Satnav or Smartphone ?

[Rocketron]

I currently have neither but may well need satnav in September despite good map-reading skills.
I will probably be driving for an agency in areas I am unfamiliar with and may need to use the phone a lot more than my current once or twice a week.
Your experience would be greatly appreciated.

[Kirk]

I like you have neither, however did use a sat-nav of a friend.
She had tried one of the makes and found it poor and went and swapped it for the Garmin.
I used it to locate a place in Sheffield and have to say it did everything.

Get the variant(s) that has lifetime upgrades.
I did find I drove it to dispair once while it tried to tell me where to go, I doubled back on the A1 to get fuel on the other carriageway. You could tell it wanted to tell me I was a moron. I switched it off until back on the Northbound bit again.

Voice instructions were delivered in good time and accurate, one new construction was not known to it but that has to be expected.

That is about all I can offer but if/when I decide to get one that is the first I shall consider. I would possibly like one for when in a new town/location, drivng along main roads and motorways with one on seems a little unnecessary to me, but in a built up area they have a purpose that I can see.

[RedThorn]

Separate units as bit awkward navigating heavy traffic in unknown area and at a critical turning your phone starts to ring

[Two_Sheds]

On the occasions when the GPS does deign to work on my phone, it drains the battery flat in about 10 mins


(Samsung Galaxy Ace)

[Martin H]

My satnav stopped working so I tried the free satnav app on my Android phone. The app is much better than the purpose-built satnav, so now I just use that. I've got a clip that sticks to the windscreen to hold the phone and a plug that goes in the cigar lighter socket to keep it charged up.

I've even worked out how to listen to a podcast at the same time, the satnav lady pauses the podcast when she wants to tell me something.

So I would get the smartphone.

[veggiechicken]

I have an andriod phone and could download that app. If I use it though, do I pay call charges while its in use? I'm on PAYG as I hardly use the phone so don't want to find all my credit has disappeared.

[Bigmallly]

I have used both & must say I prefer Google Maps on the phone. Like TS, I also have the Galaxy Ace but I plug the charger in & a double male 3.5mm into the phone & stereo so the directions come through the speakers. A bit of a begger though if you want to listen to music............

TS - I picked up a 2450 mAh battery off fleabay for about £6 & it's brilliant. Lasts around 3 days before needing a recharge................Sorry, it was Amzon..........
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kinps®-2450m...450mAh+battery

[Glutton4...]

I have a steam-driven T0mT0m with absolutely no updates - and I love it, even though it sometimes tells me I am in the middle of a field! . I also have an iPhone - and I love it!

If I'm driving, I use the SatNag for the last little important bit, preferring to use my brain for most of the journey.

If I'm a passenger, I use my iPhone to track where we are going, in case the driver's SatNag has a hissy fit. It also helps me to take my mind off the fact that I have entrusted my life, albeit temporarily, to some other Nutter!

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have the Samsung Galaxy Ace and suffered with the same problem as 2Sheds in the old van. In the new one I connect via a usb port for charging and via blue tooth to the radio and it works quite well.

My son has a Galaxy S2 (I think that's what its called) the better model any way. I have not seen it working but he reports it's far in front of the Ace as a sat nav.

Potty

[dim]

get a tom tom satnav that has bluetooth ..... it connects to your phone, so you can speak (through the satnav) when someone phones you while you are driving

also make sure that you get the tom tom that has the traffic updates ... here is a good one: Tom Tom Go Live 1005 :

Tom Tom Go Live 1005 World Sat Nav with Free Lifetime Maps Very.co.uk ....

comes with free map updates for life

well worth the money, especially if you will be driving a lot ....

I'm not sure if any of the latest satnavs have an optimse multiple routes function (i.e, if you have to drive to several places in a day, it optimises the route and works out the routes and chooses the destinations that are nearest to each other)

I used to be a full time ebay seller a few years ago, and specialised in large antique brown furniture (wardrobes, chest of drawers, dining room suites etc) .... I used to deliver the items with my van, and in those days, tomtom never had a feature that used to optimise multiple destinations .... I still had to plan my routes via multimap ....

it would have been handy, especially in the London area, as some days, I used to have to deliver to 5 clients in and around London

[Tripmeup]

Google maps on a smartphone would be my choice..

[Vince G]

Yup defo iPhone with a sat-nav app.

[taff]

I was using google maps with the phone, and it was great at getting me to three places I wouldn't have found without it.

I got myself a garmin recently, with lifetime updates and europe maps, and it's really really good.

I've usually been a sat nav naysayer just because if you can read a map it's easier, but if you're driving somewhere by yourself, it is easier. It also has extras like finding parking in other places, local attractions, bluetooth for the phone link etc.

The only thing i am disappointed with is the route planning, there's eco route which is the fastest I think [or maybe not], but I haven't found a part that will do b roads, especially abroad.

[Tomato Head]

I use nav free on iphone (as the name implies, it's a free app). Granted I don't use it a whole lot and I've not experimented with lots of satnavs, but it's always got me where I need to be without any problems. Doesn't drain the battery too much (I'd get about 4-5 hours out of it) but I use a car charger to keep it charged while I'm driving. I can listen to music or audio books at the same time.