Satnavs

[peteadams67]

Hi all
How many of you use Satnavs?

I've used a "Navman 520" for a number of years & found that I could download all the "Caravan club & Camping & caravan club" sites plus a few private ones which was handy but the w/screen mount broke & I'm unable too get a replacement which means a new maybe better Satnav anybody got any preferences if so can they get the downloads for sites etc

Pete

[Graham]

Hi Pete

We use TomTom and it is pretty good, we have downloaded the CC and C&CC Club sites and also CL's, it will also find the nearest petrol, supermarket, police station, pharmacy, doctors, garage etc etc etc.

We find it really useful when camping in a place we are not familiar with, you just have to be careful it doesn't send you down any unsuitable roads it once send us down a very narrow country road which we would rather have avoided so we tend to use it in conjunction with map for navigating.

Graham

[time2travel]

Hi we also use the Tom Tom all the time- we used it in Ireland without any problems - the only thing we found when we were in Wales was that some of the roads it took us down were pretty narrow but we were in a large camper at the time and their B roads can be like dirt tracks!!!
It's interesting that it keeps the same tone of voice if you deliberately ignore it unlike the OH who gets exasperated and expletive!!!!!
Barbara

[niloc]

We also use the Tom Tom, and found similar, occasional, unsuitable routes for our coachbuilt. But - theres a lot of gear that would be thrown out before we could be parted from our satnav. Especially after France last year, a country we always got lost in with their un numbered or double numbered roads. Last year it was a dream, particularly the towns, and we imported the supermarkets as Points of Interest so that gave us both food and the cheapest fuel in each area.

For the UK we did have on all the Sainsburys and Tescos for the same reason, plus WiFi points. All these are gone I think, having just upgraded the map, so I will have to download them again. The Tom Tom does come with all Caravan Club sites and a good few private camp sites built in.

Ours is the cheapest version so there is no mobile or road congestion information. Speed cameras are irrelevent in our van after my wife found a 'handy' bit of the Tom Tom that can be set at a maximum speed, (60???) and will 'DING' loudly if you exceed it. Unnervingly, it can also pick up some maximum road speeds and remind you of these in the same way. For sanity the system stays turned off when I am driving.

Good hunting

Colin

[caz]

I use a Garmin Nuvi. It's a couple of years old so keeps telling me it's out of date every time I turn it on, but there isn't much it misses - one road locally, a bypass in Cornwall and a new roundabout outside Angers in France are all that's confused it in the last 12 months.

It got me from home (Shropshire) to Dover, Calais to the Loire Valley, around the Saumur area and back home again last summer with no problems. Useful 'cos the 3 teens who were supposed to be navigating kept falling asleep.

It came with a lot of POIs, supermarkets, petrol, etc on it. I could download campsites on to it if I wanted to.

[liz]

i have been thinking of getting one for three years but have been put off by my fathers. when my dad died i got to utilise his sat nav great i thought, well the dam thing has never worked since the day he died, it seems to be stuck on one journey, i re enter my journey and it seems to go off on its own. never mind where i am. So ive given up.

i was good at map reading and enjoy it, i just right out a list of the junctions i need, i work with young 20yr olds who all have them and they cant find their way across town without it. not a good thing, god help us when the day comes and a whole generation cant read a map.
It will be like the cooking skills all gone unless your over 30

[viv]

Apr 10, 2009 8:54:10 GMT liz said:

i work with young 20yr olds who all have them and they cant find their way across town without it. not a good thing, god help us when the day comes and a whole generation cant read a map.
It will be like the cooking skills all gone unless your over 30

They will need it just to get round the kitchen and find ingredients soon!

I can just imagine it:

"at the sink, turn left, open cupboard and remove processed pack of dinner!"

[roamingsue]

If you are driving on your own they are invaluable particulary in the middle of a city! They are dangerous to use without a map but as a back up they are BRILLIANT. Have you not been in one of those situations where a one way system kicks in and you become totally lost.. I have. ... Obviously if they point you somewhere that looks daft you ignore them, i.e. down a one way street or up a dirt track and press on.. they flash a bit then plot you another more sensible route automatically.

You still need to map read with Sat Nav it is only an aid. But Viv ... what a good idea for the kitchen!

