Tomtom or GPS detector
Discussion
I bought a Road Angel, works great fit nice above clocks right close to screen, wired along top right of dash, then behind speaker panel then along under sill coverand finally under seat to ciggy lighter. update weekly, never let me down, knows all of the little blighters!!!!!
BUT
would have bought B2 if i knew then what i know now.
apparently the B2 shows the speed of the road that you are on, where the angel relies on you knowing the speed limit on that stretch. just a small point but a valuable one. If you dont know about the camera, you probably dont know the limit!!!
BUT
would have bought B2 if i knew then what i know now.
apparently the B2 shows the speed of the road that you are on, where the angel relies on you knowing the speed limit on that stretch. just a small point but a valuable one. If you dont know about the camera, you probably dont know the limit!!!
shot2bits said:
I have tomtom nav and am not impressed as the map (uk) is way out of date and is in major need of an update...
Ye i agree regarding some areas of the UK map, i use tomtom navigator 3 wired to a iPAQ 2210, works great till you on the M6 Toll. No problem using in the Elise.
I think the UK map is supplied to TomTom by a third party company where they only update once a year.
I have heard the update for TomTom is due in May '05
Geoff
Tom Tom maps are supplied by Tele Atlas www.navshop.com/
The GO maps work fine on the Palm so I assume they work on iPaqs too. Latest UK map on the Europe CDs has the M6 toll but it's still not very up to date (no A120 Little Dunmow bypass)
The GO maps work fine on the Palm so I assume they work on iPaqs too. Latest UK map on the Europe CDs has the M6 toll but it's still not very up to date (no A120 Little Dunmow bypass)
The B2 only warns you if the camera is a threat. If you are passing a camera that is facing the wrong way or on the other side of the road, a icon appears to let you know there is a camera but it isnt a threat.
If it is a threat it tells you the speed limit and will harass you untill you are under the limit. It also gives you time and distance to the camera. I have mine set to 15 seconds before the camera on the road and 25 seconds on a motorway. Plenty of time to adjust speed / lane etc.
The warning is very good, a voice will tell you the type of camera and the speed limit then it flashes and beeps untill you get to the camera. If you do not get below the speed limit it goes ballistic. You cant miss it.
It is incredibly accurate and it even gets temporary cameras in roadworks. I have never had a false alarm, the only niggle is when traveling down a road that is very close and parallel to a camera I sometimes get a warning. You can put in your own "way point" warnings. If there is a mobile camera regularly in one spot, you can stick the location in the device and it will warn you every time.
The best thing is that it is transferable. You can put a fitting kit in any vehicle you use and just pop it in the car you are using.
It must have saved my licence hundreds of times. Let face it, there are very few speed cops on the road and with a B2 I know where every camera is. Unless I am really stoopid (not uncommon) I stand a good chance of not getting caught.
Dont leave home without it. I really believe that if you are driving without a camera detector you have 2 choices.
1) drive like miss daisy (not why ou baught an Exige)
2) Loose your licence.
If I was going to improve it, I would forget the laser detector and put in a radar detector so I could have more warning of random mobile cameras and I would stick in a couple of laser garage door openers, front and back. These do exactly the same thing as laser diffusers without the disadvantage of being illegal.
>> Edited by gooby on Saturday 30th April 02:41
If it is a threat it tells you the speed limit and will harass you untill you are under the limit. It also gives you time and distance to the camera. I have mine set to 15 seconds before the camera on the road and 25 seconds on a motorway. Plenty of time to adjust speed / lane etc.
The warning is very good, a voice will tell you the type of camera and the speed limit then it flashes and beeps untill you get to the camera. If you do not get below the speed limit it goes ballistic. You cant miss it.
It is incredibly accurate and it even gets temporary cameras in roadworks. I have never had a false alarm, the only niggle is when traveling down a road that is very close and parallel to a camera I sometimes get a warning. You can put in your own "way point" warnings. If there is a mobile camera regularly in one spot, you can stick the location in the device and it will warn you every time.
The best thing is that it is transferable. You can put a fitting kit in any vehicle you use and just pop it in the car you are using.
It must have saved my licence hundreds of times. Let face it, there are very few speed cops on the road and with a B2 I know where every camera is. Unless I am really stoopid (not uncommon) I stand a good chance of not getting caught.
Dont leave home without it. I really believe that if you are driving without a camera detector you have 2 choices.
1) drive like miss daisy (not why ou baught an Exige)
2) Loose your licence.
If I was going to improve it, I would forget the laser detector and put in a radar detector so I could have more warning of random mobile cameras and I would stick in a couple of laser garage door openers, front and back. These do exactly the same thing as laser diffusers without the disadvantage of being illegal.
