Sat Nav - Recommendations Please!

[Lesley Jay]

This seems a strange topic for the Grapevine but can anyone recommend a good in car satellite navigation system please. Thanks.

[Alison]

I have a good map book..................................... spiral bound and everything!

[bootie]

Never used one Learnt to read a map in my younger days and retain the route in my head
If they do,(Sat Navs),as peeps say, take you of the edge of cliffs no thanks. Even my wife can read a map,now.

[Mrs Dobby]

As a store manager for Halfords SatNav are a mainstay of my business, so I can say I know a bit about them LJ!

There's quite a bit of choice around, plus lots of features, so before I'd offer any recommendations I'd like to get a bit more info, if you could answer the following then I'd hope to be able to offer you some suggestions!

What exactly do you want the sat nav to do for you LJ?

Where are you going to use it, just Uk, or Uk and Europe or UK / Europe USA / Canada?

Are you looking for any other features, such as a Bluetooth Hands Free phone kit built in, or perhaps an MP3 player, perhaps a database of UK Speed Cameras, a Personal Organiser or maybe even a Language Translator?

What sort of aftersales service are you looking for?

Do you want it demonstrating and fitting for free?

Do you want it fixing permanently into the car?

Lastly, what sort of price are you looking at?

Sorry to ask all these questions, but if you answer them not only will I offer advice on which offers the best choice of features and value, but I may also be able to recommend the best place to buy it from!

[rustylady]

This seems a strange topic for the Grapevine but can anyone recommend a good in car satellite navigation system please. Thanks.

Hi LJ, don't drive myself anymore since my VW Polo went to the great scrapyard in the sky, but when my daughter had her latest baby they had to go to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge - they were there for 4 weeks - and her friend took me and the other two grandchildren to visit. I was prepared with the road atlas, but she borrowed her brother's TOM TOM in car nav system. It was absolutely brilliant, got us right to the carpark, all the way from Lowestoft. We had to find the main entrance from the carpark by ourselves, though

[nick the grief]

I use a road map & it has never let me down yet. Also the average Chav never wants to nick it

[Mrs Dobby]

Currently the 3 largest 'brands' in Sat Nav are Tom Tom (European company), Garmin (American company) and Navman (New Zealand company), and all 3 are vying for market share.

Everyone knows the name Tom Tom, because they were the first ones with a fully workable and reliable system to make a market impact, but the other 2 big brands are also very good. Tom Tom is very easy to use, and offer a range of add ons for thier software (but these are usually chargeable)

Garmin offer more features for the money and are also very reliable, plus the units are a bit smaller, so easier to transport.

Navman are cheaper, good functionality, good reliability, but not uite as sturdy as the other 2 brands (in my experience).

Tom Tom lost a lot of market share over xmas, as they refused to reduce their prices when everyone else was discounting big time, but recently they have clawed some of it back with aggressive price action.

If it was me buying and price wasnt a problem, then I'd be going for a Garmin 310D on offer at £299.99 atm, as it is a slim and neat unit, very good GPS receiver, easy to use and offers full postcode, speed camera database and a traffic update that scans the roads ahead of you (up to 80 miles ahead) and re-routes you around any traffic problems (for free!)

Tom Tom also offer the traffic assist, but it is something that you have to subscribe to and pay for your bluetooth phone to be WAP enabled (online) when you use it, so isnt a free service!

If something cheaper, then the Navman F20i, £149.99 with speedcamera database included! Good value budget unit!

Hope this is of some help!

[yoanbob]

we all have built in sat nav in our work cars, but a lot of people still use there tom tom, i have a map and alongside the built in one works quite well, but everyone says tom toms are great.

[Lesley Jay]

The sat nav isn't for me as I don't drive - before Nicks says it I just drive my OH around the twist!! The OH wants the sat nav and Tom Toms seem the obvious one but there are other makes that are a damned sight cheaper.

It needs to cover Europe, I don't want it permenantly fitted to the dashboard, I guess the speed camera and traffic updates are good and I would love to turn the voice off!

[Mrs Dobby]

Garmin 310D then LJ, it has full European postcode facility aswell as Traffic assist, and you can mute or turn down the olume on them all!

Just be careful when leaving the car, never leave it in the car, take the mount off the dash / windscreen and remove any marks that it makes before leaving the car!

[nick the grief]

I couldn't be doing with having a woman telling me where to go I did hear one that had Ozzy Osbourne giving directions which was a laugh

"Turn F$^&*&g Right at the next junction"

[Mrs Dobby]

You can get lots of voices for them Nick, my fave is Homer, who says 'D'oh' when you go wrong!!

[Alison]

My bruv was saying somebody he knows has got one of Yoda - wouldn't be able to drive for laughing!

[pigletwillie]

I recommend an up to date AA road map and somebody who can read it.

Total cost - less than a tenner and nobody will smash your window for it.

[Alison]

I recommend an up to date AA road map and somebody who can read it.

Total cost - less than a tenner and nobody will smash your window for it.

Am with you on that one although I do find the AA route finder on t'internet pretty useful for planning my route to somewhere different in the first place.