[roamingsue]

Graham can I ask how you download the C&CC sites etc.... where do you do that.. thanks in advance

[karenw]

I have a basic TomTom and wouldn't be without it. Most of my trips are solo and it's very helpful to have a navigator, particularly in busy towns and cities with several lanes of traffic. I generally plan my route and write a list of directions and use the satnav to confirm where I am, which lane I should be in and to predict road layouts ahead. For me, satnav really comes into its own if I miss a turning and am in a one-way system so can't correct immediately eg when driving through central London at 5pm a few weeks ago. The TomTom soon sorts out how to get to where I should be and for this reason I wouldn't be without it. It's also reassuring when driving at night to a remote location with no signposts. Many a time I would have been lost or stranded without it.

[Dabs]

We hear a lot of negatives about Sat Navs,personally I think they are brilliant as my map reading and direction finding skills are not too good.I find I can relax and enjoy the journey more by having the Sat Nav pointing the way!
Mine is a Tom Tom One UK never failed yet to get me where I wanted to be and some of the campsites I have visited I would never have found without the sultry tones of my lady guide shouting out instructions (no not the mrs!!) hahahahaha
Dabs

[aggsandrog]

I bought a budget TomTom One a couple of years ago, spurred on slightly by the fact that my daughters cannot read a map and were then taking driving lessons. Myself, as a cyclist and motorist for half a century, do pride myself that I can read a map.

Two years on I would not be without the TomTom. I still drive with the map open, however. I am now addicted to the sultry tones of Sally Traffic giving me clear directions as I approach a roundabout, etc etc. And calling me a silly old Tog if I take a wrong turn.

Sad? I do not think so. I plan my TomTom route while looking at the map, and while driving on my own fully appreciate the clearly spoken directions given in advance.

Why spurn such a useful device for old times' sake? The safety aspect should not be overlooked. And driving in France? What a boon.

.... Roger

[Graham]

Apr 10, 2009 17:13:43 GMT roamingsue said:

Graham can I ask how you download the C&CC sites etc.... where do you do that.. thanks in advance

Hi Roamingsue

With our Tom Tom there was a disc with some software on with which you can download points of interest to your device, the C&CC sites was one of the points of interest, there are lots of others, its depends on what you are particularly interested in. Some you have to pay for but a lot of free including camp sites.

All you do is plug your Tom Tom into your computer load the software and it does the rest for you. You can also download different voices, safety camera locations, traffic news, latest fuel prices etc.

Graham

[peteadams67]

Hi all
Thanks for all the comments on Satnavs I decided on a TomTom XL which seems OK the mount is compact & the unit can slip in your pocket.

I've tried to get a new mount for my old unit which is a Navman Icn520 but Navman no longer stock the spares for that model I couldn't find one on E-bay & the only supplier I was able to find sent the wrong mount took it back for exchange then after weeks when I asked for a refund said his supplier had let him down & I'm still waiting for the refund this has gone on since Jan 8th.

The name of the firm is Handnav.com so be warned.

Cheers
Pete

[roamingsue]

thanks graham had not realised you could download points of interests... or I have missed it somehow. ... Now downloaded. TA

[peteadams67]

Hi all
Since my Msg. of the 11th Apr. regarding the failure of Handnav too pay back my refund I found it in the bank today so maybe I was a bit hasty condemning them

Cheers
Pete

[dancer]

Hi Pete

I have an icn 520 had i from new, i have been very happy with it although i dont use it much, the good thing about the icn 520 is that you can turn it into a tom tom, mine has all campsites in the uk, celeb voices, mp3, all europe and usa, canada, mapping, there is so much you can get out of the navman, it has loads of features, so you can have 2 sat navs for the price of 1, i would keep looking for a windscreen mount there are some on ebay now, 99p start price, i would`nt get rid of the navman.
just search for navman icn 520
Steve

[robin]

Tom Tom here too. Very good.

[greynomad]

After I 'navigated' us to the wrong site (easily done, I'd accidentally turned the page...luckily not too far out of our way, but, he was not happy!!) my husband invested in a Tom Tom! That too has taken us on a few round about routes, especially in France and Wales when we've missed one turn and it's had to re direct!! All good fun anyway, you see so much more of the countryside!!