Sat Nav recommendation please

[Paddcomp]

I've been looking around and there are a few sat nav deals around at the moment. I currently have an old Tomtom Go 910, which although working is getting old and will die one day.

Anyone bought something decent recently?

New Tomtom 1000 series get poor reviews and don't seem to work as well as the old ones.

Garmin 2495 and 2595 both the LMT (lifetime traffic and map updates) seem to hit the spot. Anyone have any experience on these units?

I want UK and European maps and be able to load North America (US) maps. Plus I want bluetooth for hands free calls.

 

[carlove987]

No

 

[Gollom]

I've been looking around and there are a few sat nav deals around at the moment. I currently have an old Tomtom Go 910, which although working is getting old and will die one day.

Anyone bought something decent recently?

New Tomtom 1000 series get poor reviews and don't seem to work as well as the old ones.

Garmin 2495 and 2595 both the LMT (lifetime traffic and map updates) seem to hit the spot. Anyone have any experience on these units?

I want UK and European maps and be able to load North America (US) maps. Plus I want bluetooth for hands free calls.

Despite misgivings, just bought one of these and so far have no complaints! Not used the bluetooth function as yet, Downloaded the US maps for nothing (which was one of the drivers for me changing my SatNav anyway)

See you live in Preston so you can pop by and take a look if you want? Drop me a PM for address etc.

 

[GordonTarling]

I've tried some of the others and find Garmin the best for me. Free maps on that Ebay one is certainly worth looking into, but will they still be available in a year's time?

 

[@MARK]

I had a TomTom 825 Live thing just before I bought the current car.

I tried the 1000 first and found the capacitive screen (like you find on a smart phone etc) just too sensitive for using in a moving car. The 825 is the same device but with a resistive screen and just seemed better suited to use in a car.

The TT Live devices have a built in SIM card (which works all over Europe without any additional charges) which means on a trip to the south west of france we were able to access live traffic (a lot more live than TMC), weather and even do a Google search on things.

Very impressed

 

[st13phil]

The TT Live devices have a built in SIM card (which works all over Europe without any additional charges)

I thought that it was a subscription service with only the first year "free"?

Back to the OP's question:

I have a preference for Garmin, partly due to their heritage as a "proper" GPS Navigator company, and partly due to their aftersales support. Others swear by TomTom. The reality is that for the relatively undemanding task of navigating you from your current location to where you want to be, pretty much any of them will do the job. If you have higher demands - such as off-device route planning, ability to store multiple pre-planned routes on the device, etc. - Garmin are generally better than TomTom.

 

[Paddcomp]

Despite misgivings, just bought one of these and so far have no complaints! Not used the bluetooth function as yet, Downloaded the US maps for nothing (which was one of the drivers for me changing my SatNav anyway)

See you live in Preston so you can pop by and take a look if you want? Drop me a PM for address etc.

Interesting option, you've gotta love the Chinese. I've recently bought a cheap Chinese tablet, so can't fault the logic. It's usually the bespoke software that would be the weakness, at least the tablets use Android.

 

[BTB 500]

I currently have an old Tomtom Go 910, which although working is getting old and will die one day.

I'm also using a 910 - it will be a pain to replace as I don't think any current models have a remote (we mostly use it in the Vito, where the windscreen is too far away to reach a satnav when driving).

I have a mount and power lead for my Nokia phone (which has GPS) as backup - other than that I plan to stick with the 910!

 

[Paddcomp]

I'm also using a 910 - it will be a pain to replace as I don't think any current models have a remote (we mostly use it in the Vito, where the windscreen is too far away to reach a satnav when driving).

I have a mount and power lead for my Nokia phone (which has GPS) as backup - other than that I plan to stick with the 910!

I don't use the remote, but do like the 910 generally. Not many out of the box devices have US maps either (not that we go a lot, but find it useful when we do).
I've invested in updated maps for the 910, both Europe and USA, which together could have bought a new device. I can't help thinking that the old 910 will just fail due to old age, so I don't want to buy any more new maps.

