Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jonny2112]

Thinking about a sat nav unit. To be honest I suppose I dont really need it, but I kinda want one.
The two main requirements are price (obviously) and that it covers Europe, or France anyway.
I dont know enough about them to know whether they can be upgraded with maps etc but guess someone on here will know as much as there is to know!
Very informative place this....

[2001CatOwner]

I have TomTom for all of North America and for the upgrades/different maps its on a memory stick that i download from my PC to the unit it self.  The stick is like the one they use on cameras.  Otherwise the construction and regular maps auto update from the link of the sat.  Hope that helps you out.

[Ronald_McBurger]

I have a Garmin i3 which is very cheap, but a bit slow working out routes compared to my Tom Tom ONE, which now is about £135 and is simply unbeatable value. Very fast, very accurate and very easy to use. There are much better ones out there, but for the money you cannot beat that.

[cbx550bertie]

yep tom tom one great value and ease of use.. iuse it every day in my job at comet delivering to customers even finds folk who dont give us their full delivery address or gets as close as poss....  

[Baron Von Spongebob]

I have a Cable & Wireless stand alone Satnav. Sometimes gets cofused, but so do i. .

Also have Tom Tom on my phone/pda which works well. If that goes wrong i just laugh at Ozzy Osbournes voice. He has a way with words, mainly swear words..

[Admin]

Mio C510E http://www.gps-systems.co.uk/mitac_mio_c510e.asp

I have one, had it for 6 months or so now and can say it really is excellent!

Comes with UK maps fully installed, and complete street level mapping of all of Europe on a DVD is also included.

All you need is a 1gb memory card (dirt cheap) and away you can go round Europe.

It is quick, very accurate, easy to work, has tons of features (it can even guide you on foot!) and is very well priced.

Tomtom is good, but I chose this because it has consistently excellent reviews and I like to be a little different!

[Paul M]

I much prefer a built-in system for two reasons - first, it's integrated with the stereo system so you get very clear speech and it fades the music to the back speakers while talking; and second you don't have to remove it from the car every time you get out to prevent it being stolen.

Saying that the key disadvantage is that it's fitted to one car so if you have more than one it's maybe not the best solution. For that reason I bought Tom Tom Navigator 6 for my phone, and it works surprisingly well (running on a Nokia E65 which is one of the latest Symbian S60 v3 phones). I installed it onto a 2Gb micro SD card, and got maps for all of Europe as well as North America -- it was an absolute godsend when I was in the US, such a breeze compared to when I was there a few years ago and had to navigate by map in the dark. It uses a bluetooth GPS module so just switch it on and throw it onto the dash, it picks up the signal very quickly and has never dropped out in my experience. Because I already have a bluetooth car kit, it automatically connects to this when the ignition is turned on so any navigation announcements mute the radio and come out of the main speakers.

Whenever I'm in the Omega I still use the built-in navi, even though the maps are now out of date compared to the Tom Tom. This has only been evident once though, when it told me to take the 2nd exit on the roundabout which had actually been converted to a flyover bypassing the roundabout completely! However the Tom Tom comes highly recommended, especially if you already have one of the latest Symbian phones with enough processing power to run it at full speed.

[TheBoy]

I personally use TomTom 6 with the seamless map of western europe on my iPaq Pocket PC, and also on my Windows mobile phone.  Personally, never got on with TomTom on Nokias (or other Symbian) due to no touchscreen, it becomes clunky to use.

The earlier TomTom standalone units were a bit too big, but later ones fit nicely in pocket when leaving car, and some can act as bluetooth handfree for your phone

[Kevin Wood]

I use CoPilot on a PocketPC with a bluetooth GPS and am thinking about replacing it with a TomTom.

It's a pain not having a one box solution so if you forget a charging cable, etc. you're totally stuffed. Also, the software crashes the PocketPC frequently requiring a reboot. If you don't use it for a few weeks the PocketPC loses its' memory and you need to re-install or restore a backup. It's just a total pain. Unless you use a PocketPC reqularly for other things and hence always have it with you and charged it's hopeless IMO.