>> Edited by gooby on Saturday 30th April 02:41
Another vote here for the B2. Spendid piece of kit with a regularly updated and comprehensive database. I have had a couple of build quality issues with the unit itself (2 returned due to speaker problems) but the customer service was fast, efficient, and easy to deal with.
The only other issue I have is with the laser head. So as not to put something distracting right in the middle of the windscreen, I installed it in front of the rearview mirror. I'm not sure whether it will be effective there as it's so far from the number plate, which is what they aim for, I think.
[k]
[edit]
For navigation I use a StreetPilot 2610. It has fantastic maps and good routing, but the cabling is a bit annoying. The new "C" range from Garmin looks good though - built-in speaker and battery to eliminate the plastic spaghetti, plus the 2005 version of City Navigator.
[/edit]
>> Edited by [k]ar| on Saturday 30th April 13:41
The only other issue I have is with the laser head. So as not to put something distracting right in the middle of the windscreen, I installed it in front of the rearview mirror. I'm not sure whether it will be effective there as it's so far from the number plate, which is what they aim for, I think.
[k]
[edit]
For navigation I use a StreetPilot 2610. It has fantastic maps and good routing, but the cabling is a bit annoying. The new "C" range from Garmin looks good though - built-in speaker and battery to eliminate the plastic spaghetti, plus the 2005 version of City Navigator.
[/edit]
>> Edited by [k]ar| on Saturday 30th April 13:41
I've got a Mitac MIO 168 which is a pocket PC PDA (similar to an IPAQ) but it's got built in GPS.
Looks like Muncher's photo above. Costs about £200 plus software.
I too run TomTom Nav 3 and Checkpoint (same as Muncher). You can hear the navigation voice over my sports exhaust in my S1. Maps are a bit out of date as mentioned above, but Nav 5 is due right about now.
Bonus is that you can use the GPS anywhere - in any car or just walking about. Pretty cool. Also acts as full on PDA (if you want one!). Speed cam database is downloadable and is updated every now and then (dunno how often to be honest). No major complaints.
Hope this helps.
Looks like Muncher's photo above. Costs about £200 plus software.
I too run TomTom Nav 3 and Checkpoint (same as Muncher). You can hear the navigation voice over my sports exhaust in my S1. Maps are a bit out of date as mentioned above, but Nav 5 is due right about now.
Bonus is that you can use the GPS anywhere - in any car or just walking about. Pretty cool. Also acts as full on PDA (if you want one!). Speed cam database is downloadable and is updated every now and then (dunno how often to be honest). No major complaints.
Hope this helps.
Great info guys - I too am having the same quandary Bob. I think the PDA + TomTom and cam download works best for me as you can do away with a need for power lead, plus I also want a new PDA.
I have heard though that some are a bit slow to replot a revised route if you go off initial course - any tips on minimum specs?
I have heard though that some are a bit slow to replot a revised route if you go off initial course - any tips on minimum specs?
My New Road Angel arrived on Thursday. Stuck the cradle to the windscreen, plugged it into the lighter socket and away I went.
I haven't had time to decide on my final positioning of the unit or where to route the wires (although I like being able to remove the unit and the wire easily so may not end up doing this.)
Works well, you certainly can't miss cameras. Since updating the database, it hasn't missed anything.
The B2 only warns if you are over the speed limit of the camera which the Angel doesn't and this is a nice feature.
However, the Angel is truely plug and play. It can also act as a GPS receiver for your PDA if you so wish.
Anyway, thumbs up at my end.
I haven't had time to decide on my final positioning of the unit or where to route the wires (although I like being able to remove the unit and the wire easily so may not end up doing this.)
Works well, you certainly can't miss cameras. Since updating the database, it hasn't missed anything.
The B2 only warns if you are over the speed limit of the camera which the Angel doesn't and this is a nice feature.
However, the Angel is truely plug and play. It can also act as a GPS receiver for your PDA if you so wish.
Anyway, thumbs up at my end.
I tried my angel in the centre of the screen but a pain to remove when parking. So now sited right hand side of windscreen connected with magnetic pad. Sometimes moves when cornering very hard put no prob apart from that..
Angel doesn't pick up camera vans though! Or couple of mobile sites recently..Its great on starnge roads for the fixed cameras..
So Im not that convinced...
Angel doesn't pick up camera vans though! Or couple of mobile sites recently..Its great on starnge roads for the fixed cameras..
So Im not that convinced...
supaspark said:
I run tomtom mobile from my mobile phone (SPV C500) bluetoothed to the gps receiver works a treat.. got the maps for France-Le Mans trip as well.
Don't take anything that could be remotely interpreted as a speed camera detector/jammer to France! They are very hot on this and even if it's only GPS with no detection capability they can give you a really hard time. I have heard stories of entire cars being searched just because there is a cradle on the dash too
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