european satnav suggestions

[hedgerow pete]

i have at the moment a garmin satnav with western european maps and can honestly say it is by far the worse piece of kit i have ever brought.

what do you use and would you reconmend it ?

it has bean mentioned to me that the maps supplied from new are all naff and by installing the map updates they improve massively.
now that can come from either a proper map supplier or around by me the local dodgy telephone unlocking shops have started to offer sat nav updates for £30 , half the price of the genuine ones

i could also just buy one the next time i am in france

what do you lot think

 

[domino]

I've been using TomTom for a long time, my only real issue with them is I'm sure they put the cheapest battery in them they can find. After less than a year the batteries in the units I've had seem unable to support more than a few minutes charge. Apart from that the software is very good.

 

[Luminos]

I have TomTom, and no issue with the battery.
But the directions are quite often completely wrong (French map) and the updates don't seem to fix the problem.

 

[alanf]

what do you use and would you reconmend it ?

I used to use Destinator on a PDA. Partly because it was one of the better maps available for Australia and US (at the time I bought it) and partly because it was more customisable than most. I did an upgrade and additional maps which extended the life a bit but I'm not sure they are still actively developing. I mention this, not as a recommendation but as a warning that most of these devices have a limited life expectancy, support and updates may well disappear so buy what suits your needs here and now rather than planning too far into the future.

For most of my purposes now, I'm happy with the Google maps navigation on an android. I've not had occasion to need sat nav outside the UK for a year or two. If I was going to use it for any period I'd look at a local pay as you go sim. I've used that strategy when travelling before to get cheap local calls and texts and I know several visitors from abroad who do the same here for calls and data.

 

[hedgerow pete]

problem with mine is that the uk maps are ok and i can live with that its the french maps are ok on the euro ways but naff inner city, luxembourg and germany does not exist at all and belgium has no street level maps only main roads.

i dont want to spend money on up dates if the updates are just as naff

never used a tom tom only garmin's which were normally brilliant but this one is naff

 

[PBee]

Signposts? satnavs take up the space for the the can holder.

 

[BCBEE]

sat navs

Hi Pete
I go to france a lot in the camper van and use the garmin 456T which is the truckers version. Its ok in UK and Eurpoe has all streets that I have ever needed. I dont like Garmin Generally and my older one used to cut corner off and not stick to main roads. The mapping they use is quite common across the brands. This one isnt too bad though. I have never updated the mapping in the 3-4 yrs i have owned it.
If you wanted to try mine out and were going to france soon you could borrow it for a few days if you like. I only live in Great Barr so smerrick isnt too far away. I need it back by End Oct though as i am off to france myself later.

Phill

 

[george]

Tomtom Start .

Used it in Germany this yr , its very good .

G

 

[hedgerow pete]

what was the inner town city roads like , mine just goes blank when it gets too built up

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Not exactly on-topic, but I use Navfree on my iPhone and iPad.
Far quicker and easier to use than 'er indoors' Tom Tom.

Maps and visuals are excellent. No quibbles.

And it's free!


I do believe maps for foreign are available at a small price.


Dusty

 

[BeeJayBee]

Not exactly on-topic, but I use Navfree on my iPhone and iPad.

The software is free, we've downloaded maps for several European countries without any problems.

We use a LeNovo tablet and got a windscreen mount/cradle via Amazon.

 

[m100]

Had a Tom Tom Go 710 for five years or so. Maps still the orignals as the updates are just a silly price. Still way easier than navigating by map in foreign lands - mainly used it in Northern Italy and South East France. Quite good performance in built up areas, would guess it would be ok in the UK but get into really narrow streets in a medieval city with tall buldings either side and it can sometimes get totally lost. Having one means the former navigator, who was not really very good at reading maps anyway, can just look out of the window. Never ever gets used here though.

 

[MuswellMetro]

sorry duplicate...too much plymouth gin

 

[MuswellMetro]

[quote POsh B***Stard who buys a 710 ,[/quote] i had a TOMTOM 510 until last week when some tea leaf stole it , but agree, very goo excpet in narrow streets like the central ara of the area of the city of london, other wise it was great....but it did tell me to cross a ferry at bawdsey suffolk that closed in 1952 and even with u date turn left on the A406 when i was on a bridge 30ft above it ( without any access road roads)

i also had pocket gps traffic camera on mine.....very good, better thsn tom tom cameras

 

[drstitson]

tomtom WE maps fine in it france and italy.

 

[BCBEE]

All i will say Pete is whichever you buy check the spec country by country. if it says for example "France - full coverage" than all roads maintainable by the public purse will be there. Likewise for all oter countries. if it says Main roads then only a and b class roads will be covered,

Phill

 

[jdee]

Garmin 3790T even has little roads going over bogs here in Ireland - used it extensively in France and Spain and got me everywhere I wanted to go. Your right about the map updates though they are changing all the time

 

[Ruary]

I paid for lifetime map updating on my Garmin, I get an update every 4 months.

Due to memory limitations (it is an old satnav) the map I have in UK and Ireland in detail, which is all I want.

 

[Baggyone]

I use copilot for android on my cheapy phone, very cheap and been very good. Worked nicely in Canada but of course there are really only two or three map suppliers so for instance Tom Tom supply Apple with the base data but it's then used by Apple for their new iphone sat nav. Can't blame tomtom for apple getting it so badly wrong.

 

[Bungalow]

I have used both TomTom and Garmin. Both have adequate maps. The difference is in the route setting. TomTom has much better algorithms for the routes, whereas Garmin can send you off on B roads for a one minute (illusory) time saving.

Garmin traffic works well, inasmuch as it tells you about the traffic, but the route setting that it then does to avoid the traffic is quite confusing. I have not used TomTom equivalent, but hear from professional drivers that it is very good.

My advice is to go with TomTom.