 

[BTB 500]

TomTom discount their maps fairly often (sales and special offers), so you so need to pick when you buy them. Still very cheap compared to a new Mercedes COMAND disk though

We've had the 910 for 6 years now and it's still going strong. Nothing to suggest it's on its last legs! A bigger screen would be nice though.

 

[@MARK]

I'm also using a 910 - it will be a pain to replace as I don't think any current models have a remote (we mostly use it in the Vito, where the windscreen is too far away to reach a satnav when driving).

Have you ever though have going for one of the Proclips by Broditt?

I had one of these in my previous BMW and was very impressed in that it gave a good solid mount (not to be confused with those cheap vent mounts out there) within reach yet when I removed it from the car you would not have known it was there

Go here for more info

Brodit Proclip | UK | DSLDevelopments

 

[Aerialmark]

I've been looking around and there are a few sat nav deals around at the moment. I currently have an old Tomtom Go 910, which although working is getting old and will die one day.

Anyone bought something decent recently?

New Tomtom 1000 series get poor reviews and don't seem to work as well as the old ones.

Garmin 2495 and 2595 both the LMT (lifetime traffic and map updates) seem to hit the spot. Anyone have any experience on these units?

I want UK and European maps and be able to load North America (US) maps. Plus I want bluetooth for hands free calls.

I am touring Europe at the moment and have a tomtom go 825 and have had no problems at all , you can have fastest route avoid. Tolls Eco route. May get a little mixed up with the odd road in city center but if you use common sense aswell you will be ok.

 

[pittstop]

Hi
£30 cashback on Garmin 2595LMT and possibly on 2495LMT until 31/8/12.
Check Amazon site.
Cheers

 

[Paddcomp]

Hi
£30 cashback on Garmin 2595LMT and possibly on 2495LMT until 31/8/12.
Check Amazon site.
Cheers

That's where I'm at, looks a good deal just some of the reviews are poor. I also like the lifetime maps and traffic.

 

[rascalmaster]

hi

i have the tomtom app on my iphone 4s and (using the same itunes account so for no more monies ) my wife also has it on her iPhone 4.

1. works as well as my 910 did

2. arrive at your destination with your phone fully charged and one less gadget to look after...

3. bluetooth google search, traffic updates etc etc are a breeze

works very well for us

 

[@MARK]

hi

i have the tomtom app on my iphone 4s and (using the same itunes account so for no more monies ) my wife also has it on her iPhone 4.

1. works as well as my 910 did

2. arrive at your destination with your phone fully charged and one less gadget to look after...

3. bluetooth google search, traffic updates etc etc are a breeze

works very well for us

What does your data roaming bill look like after a couple of weeks in Europe?

 

[DSM10000]

hi

i have the tomtom app on my iphone 4s and (using the same itunes account so for no more monies ) my wife also has it on her iPhone 4.

1. works as well as my 910 did

2. arrive at your destination with your phone fully charged and one less gadget to look after...

3. bluetooth google search, traffic updates etc etc are a breeze

works very well for us

Similar to my experience but using Co-pilot on a Samsung Galaxy SII

I have had TomTom devices and found them unreliable , admittedly my experience is based on two units but both failed within 3 weeks of purchase. Also the blue tooth hands free was awful, the speaker was too small and on my model faced towards the windscreen.

If running satnav on your 'phone you can of course buy a Blue tooth hands free system that also transmits an FM signal that your radio picks up.

I have a Jabra system and it is excellent, once set it streams music from the 'phone to the car stereo as well as 'phone calls and all in one discreet unit clipped to the sun visor. . I also use the Brodit Proclip mount that charges the phone (you may have this hard wired or with a lighter socket plug) and find those to be very easy to use.

 

[rascalmaster]

What does your data roaming bill look like after a couple of weeks in Europe?

Nada! I'd turn off roaming of course ;-)