Kevin

[Paul M]

I personally use TomTom 6 with the seamless map of western europe on my iPaq Pocket PC, and also on my Windows mobile phone.  Personally, never got on with TomTom on Nokias (or other Symbian) due to no touchscreen, it becomes clunky to use.

I don't find the interface a problem at all. My dad has a Dell Axim PDA which has navi on it and a touchscreen, and there's very little benefit other than being able to type a bit quicker. Considering how little you have to actually enter when using postcode or Zip code lookup, I don't find it makes much difference. The larger screen is useful, but of course the trade-off is that it's a much larger device overall.

The earlier TomTom standalone units were a bit too big, but later ones fit nicely in pocket when leaving car, and some can act as bluetooth handfree for your phone

This is the beauty of the Symbian solution in that I always take the phone out anyway, and there's nothing extra to carry. I hate having bulky items to carry around, it's one of the key reasons I bought this particular phone as it's one of the smallest Symbian models available.

Oh and both my cars have proper built-in bluetooth handsfree car kits (which the navigation software hooks into) so I wouldn't use that feature either.

I still prefer the built-in navigation though. It just integrates better, plus it works better in areas where the GPS signal isn't so good because it takes input from the car's speed sensor so it knows exactly how far you've travelled and how fast. Those cases are few and far between, but you do notice the difference.

[TheBoy]

I personally use TomTom 6 with the seamless map of western europe on my iPaq Pocket PC, and also on my Windows mobile phone.  Personally, never got on with TomTom on Nokias (or other Symbian) due to no touchscreen, it becomes clunky to use.

I don't find the interface a problem at all. My dad has a Dell Axim PDA which has navi on it and a touchscreen, and there's very little benefit other than being able to type a bit quicker. Considering how little you have to actually enter when using postcode or Zip code lookup, I don't find it makes much difference. The larger screen is useful, but of course the trade-off is that it's a much larger device overall.

The earlier TomTom standalone units were a bit too big, but later ones fit nicely in pocket when leaving car, and some can act as bluetooth handfree for your phone

This is the beauty of the Symbian solution in that I always take the phone out anyway, and there's nothing extra to carry. I hate having bulky items to carry around, it's one of the key reasons I bought this particular phone as it's one of the smallest Symbian models available.

Oh and both my cars have proper built-in bluetooth handsfree car kits (which the navigation software hooks into) so I wouldn't use that feature either.

I still prefer the built-in navigation though. It just integrates better, plus it works better in areas where the GPS signal isn't so good because it takes input from the car's speed sensor so it knows exactly how far you've travelled and how fast. Those cases are few and far between, but you do notice the difference.

Two devices is a minor pain, which is why I tend to now use a Windows powered phone, but the iPaq does work better, as its faster, and can use a wired gps that I have hardwired in the car. Bluetooth GPS' are always a pain due to constant charging they need (I use my TomTom a lot, esp for speed cameras). WM5 and later devices can go flat with no loss of data.

Built in satnavs are convenient, but usually very old technology.  Best I have used was in a Disco 3, worse (of 'modern' built in) is in my brothers X5.

[TheBoy]

This is the beauty of the Symbian solution in that I always take the phone out anyway, and there's nothing extra to carry. I hate having bulky items to carry around, it's one of the key reasons I bought this particular phone as it's one of the smallest Symbian models available.

I was nearly tempted by an N95 (I like Nokia stuff, as it just seems to work, unlike most others), so borrowed one for a day, but couldn't get on with lack of touchscreen. Depends what you want or used to I guess  :-/

I currently use an Orange SPV m510, really good bit of kit, despite its age, but not quite seamless with my Nokia Bluetooth kit.  The later version is, and I am trying to get my grubby mits on one as we speak...

