin, etc) require .... and are prepared to pay for. The cheaper the GPS unit, the cheaper (therefore less accurate and detailed, and older) the maps are likely to be. The more expensive units aren't guaranteed to have better maps, but you can bet that the cheaper units will have older and/or lower grade maps.

So, my recommendation would be for anyone buying a SatNav to think carefully about why they want it. If you're an average Joe Bloggs and will use it occasionally, then pretty much anything will do and you may be seduced by bells and whistles. If, on the other hand (like me), you use it several days a weel to get to client sites all over the country, and where time is money, you want to be careful to research your choice, because my personal experience suggests that some are far better than others at actually navigating.

My choice? Currently, Garmin 660T, but it's not in the £100-200 range. It's got a superb screen, is dead easy to use, and to adjust on the fly, it has what appears to be good quality maps and sensible routing software and, though I'm not as impressed as I expected to be with it, TrafficMaster traffic updates and receiver built-in. Just be prepared to pay for "safety" camera updates after the initial period.



Oh, one more thing. I've come across people who rely on SatNav systems blindly. My opinion is that they are a tool, and a phenomenally useful one, but you have to use them with brain engaged. The routing software can certainly pick routes that may fulfil the criteria you set, but may not actually make sense. For instance, if you have "smallest distance" set, it may route you off a motorway or major route and through a warren of backstreets or lanes. If you saved 100 feet off the journey distance, but it added 10 minutes to the travel time, then despite the fact that the route was a lesser distance, it's trivially so. You need to be careful how you set priorities and routing options, AND to treat all suggested routes with a degree of scepticism. A SatNav is a tool, not a brain substitute.

[Dareos]

I quite agree with Saracen on this topic, although my choice would be the TomTom 910, but then I haven't had a Garmin unit to mess around with yet, (will have soon). The 910's main bonus is the 20 gig hard drive (12 free) and MP3 capabilities, as well as US, Canada, EU and UK maps, (no ROI tho).

[Tarffie]

That's a pretty decent price, didn't realise the 910s had dropped so much. I remember selling them for ~£499.99 when they first came out. Might be tempted if they're still about this week or next.

[Behemoth]

Very pleased with my Tom Tom One to be honest, does the job, I don't need all the bells and whistkes of the higher up models, bit I do agree it it just a tool

[Nick F]

Do anyone of you use the TomTom plus feature to get live traffic data?

[Behemoth]

I've never bothered with it to be honest, down here in Tractor country it's inevitble to be held up in traffic.

[peterb]

Garmin Nuvi 310 deluxe from handtec. Costs £240, but includes european maps on DVD, traffic receiver and bluetooth for hands free operation of your mobile phone. If you don't need all those features, there are other Nuvi models in the range at lower prices. (300T - no Bluetooth)

[Nick F]

Garmin Nuvi 310 deluxe from handtec. Costs £240, but includes european maps on DVD, traffic receiver and bluetooth for hands free operation of your mobile phone. If you don't need all those features, there are other Nuvi models in the range at lower prices. (300T - no Bluetooth)

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=41XX

£180 at dabs.com