Sat Nav again

[Gav]

I've finally decided to succumb to the evil that is Sat Nav, but I would value any positive or negative recommendations you have.

What I need is a cheap and functional thing without being cheap and nasty.
All I will be likely to use it for is getting alternative routes when I need to avoid traffic etc. I don't need a range of different voices, pretty interfaces/boxes or a coffee maker.
Someone at work managed to get one for £35 and it was falling apart with days, so I'm happy to spend a few quid getting a decent one.

Ta.

[Trouble]

I was listening to radio 2 the other day and they were saying that Sat Nav is going to stop. There is something about the satellites not going to working and it wont be a short term thing once it goes it will be for years. You might want to look into that.

In the meantime, Sat Navs are actually a pain in the harris. They tend to take you wierd routes and sometimes a journey can take longer. I dont know how many times ive arrived somewhere and thought - blimey, if i'd known it was here i would have done this or that...

Stick to atlas's and a-z's its so much simpler.

[Gav]

I was listening to radio 2 the other day and they were saying that Sat Nav is going to stop. There is something about the satellites not going to working and it wont be a short term thing once it goes it will be for years. You might want to look into that.

It's run by the various military powers, who are now so dependant upon it, it's unlikely they will allow it to fail.

In the meantime, Sat Navs are actually a pain in the harris. They tend to take you wierd routes and sometimes a journey can take longer. I dont know how many times ive arrived somewhere and thought - blimey, if i'd known it was here i would have done this or that...

Stick to atlas's and a-z's its so much simpler.

See above, I only want it for when I have no other choice and I don't know the local area. I'm not going to stop using maps and signs.

[Gerry]

I got myself a tom tom last year, it cost me around £100.

I try to use it only to get to a place. I then make my own way home. That way I don't become hooked on having it to used it all the time.

[martingold]

Well i love my tom tom
i used to travel as a mobile service engineer my area was worldwide i wish i had had one then
The only thing is dont rely on it instead of maps but use it in conjunction with them
Before heading out to somewhere i always have an idea of where it is i have never been let down by my sat nav having used one now for about 5 yrs or so

To be honest so long as the build quality is ok i dont think there is much to choose between the various makers you can look at Pocketgpsworld.com if you want some unbiased reviews etc

[Chef]

I have a basic TomTom (tomtom one Uk V1) and find it very good. It is easy to program and if you need it to automatically route you around traffic jams you can either get one of the upgraded models or buy a traffic reciver (about £50) for the basic one. I wouldn't bother with the widescreen versions as I only look at the screen if the road layout is confusing or when i want other information like expected time of arrival from the screen.

The expected time of arrival is fairly accurate unless you get caught in a traffic jam (so it is pretty useless in London where a mile can take 30 minutes).

There are lots of price comparision websites ( http://www.tomtom-satnav.co.uk/ ) that show the best places and a reasonable description of each models functions.

Hope that helps.

[Trouble]

Have a look at this link. I knew i wasn't going mad.

We could be without sat nav all together within a year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencean...in-a-year.html

[philsmove]

I have a Tom Tom One

very easy to use

never been taken down a river or had anything go wrong

would not be with out it

[Clueless]

I was listening to radio 2 the other day and they were saying that Sat Nav is going to stop. There is something about the satellites not going to working and it wont be a short term thing once it goes it will be for years. You might want to look into that.

In the meantime, Sat Navs are actually a pain in the harris. They tend to take you wierd routes and sometimes a journey can take longer. I dont know how many times ive arrived somewhere and thought - blimey, if i'd known it was here i would have done this or that...

Stick to atlas's and a-z's its so much simpler.

Too true, My friend and I were going to Arduaine (south of Oban) the easiest and quickest way is to go to Oban and drive south. The Sat nav Took us the Southside of Loch Long (a single track road with passing places going through a place called Ford [banjos and dungarees ahoy]) where you have pickups and lorries with houses on the back of them coming at you. Not only did it nearly get us killed but put and extra 2.5 hours on our trip when if we would have gone to Oban and down it would have been a hour at the max.

