sathav.......

[rf065]

There was a piece on TV about buying Sat Navs and it mentioned a few of the makers have pulled out of the market due to increased competition.

I think Via Michelin was one of them, plus a few others, something to keep in mind before buying an expensive paper weight.

Personaly, I find TomTom, due to their purchase of TeleMaps & mapshare facility cannot be equalled by any of the rest.

Russ

 

[MangoMan]

If you're on a really tight budget you could get one of these Satnags

Click Me

Like it....... lol

No, not really on a tight budget, I'm just tight........ Even with my wifes money!

 

[Godot]

Still get regular updates & "newsletter" from Michelin, last one 19.11.08
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/nwl/htm/newsletter_tourisme_20081114.htm

 

[rf065]

Still get regular updates & "newsletter" from Michelin, last one 19.11.08
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/nwl/htm/newsletter_tourisme_20081114.htm

Enjoy them while they last, ViaMichelin, Sony & Panasonic have all left the Sat Nav business.

"Panasonic are the latest manufacturer to announce their withdrawal from the European GPS market.

Citing low margins and the poor economic climate, Panasonic have announced they will cease GPS navigation device sales in Europe shortly allowing them to concentrate on their core products.

Given the lacklustre performance of their Strada device this news comes as little surprise. Many of the big names in electronics jumped on the GPS bandwagon with little experience of what was desired by the consumer and relied on their brand name to drive sales. Panasonic's devices had a nice quality feel to them but the Navigon software they chose was poorly implemented and the device struggled to keep up much of the time. Sony was another major brand who dipped their toes in the European market then made for the hills shortly after.

The drive for ever lower prices, cut-throat margins and too many products was already having an effect before the economic freefall. ViaMichelin pulled out of GPS and and MyGuide, a promising GPS manufacturers is now no more. One thing is for certain, Panasonic will not be the last."

Russ

 

[Pug]

I did look at the Becker, but was worried about A.S.S. (After Sales Service).

I bought a Becker 7827 in the Halfords sale for £120 and love it. They have a dedicated service and support line based in Birmingham for the UK and gave me good advice when I phoned them with a query.

It has full Euro maps (not just Western EU), TMC (which has been a Godsend several times), lane guidance, speed warnings, speed camera locations plus loads more features normally only found on devices costing twice the price and more.

It's also easily hackable - you can access the underlying Windows OS by going to Settings -> Info and treble-clicking the Navigon icon.
Here, you can edit the config files to enable Reality View amongst other things (giving me 3D landmarks when I was in London this weekend).


I'd previously had a Maplins cheapie that broke, so I spent £30-40 extra on this one after a refund and it's turned out to be my best investment for some time.

Hope it helps.

 

[MangoMan]

I know this is an old Thread, but I thought it worth a follow-up.

Decided to buy a Garmin Nuvi 265wt. Works a treat £179.95 including a case and spare windscreen attachment (2 cars).

Link: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=13430

Very Happy.

Thanks, Bill.

 

[andy_k]

As I said earlier, we have a Garmin (much the same as yours minus the bluetooth) and it's been superb - good choice