[Paul M]

I personally use TomTom 6 with the seamless map of western europe on my iPaq Pocket PC, and also on my Windows mobile phone.  Personally, never got on with TomTom on Nokias (or other Symbian) due to no touchscreen, it becomes clunky to use.

I don't find the interface a problem at all. My dad has a Dell Axim PDA which has navi on it and a touchscreen, and there's very little benefit other than being able to type a bit quicker. Considering how little you have to actually enter when using postcode or Zip code lookup, I don't find it makes much difference. The larger screen is useful, but of course the trade-off is that it's a much larger device overall.

The earlier TomTom standalone units were a bit too big, but later ones fit nicely in pocket when leaving car, and some can act as bluetooth handfree for your phone

This is the beauty of the Symbian solution in that I always take the phone out anyway, and there's nothing extra to carry. I hate having bulky items to carry around, it's one of the key reasons I bought this particular phone as it's one of the smallest Symbian models available.

Oh and both my cars have proper built-in bluetooth handsfree car kits (which the navigation software hooks into) so I wouldn't use that feature either.

I still prefer the built-in navigation though. It just integrates better, plus it works better in areas where the GPS signal isn't so good because it takes input from the car's speed sensor so it knows exactly how far you've travelled and how fast. Those cases are few and far between, but you do notice the difference.

Two devices is a minor pain, which is why I tend to now use a Windows powered phone, but the iPaq does work better, as its faster, and can use a wired gps that I have hardwired in the car. Bluetooth GPS' are always a pain due to constant charging they need (I use my TomTom a lot, esp for speed cameras). WM5 and later devices can go flat with no loss of data.

Built in satnavs are convenient, but usually very old technology.  Best I have used was in a Disco 3, worse (of 'modern' built in) is in my brothers X5.

You can get an external antenna for the GPS unit I have, so just throw it into the glovebox and connect it to a power supply and forget about it. Personally I move it around as I may be using it in a different car or even occasionally on the bike in case I get lost on a tour (only after stopping of course) - haven't needed it yet but you never know.

I don't get on with Windows Mobile at all, and that's not an anti-Microsoft thing I just think its only saving grace is leveraging the Windows desktop. My dad's PDA is WM and I'm surprised the hard reset button still works it's been used so many times after lock-ups. Likewise a colleage had a WM phone (an SPV funnily enough, don't know what model though) and it locked regularly and took ages to reboot.

[VX1]

I have a tom tom one, get on with really well, had no problems with it. Must admit though this is the fourth one I have had as when I connected to the  pc and the tom tom home loaded up it would do a quick scan of the sd card and WIPE it clean so I couldn't do any form of update. This was the only problem I had, apart from that tomtom are very good, value for money, ease of use and touchscreen plus bluetooth enabled for live traffic info. Best bit of kit I bought in a long time.

[Paul M]

I was nearly tempted by an N95 (I like Nokia stuff, as it just seems to work, unlike most others), so borrowed one for a day, but couldn't get on with lack of touchscreen. Depends what you want or used to I guess  :-/

This point highlights the difference in what we're after. The N95 doesn't even make it onto my shortlist as it's simply too big. I want something that's barely noticable when in the pocket, as I carry my phone with me pretty much all the time, even on the odd ocassions it's warm enough to wear shorts up here. The E65, while not as advanced as the N95, does all the important stuff and is much smaller and lighter. It's more a business oriented model, so for example it only has a basic 2MP camera without a flash, and only one built-in loudspeaker rather than a stereo pair, which suits me fine as it keeps the focus on the important stuff while minimising size. It's been flawless since I got it, even the VOIP using the built-in SIP client over the WiFi worked a treat when I was in the US, saving me a fortune on roaming charges as there are loads of free WiFi hotspots in some cities over there (SF being the pick of the bunch). Battery life is surprisingly good too, something that many 3G Nokias have struggled with -- both the 6280 and N80 were pretty poor in this regard.