Sat Navs give you the shortest distance the way the crow flies and works from stats and basic distance, speed calculations. It assumes you can take a B road with right angleed corners at 60mph. Safes option use a sat nave for a basic way there and then use a road atlas which marks A roads and B roads clearly.

[martingold]

Have a look at this link. I knew i wasn't going mad.

We could be without sat nav all together within a year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencean...in-a-year.html

no your right and this is actually quite a well known fact and its down to the expense of keeping gps up there and working well
if you look at pocketgpsworld you will see a forum with a few knowledgeable people talking about it

hopefully on the other hand though the US gov will decide they cant do without it
i mean how else would they be able to make sure they hit friends instead of foes in a war

[Twirly]

I also have a TomTom, and I find it really useful, if a little frustrating at times. It’s fine for basic journeys somewhere you don’t know (and as that’s what you want it for it should be fine), although it can take you strange routes - such as across the salt marshes on the way to Southport last year.

But read the map for the biggest part of the journey and use some logic – using the “go via” function can save a lot of time if you know a better route, but I find mine frustrating as you can only do one “go via” or “avoid” per journey, and all attempts to programme an itinerary so far have resulted in frustration. Also, if you do a “go via” a town, it’ll take you to the centre of the town which might not be what you want it to do. However if you know to take a certain A road, then the ring road round the town rather than blindly following the satnav, then you can beat it into submission I’ve got pretty good at this in areas I’m still getting to know (don’t forget I’ve only been driving a couple of years and mostly at weekends, so still getting to know south London). Mine has a love of the south circular, which is usually pretty congested, but I’ve got to know some other routes that work better now.

However, I have to say that I find the TomTom is far more reliable and easy to programme than the PetePete I also have, which has a tendency to get it’s left and right muddled up, or the RichRich I used recently, which got so distracted by trying to get a signal on it’s mobile that it didn’t tell me which junction to come off the motorway at, and we almost wound up in the middle of Salford And it doesn’t get upset when I shout at it either…

[Gav]

Have a look at this link. I knew i wasn't going mad.

We could be without sat nav all together within a year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencean...in-a-year.html

Already seen the reports and the panicked discussions and I still think that the military depend on it so much that they will never let it fail.

[Battlecat]

I have a Tom Tom one and found it great, esp if i decide to try a new route as it recalibrates as I go, have not had any issues, but do normally check my route on a map before leaving and also if unsure use the preview option on the sat nav.

You may find ebay useful, noticed recently that argos have a clearance section on there with older models at a cheaper price.

[Dreadful Scathe]

I got one of these and its been great, it had a role playing game on it that i played for weeks it was also handy that it came with maps for all of europe

[Brian Doolan]

you can look at Pocketgpsworld.com if you want some unbiased reviews etc

And use its speed camera database, it's the best around, (IMO)

[gamebird]

if you look at pocketgpsworld you will see a forum with a few knowledgeable people talking about it

I'm sorry...a forum...with knowledgeable people..?
Where do you come up with these things

[Brian Doolan]

Sat Navs give you the shortest distance the way the crow flies

You should be able to set your Sat Nav to take you the fastest route rather than the shortest. The shortest route setting is usually the one which sends trucks into single track roads they can't maneuver or routes that take 2 1/2 hours longer than they should. I've used my old TT 500 to take me all over Scotland, generally navigating to a Lat/Long co-ordinate which would be a point on the OS map where there is car parking in the middle of the back of beyond.

[philsmove]

: And it doesn’t get upset when I shout at it either…

and if I miss the tuning, unlike the Issy Wissy, it never shouts but calmly tells me to "turn around when possible"

If I over ride it , it quickly works out the alternative route

[Icey]

I have a TomTom 100 (I think?) which I gave into one day after spending an hour trying to find a train station and missing my train

I find it's useful but I have to be careful with the shortest / quickest route thing.

The only issue I have is that it tells me to turn left in 100 metres. Like I know what 100 metres is if it told me to turn left at the shoe shop I'd be fine

Overall, glad I got one and I have used it a fair bit.

[frodo]

You should be able to set your Sat Nav to take you the fastest route rather than the shortest.

The problem is these are both extremes.

The route you want usually falls somewhere between the two (though not always), but Sat Nav technology at the moment seems hopelessly primitive.