sat nav

[allycat228]

Sorry if this has been done before, but what is the best sat nav to get?

[airshifter]

I think you'll find that this is a highly subjective matter as to "best". There is so much available that options and price ranges affect choices a great deal.

I got my wife a Garmin Streetpilot last year for Christmas, and she loves it. At the time there were units with more raw features for the same price, and units with the same features for a lesser price. However in this case I wanted ease of use, simple and reliable, and didn't need most of the bells and whistles stuff that a lot of units have now. Last year touch screen input and voice commands were both things that would cost more, now they are almost standard.

The one thing I found while researching is that no one unit is perfect. They all have an occasional glitch in use and/or up to date and complete mapping.

[Mark]

Like a lot of things there is no 'best', if that were the case then all the others would have gone out of business already ;)

What country do you live in? Is it for use solely in the car or do you want to do walking around cities, or hiking across mountains? Do you want an all in one unit or something which works with your mobile phone?

Would you like things like MP3 playing, hands free voice calling?

[GridGirl]

I had a TomTom One untill it got stolen. It was so easy to use, pretty much idiot proof. :)

I now have a RoadAngel 7000 I think. Not as easy to use as TomTom but it was purchased so we could load Memory Map to it. It pinpointed our location and pointed us to where the path we were looking for in no time when we were up a mountain in thick fog a few months ago. It is quite annoying when you get Tif Nidell (or whatever his name is) saying turn slightly left. Theres no slightly about it, I'm not going left round a corner and I can tell perfectly well the road is bending to the left myself! :p

[Tomi]

I have a Blaupunkt Lucca 5.2, wich I got from a friend it has been working ok, but if I would buy one, i would choose one you can get sea and offroadmaps too.
TomTom is good choise also because you can download so much free stuff for it from the net.

[Mark]

I have a TomTom ONE v2 for the car.

On my phone I have ViewRanger OS maps, with a bluetooth GPS.

[airshifter]

Just another general note and my opinion on the issue.

Here in the US GPS units have dropped greatly in price in the last year, and features and technology have increased almost as quickly. I see nav systems becoming more and more popular as prices drop, which will leave a large number of used units available.

For a person unsure of what features they really want, some of the used units will be a great deal, and a chance to figure out which options they might want in a future unit.

[Mark]

If you just want something simple for car navigation then you do well to look at the TomTom one. 130 notes you can't go wrong!

[Albert Park]

I've done a bit of research here 'Down Under', and if I had to get one, I'd look at the Garmin range.

Ideally I'd like a 7 inch screen built into the dash, but that's where you start to fork out the dollars.

[Eki]

The name says it all: Nav the Ace.

[AndyRAC]

Use a Map.....far better!!!

[MrJan]

Use a Map.....far better!!!

:up: :up: :up:

I have an AA atlas in the car and use multimap for street maps and get lost less than the people I know that use satnav. Near where I live is a particularly difficult junction that my mates satnav couldn't deal with. He said thatyou can't expect it to know every difficult junction but aren't those the ones you want to know about? I can easily work out how to turn off the dual carriageway to my home town because there is a 20 foot sign telling me.

Also people become too dependant on them. One mate drove from Manchester to Exeter with it on the whole way. It's M6 then M5 pretty much so why have some bint telling you to 'keep right' at every bloody junction? :angryfire

[J4MIE]

I now have a RoadAngel 7000 I think. Not as easy to use as TomTom but it was purchased so we could load Memory Map to it. It pinpointed our location and pointed us to where the path we were looking for in no time when we were up a mountain in thick fog a few months ago.

I quite fancy one of those, can it use the OS maps for navigation while driving? That would be ideal :)

[RaikkonenRules]

I have an AA atlas in the car and use multimap for street maps and get lost less than the people I know that use satnav. Near where I live is a particularly difficult junction that my mates satnav couldn't deal with. He said thatyou can't expect it to know every difficult junction but aren't those the ones you want to know about? I can easily work out how to turn off the dual carriageway to my home town because there is a 20 foot sign telling me.

Also people become too dependant on them. One mate drove from Manchester to Exeter with it on the whole way. It's M6 then M5 pretty much so why have some bint telling you to 'keep right' at every bloody junction? :angryfire

It's amazing how some people become so realiant on SatNavs :p : My family just use either our 2005 AA Road Atlas (though we're due for another one since the cover has fallen off :s ) or Google Maps. Usually we know exactly where we are goin though so even that's not nessary.

I've heard of cases where some satnavs can't even tell the difference between crossraods and a road going over another road. :p

[Daniel]

Yes but when you come to a roundabout and the signs are confusingly labelled then "take 3rd exit" is better than "oooooh which one's the exit for the A54473763?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Oops we missed it"

[MrJan]

I which case you go round again, unlike these lorry drivers getting HGVs stuck down country lanes because they idiotically listen only to their satnav. Don't get me wrong, they can be well handy, but I prefer to use a map, easier to know where you are going then rather than being told.

[nicemms]

I've seen a Taxi Driver who specialises in Airport Runs use one to get him to Manchester Airport! He picked us up from from locally, near enough same housing estate but still felt the need for sat nav!

[Valve Bounce]

Yes but when you come to a roundabout and the signs are confusingly labelled then "take 3rd exit" is better than "oooooh which one's the exit for the A54473763?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Oops we missed it"

I used one for two months in France and Italy earlier this year. Problem in France is that many, many road intersections are being upgraded into roundabouts and the sat navs have not caught up. Also, there was always the possiblity of having it stolen and the one in the Avis rented campervan was NOT cpvered by insurance, so that I had to put the instrument in my jacket pocket each time we stopped for coffee.
There is supposed to be some new system in Australia where you are told to take the second left into (name of street).
However, I would prefer one that is built into the car which is more difficult to steal.

[odykas]

Who needs satnav? :s mokin:

[Daniel]

you. You've still not got away from the sun after all this time.

[airshifter]

The beauty of a navigation system is simplicity. We've punched in locations in cities we've never been to, and it's taken us right to the hotel or other desination we've put in. That's worlds easier than navigating at night in a place you've never been, after having stopped when close enough to get a map.

The same is true for attractions or places to eat. Sometimes even locally we just pick a type of food and pick a new place off the list. Sure beats trying to figure out where the closest Mongolian BBQ is.