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rat_tabs Occasional Visitor
Joined: Feb 28, 2006 Posts: 30
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:39 am Post subject: Which Sat Nav to buy |
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Hi to all.
I bought a Navman 510 in early 2005 which then, by virtue of their software update, made into a 520. Bought Map updates twice from Navman at a £100 per pop but alas, no more updates and no more maps!
So having shelled out circa £650 for this and the updates my UK and Europe unit is 'obsolete'.............so time to buy a new one but I want to ensure I can get maps and update them as long as I keep the unit, ideally over the internet/phone.
I don't need bluetooth or MP3, just a good satnav that is 'future proof', mapwise.
Please advise as to your thoughts as to what I should buy? |
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Darren Frequent Visitor
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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TomTom and Garmin are the only ones to have offered continuous support legacy models.
Given that, take a look at their ranges. _________________ Darren Griffin |
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jbarca Occasional Visitor
Joined: Jul 17, 2006 Posts: 13
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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:25 pm Post subject: Re: Which Sat Nav to buy |
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I dont know about tom tom, but if what you are looking for is something which is future proof mapwise, then i would say go for garmin.
Just by paying a one time fee you will be eligleble for free map updates for life. so your unit will always be up to date. i think the fee is about 90 Pounds. See what tom tom has to offer in this respect.
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andy1turner Occasional Visitor
Joined: Jan 11, 2005 Posts: 15 Location: South West Scotland
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject: Satnav for life - NOT Garmin |
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Don't get me wrong I like the Garmin Mobile XT product especially as there is a PC based packjage on whicvh I can plan routes and thenm exprt to the PDA.
But when I upgraded my phone from Win Mob 6 to Win Mob 6.5 and I couldn't get it to work I found that Garmin no longer support the product on Win Mob 6.5 and have no plans to change.
What good are my lifetime maps now?
Suppose its back to drum beating again and their abysmal arrogant support........... _________________ Andrew Turner
I don't think that your bad planning is any reason for me to have an emergency! |
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PloddinPedro Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 229
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:06 pm Post subject: General advice required |
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My TomTom 910 is increasingly frustrating; maps are out of date and it doesn't tell me the speed limits, plus I find the user interface awkward.
I want a Satnav that:
- continuously tells me the current speed limit;
- has the frequently used functions (e.g. speaker mute/volume) readily to hand;
- has a sensible size screen;
- easily allows the programming of routes via chosen points, so I don't have to choose between simply "fastest" or "shortest" and on/off motorway (or, ideally, which will accept the upload of .gpx routes or tracks that I've devised on desktop software like Memory Map, etc.)
It doesn't need an iPod-like touchscreen, photos, music, mp3 or any whizzy things.
Any suggestions? |
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sussamb Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4462 Location: West Sussex
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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I have a Garmin 1490, which has a 5" screen and does what you want. I'm very happy with it and it has performed flawlessly since I got it last September. |
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Andy_P Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jun 04, 2005 Posts: 19991 Location: West and Southwest London
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: General advice required |
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PloddinPedro wrote: |
I want a Satnav that:
- continuously tells me the current speed limit; |
My TomToms do that (left hand section of status bar)
Quote: | - has the frequently used functions (e.g. speaker mute/volume) readily to hand; |
My TomToms do that (one tap on status bar for volume, or three taps centre bottom of screen to mute)
Quote: | - has a sensible size screen; |
My TomToms do that (4.3" widescreen or 5" widescreen)
Quote: | - easily allows the programming of routes via chosen points, so I don't have to choose between simply "fastest" or "shortest" and on/off motorway (or, ideally, which will accept the upload of .gpx routes or tracks that I've devised on desktop software like Memory Map, etc.) |
My TomToms do that (using "Travel via" or the "itinerary planning" for more complex routes). GPX files can be easily converted to .itn files for upload to Tomtom (Or you can use the excellent "Tyre" program to create the routes from Google maps or Google Earth) |
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PloddinPedro Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 229
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for replies.
Sussamb: I was looking at the Nuvi 3790 and 1490 on the Garmin site - they seem very similar in many respects. Did you do much research before choosing the 1490 and if so, what were its winning factors?
Andy_P: I didn't know about the conversion from .gpx to .itn option. Can you elaborate a bit - I'm not very clued up on the technical side! Is there a piece of software to do the reformatting or is this something TomTom provides? |
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sussamb Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4462 Location: West Sussex
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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Mainly cost ...
Route planning was important to me as I need to hold a number of complicated routes on my GPS, after that I looked for the cheapest available.
Oh, and I wanted bluetooth capability. |
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PloddinPedro Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 229
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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sussamb wrote: | ....
Route planning was important to me as I need to hold a number of complicated routes on my GPS, ..... |
That's interesting. How do you plan and upload your routes? Is it a .gpx file thing? |
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sussamb Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4462 Location: West Sussex
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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A mix ...
Some I plan directly on the nuvi, others I plan on my PC and download as gpx files. The 1490 can only have 10 routes available as 'routes' but you can download as many as you want and then use the 'import' function on the nuvi to import the ones you want. I can therefore store 100's of routes on the nuvi. |
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Andy_P Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jun 04, 2005 Posts: 19991 Location: West and Southwest London
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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PloddinPedro wrote: | I didn't know about the conversion from .gpx to .itn option. Can you elaborate a bit - I'm not very clued up on the technical side! Is there a piece of software to do the reformatting or is this something TomTom provides? |
You can't do it on the TomTom itself, but just do a Google search for "GPX to ITN", and you'll see lots of free converters, such as 'POI Editor' and "ItnConv" are available.
But I would DEFINITELY recommend you have a look at "Tyre" ("Trace your Route Everywhere") which was specially written to create TomTom-readable itineraries from a route you set up on Google maps (and it can also read and write to Garmin Exchange files, Google KML/KMZ formats and several others).
For obvious reasons, a Google search for "Tyre" sends you to a lot of places to buy tyres! So here's a direct link... Tyre.
TomTom themselves were so impressed with it they integrated it into their 'Home' utility program as an add-on. |
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PloddinPedro Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 229
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Andy_P - that looks very helpful. |
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Ramaprem Occasional Visitor
Joined: Aug 04, 2011 Posts: 19 Location: Freiburg, Germany
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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"Just by paying a one time fee you will be eligleble for free map updates for life."
I sure wish that this was true for TomTom's products.
Other than that, I am very pleased with my 930T. I have not, however, owned anything else for comparison purposes. |
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