Threw my Sat Nav out of the window!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

AANDYY

Active Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
958
Location
Blackpool
Car
E300DT-W210-1997-Elegance-Azurite Metalic Blue. (Don't mention the rust, LOL) Running on WVO. 65k m
:D

Here's the story, a trial of problems, :eek:, we decided to go the Peak District yesterday for a day out, it was foggy when we got there :doh:, I did check the forecast before hand, we couldn't find two places I wanted to see, Magpie mine and the Arbor Low Stone Circle.
So we decided to grab a Burger King on the way home via the Woodhead Pass, nearest BK was Chesterfield, the BK there was in a shopping centre :doh:, wanted a drive threw really, no worries, off to Sheffield, the first one Sandra Sat Nav took us to was in a row of houses:dk:, next was wrong again! try again, Sandra kept trying to take down a bus lane! :devil:.
That was it, raging now in rush hour traffic, pull over passenger window down threw Sandra at the wall near by :wallbash:, arrrrr that's better:p.

I've had issues with it before, Tom Tom 1, about 3-4 years old, maps updated about 1 year ago.

So we set off home and stumbled across the BK we intended to go to in the first place! we had been there a few months earlier :D.

Anyhoo, bought this cheapy sat nav F & H 3.5" Version 3 Sat Nav - UK Maps, Lane Navigation, Postcode Search, TFT flat Touch Screen - ALSO plays MP3 & MP4 - Ebuyer

Apparently if you use this site you can change the software and stuff to make them as good as more expensive types.
Simple Sat Nav
 
Last edited:
My biggest gripe about my TomTom is that I can not enter a destination by OS co-ordinates. Considering I like walking at the w/e and use OS maps, this would be a good feature.

I guess I should have done more research before buying. It wouldn't surprise me if this feature is available on Garmin, considering all the handheld sat-navs they sell.
 
I do feel a little sorry for the Sat nav map makers in Sheffield. The road systems change almost weekly....
 
My biggest gripe about my TomTom is that I can not enter a destination by OS co-ordinates. Considering I like walking at the w/e and use OS maps, this would be a good feature.

I guess I should have done more research before buying. It wouldn't surprise me if this feature is available on Garmin, considering all the handheld sat-navs they sell.

The automotive Garmins I have used didn't have OS co-ordinate entry.
 
I do feel a little sorry for the Sat nav map makers in Sheffield. The road systems change almost weekly....


Agreed. I think Sheffield City Councils soul purpose in life is to make it has hard for the people of Sheffield to drive.

We must have some of the worst roads in the country, in terms of potholes and crap surfaces and like you say are constantly changing the road systems.
 
Yer, it took us well over an hour to get out!
 
Had my TomTom classic for well over 5 years now, updated maps last year, has taken me all over UK & Europe best £400 I ever spent. (Yes that's how much they cost then). Would not be without it. Even works after being dropped about 3 times.
 
My biggest gripe about my TomTom is that I can not enter a destination by OS co-ordinates. Considering I like walking at the w/e and use OS maps, this would be a good feature.

I guess I should have done more research before buying. It wouldn't surprise me if this feature is available on Garmin, considering all the handheld sat-navs they sell.

you can calculate the WGS84 from the OSGB36. but I have forgot which fiqure you need.

my Garmin has an OS map set for the UK but that's a handheld jobby anyway.
 
had my garmin just over a year and now its unable to be software updated and the website says its "discontinued". thanks a bunch Garmin. My wifes tomtom which is same age can still be totally updatable. only thing i can update on my garmin are the maps - no "software" updates at all.

the link posted above for the cheap satnav which is upgradable sounds quite good.....
 
Completely understand about the satnav out the window. What I'm bewildered & amazed by is that you drove out of your way to find a Burger King.
 
Completely understand about the satnav out the window. What I'm bewildered & amazed by is that you drove out of your way to find a Burger King.

Well, I do like a Double Whopper sometimes;), Oo er Matron!
 
The automotive Garmins I have used didn't have OS co-ordinate entry.
In the Garmin automotive range, the StreetPilot 2000 series allows OS co-ordinate entry, as do the motorcycle-oriented Zumo devices. As the latter are based on the high-end Nuvi's, it would be worth an e-mail to Garmin support to find out which, if any, of their latest range support OS co-ordinate entry.
you can calculate the WGS84 from the OSGB36. but I have forgot which fiqure you need.
There are lots of calculators on the web that do this, e.g. this one which also gives an explanation of how the different datums and grids inter-relate.
 
Last edited:
had my garmin just over a year and now its unable to be software updated and the website says its "discontinued". thanks a bunch Garmin. My wifes tomtom which is same age can still be totally updatable. only thing i can update on my garmin are the maps - no "software" updates at all.
Why would you need a software update? Map updates are much more relevant. Software updates are issued to provide enhanced functionality (generally only in the very early lifecycle of a product) or to correct bugs. Once the bugs are dealt with, in general there are no further software releases.
 
Why would you need a software update? Map updates are much more relevant. Software updates are issued to provide enhanced functionality (generally only in the very early lifecycle of a product) or to correct bugs. Once the bugs are dealt with, in general there are no further software releases.

my software i mean updates like my wife's tom tom can have to find satalites quicker etc, not neccessarily firmware etc.
 
Garmin don't need software updates because they work properly :) They keep 'fixing things' in the Tom Toms because they need fixing.

Garmin's map updates are painless and any subscriptions can be kept going as long as you have the unit
 
The automotive Garmins I have used didn't have OS co-ordinate entry.


My Garmin Zumo 550 I use on the bike and in the car does :thumb:

They're not infallible either especially when they tell you you have arrived at your destination and sure it enough you can see it, the canal between makes it a problem though.

I've also found in rural areas it can send you to the wrong side of a field if there are two lanes running along opposite sides. Some tracks I've been directed too I wouldn't take a 4X4 down.
 
Last edited:
Here just off the A515, up Long Rake, onto farmers track, park in the little car park, walk up the track, through farm yard (remembering to put some reddies in the little pot, upkeep of car park) over a couple of fences and Robert's your mother's brother and you're there. Good views well worth the short walk.
 
Last edited:
TomTom used to try to route me onto the M25 Motorway via a Motorway Maintainance depot at Brasted in Kent & one of the guys at the site told me it was quite common to get cars being sent that way via satnavs. (Think the locals may have used it as a short cut as well).
 
Ah, the joys of motoring in Sheffield.

I live here and you wouldn't imagine just how bad the roads are until you have sampled them for yourself.

Potholes - the result of years of neglect and now made worse by ice - are so endemic that you can barely drive down a road without hitting one. And there are some that make the Grand Canyon look like a small crack!

And then onto the actual road system iteslf - roads constantly changing in the council's favourite pastime - annoy the motorist in the hope they will give up and get the bus. Only problem is the busses don't work either, and all their ridiculous schemes have achieved is to p*ss motorists off and drive people away from town - and they wonder why it's a ghost town and everyone shops at Meadowhall!

I am looking forward to my E350 Sport massively, but am not looking forward to having to dodge the potholes so as not to damage the alloys!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom