Sat Nav - What to get??

[donsrno1]

I'm needing some advice on what the best sat nav unit to get is. I've got about £200 to spend, though ideally it would be a bit cheaper than that. I know I'm not going to get the best around at that price but could someone give me an indication of whats best to go for in that price range?

I'm guessing, from what I've heard/read, that one of the tomtom units would be best (tomtom one?) but I'm not really very clued up on them so any help would be much appreciated.

Also, whats the deal with speed camera and traffic updates? Do most units cover this and is it an additional subscription fee?

Another things is about whether or not it will work with the windscreen in the car. It's a 53 plate mondeo with a heated windscreen it would be for - anyone know if it should be ok with that?

Thanks.

 

[FiDoDiDo]

Get a TomTom One and a external aerial if you have any problems with the signal.

 

[BRUN]

Garmins work fine with Ford heated front screens, they have the latest SirfStar III receiver

id go for a Nuvi 300 or c510 these are both £199.99 at Motor World (where i work)

note, the c510 is £149.99 at Currys but it is all old refurbed stock, not brand new units so im told

 

[donsrno1]

thanks brun. Which of the two would you recommend if you had to choose one?

Would you say they are about same/better than tomtom?

Do you know if the tomtom will work with the heated screen?

 

[freeserver]

ive gt the tom tom one and didnt need the external aerial, really really rate the thing

 

[BRUN]

ive tried a c510 in a new mondeo recently and it worked perfectly, the couple were worried about it so we tried it, no problems at all

the Nuvi is basically the same but thinner, so its a better unit, however, the c510 new stock has speed cameras on it, the Nuvi 300 probably wont though you can load a database onto it no problem and the Nuvi has other features you may use if you go abroad although to be honest most of them you wont

 

[BRUN]

also, Tom Tom usually only have a 4 hour life if i remember right, the Garmins have an 8 hour life and Garmin have been doing GPS based systems for shipping, aviation etc before Tom Tom was even thought of

not that the Tom Toms are bad units, they are decent sat navs as long as you get a good unit, seems to be quite a few bad ones slip past quality control which freeze all of a sudden and wont come back on

 

[donsrno1]

right, I'll look into it then. How do map upgrapes etc work with them? Is it possible to get these free or do you have to pay?

As I say I have never really paid any attention to sat nav before so I'm pretty clueless but my old man wants one for christmas so I have to do some fact finding, lol.

Anyone else got any opinions on how the Nuvi/c510i is compared to the tomtom?

 

[donsrno1]

hadn't seen your last post before the one I just made. Would you definately recommend a garmin over a tomtom in general then Brun? Have you used both before?

 

[cK]

Dont spend hundreds and hundreds on a sat nav that offers more "features".

I spent £220 on a TOm Tom one when i bought mine and its been fantastic.

It does exactly what it should, its not overly complex and doesn't have maps of Europe (which some sat navs you pay extra for) that you may never use.

Tom Tom one gets my vote.

 

[DaveLiquid182]

Will work fine in a mondeo as it is not an athermic (heat reflective) screen like in the clio's

 

[BRUN]

most people will have a Tom Tom because they got in first with the big advertising campaigns, im sure you would be more than happy with one, they are good units, just personally i am used to Garmins and i dont think anything can beat them, sometimes however with price wars being so common on sat nav, one is usually cheaper than the other for similar spec

dont get a Road Angel 6000 btw, the sat nav on them is terrible, it wont find most of the places you try to find including your house

 

[donsrno1]

Will work fine in a mondeo as it is not an athermic (heat reflective) screen like in the clio's

Thanks, helps rule out one possible problem anyway.

 

[donsrno1]

Cheers brun, anyone else used both and got an opinion?

Do sat nav units tell you your speed etc usually?

 

[BRUN]

hadn't seen your last post before the one I just made. Would you definately recommend a garmin over a tomtom in general then Brun? Have you used both before?

depends on the prices at the time, as they are very similar in terms of ease of use etc

the battery life and the company pedigree with GPS systems would swing it for me towards a Garmin if the prices were the same, but if a Tom Tom was say £50 cheaper than the similar Garmin id buy the Tom Tom

dont get a PDA with Sat Nav on, most of them have poor Sat Nav and most people wont make use of the PDA

 

[14N172]

I've got a Garmin c310 streetpilot, it's OK, but I think I'd invest in a Tom Tom if I had the choice again.
The Garmin aftersales support (which I've needed) has been quite good though. But the fact I've needed them in the first place says a lot!!!
Definately get an external aerial. I had reception issues from day one and I haven't even got a heated windscreen. (W reg 172 ph1).
The aerial solved all the signal issues though and was only £11 from ebay.
But you could always try your unit first, as I think the newer models have better/stronger aerials. Then of course, if you need one, there easy enough to get hold of.

Ian.

 

[sneeks]

I've owned TomTom units and Garmin and of the two I prefer the TomTom. The 3d mapping display has a more accurate look to it and if you ever go for a blast down a unknown back road in your car then the TomTom gives you a clear indication of exactly what sort of corner to expect, the Garmin does not have the same level of detail. Not an important difference when it comes to navigation but I do feel the TT 3d display is more representative of what you actually see infront of you. £185 from Currys can't be bad.

 

[freeserver]

The Tom Tom One should work fine with a heated front windscreen anyway because its got that 360 degrees satalitte thing lol. (i dont know what the real word is but the bloke at halfords told me)

 

[freeserver]

I've owned TomTom units and Garmin and of the two I prefer the TomTom. The 3d mapping display has a more accurate look to it and if you ever go for a blast down a unknown back road in your car then the TomTom gives you a clear indication of exactly what sort of corner to expect, the Garmin does not have the same level of detail. Not an important difference when it comes to navigation but I do feel the TT 3d display is more representative of what you actually see infront of you. £185 from Currys can't be bad.

