Sat Nav comparison guidance
Discussion
Hi Folks,
I'm looking to purchase a new Satnav system and am looking for some advice. Basically I'm looking for a portable unit, that's easy to install and use, has full Europe maps and has traffic management capability in the UK AND Europe.
I think I've narrowed it down to a Garmin Nuvi 350 with a GTM11 or 20 traffic receiver (although this lot seems to add upto over £600!), a Tom Tom Go 710 or 910 with a traffic subscription, or the Navman ICN550 TM.
My questions are:
1) Are my selections any good?
2) Do they really have fully detailed UK and continental Europe mapping (I recently took a look at the new Sony NVU70 and a simple request for a village in the New Forest had it beaten :-( and I hear some units only have European city maps)
3) Are the traffic management/queue avoidance features any good and is one system better than another?
4) Is the speed of route recalculation quick, as I see this is a concern on some units?
Basically any guidance you can provide would be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Fred.
>> Edited by woosh on Saturday 6th May 22:11
I'm looking to purchase a new Satnav system and am looking for some advice. Basically I'm looking for a portable unit, that's easy to install and use, has full Europe maps and has traffic management capability in the UK AND Europe.
I think I've narrowed it down to a Garmin Nuvi 350 with a GTM11 or 20 traffic receiver (although this lot seems to add upto over £600!), a Tom Tom Go 710 or 910 with a traffic subscription, or the Navman ICN550 TM.
My questions are:
1) Are my selections any good?
2) Do they really have fully detailed UK and continental Europe mapping (I recently took a look at the new Sony NVU70 and a simple request for a village in the New Forest had it beaten :-( and I hear some units only have European city maps)
3) Are the traffic management/queue avoidance features any good and is one system better than another?
4) Is the speed of route recalculation quick, as I see this is a concern on some units?
Basically any guidance you can provide would be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Fred.
>> Edited by woosh on Saturday 6th May 22:11
The Garmin mapping is a bit better, and it's a lot easier to plan a route on your comupter using their software then download to your unit. Tom Tom is also excellent re mapping, and is very user friendly, and Tom Tom Plus/Traffic works well. I think if you pay extra Garmin subscriptions, you can get increasingly detailed maps. However, going around Europe on Eurohoons, I've never been seriously misdirected by Tom Tom Go 700, and the bluetooth phone element which has been upgraded in the newer models, can be very helpful. I know that Nick, MD of Dettaglio, prefers Garmin - you could try e-mailing him? (www.dettaglio.co.uk)
nubbin said:
The Garmin mapping is a bit better, and it's a lot easier to plan a route on your comupter using their software then download to your unit.
Not wanting to highjack this thread but could you please explain how one might go about doing that please. I have tried searching for info' with Google but with no luck at all. Planning my own routes would be really useful for me & I would appreciate any help you may be able to give.
WOOSH.
For the last 7 odd years I have driven up to 100,000 miles a year for my work & never used a sat nav but recently pressure has been put on me to buy one, OK I thought it might make life a bit simpler but in reality it really doesn't because, in fact now I find my self using it but having to follow a map at the same time so to make sure it doesn't take me too far out of my way, which obviously defeats the object. To try & explain I will give you an example of what it did last Thursday. Below Southampton there is a small place called Holbury, if you look on a map you will see there is only really one route there off junction 2 of the M27 & basically straight down the A326, but no if you look down the A326 you will find Dibden Purlieu where my nuvi decided it wood be better for me to turn right onto the B3054 towards Beaulieu then turn left onto a single track & into Holbury from the west.
Why it did this I have no idea but this is not an isolated incident, every day it will do something that makes no sense but then other times it is spot on with it's choice of routes, but unfortunately I haven't got time to be messed about.
In London or any major city it will get you where you want to go if you don't mind not getting there in a hurry because it does not know the best routes but then again I understand that it never claims too or even could do. I also understand that as far as knowledge of where I am going I am not your average tourist & admittedly the nuvi has never failed to get me to a destination, all I am saying is that if I let it go it's own way it will undoubtedly end up costing me time & money.