LOL i was using my Tom Tom in the same way round country lanes the other day, and was actually really surprised how accurate it was lmao

 

[sneeks]

It's excellent for times like that, the Garmin failed miserably in a similar situation as it was so vague.

I'd never have made my 40 mile journey within 30-35 minutes over twisty backroads I didn't know near Penrith without it.

 

[donsrno1]

mmm, I think I'll go to a shop tomorrow and have a bit of a play around. What the situation with tomtom's and speed camera locations? Can you get them at no extra cost?

 

[sneeks]

I think the TT comes preloaded with a speed cam database but to update this you will require a subscription. I think the cost of this is only £20 from TT.

 

[donsrno1]

Just been out to have a look at the garmin c510i, nuvi and tomtom one. What the differences between the nuvi and c510i? Unfortunately the guy in the shop didn't realy know very much about them but there was about £80 difference between them, and the tomtom one was £50 more expensive than the c510i.

Really what I need is more opinion from those who have used both. At the moment from what I've read and seen elsewhere I'm swaying towards the tomtom one but don't know if it's worth £50 more than the garmin.

 

[donsrno1]

After some humming and hawing the options are:

Nuvi 300 - £189.99
Nuvi c510 - £149.99
TomTom One - £185.90

Opinions?

At the moment I really am split so need to check with the person actually buying it what they want. BTW it seems all the maps are updatable through an SD memory card, woud I be right in thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to "aquire" the data from these cars fairly easily?

 

[BRUN]

I've got a Garmin c310 streetpilot, it's OK, but I think I'd invest in a Tom Tom if I had the choice again.
The Garmin aftersales support (which I've needed) has been quite good though. But the fact I've needed them in the first place says a lot!!!
Definately get an external aerial. I had reception issues from day one and I haven't even got a heated windscreen. (W reg 172 ph1).
The aerial solved all the signal issues though and was only £11 from ebay.
But you could always try your unit first, as I think the newer models have better/stronger aerials. Then of course, if you need one, there easy enough to get hold of.

Ian.

the c310 doesnt have the same receiver as the c510, well the ones we had at work didnt anyway

 

[BRUN]

Just been out to have a look at the garmin c510i, nuvi and tomtom one. What the differences between the nuvi and c510i? Unfortunately the guy in the shop didn't realy know very much about them but there was about £80 difference between them, and the tomtom one was £50 more expensive than the c510i.

Really what I need is more opinion from those who have used both. At the moment from what I've read and seen elsewhere I'm swaying towards the tomtom one but don't know if it's worth £50 more than the garmin.

the only real difference between the Nuvi and the c series is that the Nuvi is a very slim unit, the c series will eventually be phased out by Garmin so im told and they will stick to the Nuvi in future, but, that could be just one bloke who works for thems idea and not reality

 

[BRUN]

I've owned TomTom units and Garmin and of the two I prefer the TomTom. The 3d mapping display has a more accurate look to it and if you ever go for a blast down a unknown back road in your car then the TomTom gives you a clear indication of exactly what sort of corner to expect, the Garmin does not have the same level of detail. Not an important difference when it comes to navigation but I do feel the TT 3d display is more representative of what you actually see infront of you. £185 from Currys can't be bad.

ive always found the Garmins to be very accurate and quick to update your current movements

 

[sneeks]

I'm not saying it's not quick at updating, only the level of road detail is less than the TT maps. Tight corners can look anything but tight on the Garmin display whereas the TT is much more a real representation of the road ahead. The Garmin has a more simplified 3d display.

 

[BRUN]

you can adjust the detail on it, it has 5 settings

 

[crow]

OK SAt nav geek here! All the latest tom toms have a reciver that will work with any windscreen . the garmins will as well but the reciver is beter on the tom tom! Tom Tom mapping is second to none with easy updates! garmin have avantages such as free trafic updates on the delux models via TMC. the processors of the tom toms are loads better faster and more reliable. Speed caremas are a subscription to the tom tom one range but pre loaded to the 510 ,710 and 910.

hope to have helped!

 

[sneeks]

you can adjust the detail on it, it has 5 settings

It still does not accurately display the corners, they appear as a simplified version of the real thing. A tight corner appears tight on TT, same as what you are driving on and looking at, it does not appear this way on a Garmin.

 

[jonesyx]

Dont spend hundreds and hundreds on a sat nav...

bluetooth gps reciever off ebay - £35
nokia n80 - already had one
tommtom and route 66 for symbian - free
speed camera POI for tomtom - free

laughing at people who spend 500 on a sat nav & speed cam detector - priceless

hehe :lolup: sorry started writing a reply and couldnt resist!

 

[Rasclart]

Would be valid but very few people pay £500 for Sat Nav LOL

I have a Tom Tom GO 300 is about 2 years old now. Battered to s**t but used a LOT. Like 3-4 times a week easily due to work. Never faltered on me. Occasionly gets confused but is quick at correcting itself!

 

[crow]

Dont spend hundreds and hundreds on a sat nav...

bluetooth gps reciever off ebay - £35
nokia n80 - already had one
tommtom and route 66 for symbian - free
speed camera POI for tomtom - free

laughing at people who spend 500 on a sat nav & speed cam detector - priceless

hehe :lolup: sorry started writing a reply and couldnt resist!

where ugetting speed camera foc from??