Now as for its good points. The free download of the camera database is excellent as is the size of the unit & the overall design, for the extra money I would suggest going for the 360 over the 350 for you as the Bluetooth system is incorporated.
My advice would be if you don't need one don't get one & wait a few years 'cos I think they are going to improve & as I've discovered there is a lot of room for improvement.
PS Hopfully at some point in the future they will also incorporate the software to input multiple destinations with the ability to optimise them. Now that really would be usefull & worth spending my money on.
>> Edited by 109 Bob on Sunday 7th May 13:27
For the last 7 odd years I have driven up to 100,000 miles a year for my work & never used a sat nav but recently pressure has been put on me to buy one, OK I thought it might make life a bit simpler but in reality it really doesn't because, in fact now I find my self using it but having to follow a map at the same time so to make sure it doesn't take me too far out of my way, which obviously defeats the object. To try & explain I will give you an example of what it did last Thursday. Below Southampton there is a small place called Holbury, if you look on a map you will see there is only really one route there off junction 2 of the M27 & basically straight down the A326, but no if you look down the A326 you will find Dibden Purlieu where my nuvi decided it wood be better for me to turn right onto the B3054 towards Beaulieu then turn left onto a single track & into Holbury from the west.
Why it did this I have no idea but this is not an isolated incident, every day it will do something that makes no sense but then other times it is spot on with it's choice of routes, but unfortunately I haven't got time to be messed about.
In London or any major city it will get you where you want to go if you don't mind not getting there in a hurry because it does not know the best routes but then again I understand that it never claims too or even could do. I also understand that as far as knowledge of where I am going I am not your average tourist & admittedly the nuvi has never failed to get me to a destination, all I am saying is that if I let it go it's own way it will undoubtedly end up costing me time & money.
Now as for its good points. The free download of the camera database is excellent as is the size of the unit & the overall design, for the extra money I would suggest going for the 360 over the 350 for you as the Bluetooth system is incorporated.
My advice would be if you don't need one don't get one & wait a few years 'cos I think they are going to improve & as I've discovered there is a lot of room for improvement.
PS Hopfully at some point in the future they will also incorporate the software to input multiple destinations with the ability to optimise them. Now that really would be usefull & worth spending my money on.
>> Edited by 109 Bob on Sunday 7th May 13:27
madazrx7 said:
... I have driven up to 100,000 miles a year for my work ...
Wow!! That's 400 miles a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year... IN ENGLAND!
You obviously don't stop for long at each destination
No I don't hang about.
That's really just a rough guess, last year for example if I worked it all out I probably did somewhere about 60 or 70,000.I've used tomtom navigator on a pda for a few years (on version 5.2 now).
I have to agree with some of the stuff that bob109 os saying. I do between 4 and 8 customer visits per week, the fact is that TOMTOM will always get me there, sometimes there is definately a better route but usually it is pretty good. The other thing is that I just don't have to think, I just shove in the postcode and go. Whilst it has probably cost me a few miles, it has certianly saved me a lot of time. I also use the traffic feature and reroute both of which have proved invaluable.
D
I have to agree with some of the stuff that bob109 os saying. I do between 4 and 8 customer visits per week, the fact is that TOMTOM will always get me there, sometimes there is definately a better route but usually it is pretty good. The other thing is that I just don't have to think, I just shove in the postcode and go. Whilst it has probably cost me a few miles, it has certianly saved me a lot of time. I also use the traffic feature and reroute both of which have proved invaluable.
D
109 Bob said:
The Garmin mapping is a bit better, and it's a lot easier to plan a route on your comupter using their software then download to your unit.
Not wanting to highjack this thread but could you please explain how one might go about doing that please. I have tried searching for info' with Google but with no luck at all. Planning my own routes would be really useful for me & I would appreciate any help you may be able to give.
Sorry, not been on this thread for a while
. The Garmin units come with software for your PC, and this allows you to plot routes with waypoints, and then download it to your Sat Nav. Simple really, and a quick way of doing it.Gassing Station | In-Car Electronics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff