First Satnav - 3 Options! Which One?

Noonster

Hello all,

This is my first post on the forum and I really hope you can help me. I live in the UK and I am about to buy my first Satnav system. I travel around the country to lots of car shows (around 9/10) a year and need a system that will be accurate.

I have narrowed it down to 3 products, however I have only looked at TomTom and Navman... maybe you think others are better??

Products
- Navman iCN520
- TomTom GO 300
- TomTom ONE (When Released

What I need
- Accurate Maps
- Ability to add Speed Cameras
- Good Battery Life (Not Essential but could help)
- Ability to add exact location (Think only TomTom has this... however shouldnt ANY satnav get you to the right place anyways?)
- Touchscreen
- Able to store in a pocket (if possible but again on a small thing thats NOT essential)

Basically just need a good reliable unit with maps that are accurate and will get me to the places I need.

I HOPE you can help me decide, If you think another unit other than the ones above would be better then PLEASE suggest that, however mainly out of the above which would you say and why.

Thanks in advance.
Darren :D

StevenGourlay · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:15 pm Post subject:

I personally prefer the GO 300 over the Navman ICN as the postcode search in TomTom is better than that of the Navman in Scotland. The Navone i have tried so cannot really comment, i would say if you can hold out then wait until there are reviews of the product.
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Steven Gourlay
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mikealder · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:30 pm Post subject:

I use the XDA units - they are cheap, if you want to use the phone on contract you will get a PDA/Phone for around 100 sterling then get a GPS, mount, SD card and the software (TomTom). The PDA is just more useful in terms of what you can do (like typing this reply in the pub on WIFI) - just a thought Cheers Mike

StevenGourlay · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject:

Yeah mike has a point i use my i-mate jam and my Nokia as satnav as i am always out and about on my bike or in the car. If you want something only for in the car and only need satnav then the TTGO is a good choice. If you want a PDA based system these are good if you need to use the facilities that they offer.
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Steven Gourlay
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Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks to your both for the replies....
- Definatly dont want a iPaq or the like mainly because I would never use it, I know it sounds silly but I really wouldnt!.

Yeah its just a in car one I would like, one that I can take out for security and also keep on me if needs be (Hence the fit in a pocket). I know the TTGO is too big for that however the TTONE wont be. However from what I have heard the TTONE has crap battery life and the speaker is not that great.

Another thing aparently the Navman use's better mapping? More accurate and give better navigation? HOWEVER the TomTom looks better and is more usuable and upgradable (POI's etc...)
- Would you both agree with this??

Lastly, when speaking to a Friend earlier they said a Garmin Streetpilot 320
- http://www.garmin.com/products/sp320/
- I have not heard of them or looked into them... how do they compare to the units I stated in the first post... are they worth considering.

SORRY about the long post and thanks again for your comments and I hope you can help me futher with this ;)

Darren
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Noonster
Getting a TomTom 510

NorthBoy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 21

How about the BM6380 from Evesham.

Looks great, NavTeq map data and speed camera alerts.

£299.99 from Evesham, or £199.99 ex VAT from Makro at the moment.

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=178E64EA-4F86-4F2A-87FB-DAB6A54C8605

Chris

Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:47 pm Post subject:

StevenGourlay · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:00 pm Post subject:

i have not used the Evesham BlueMedia BM6380 so cannot coment on the the physical hardware, but i have used Destinator ND on a Holux GPSlim 60
http://www.holux.co.uk/Products/gpsmile60/index.shtml

And i also used the same software on the TIBO
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/Tibo-Multimedia-GPS-unit-with-Destinator-PN-UK-version.aspx

The navteq map data up north seems to be better than teleatlas, that is the general feeling of those who i have spoken to. ND does not have full postcode which can be a major factor for some people who only want to enter the postcode and house number. The Evesham and the Holux are slim which sounds like it could be more advantagous for you, the Holux is a PPC so you do get those PDA features also that you are not really interseted in.
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Steven Gourlay
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Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:20 pm Post subject:

^^ Not really keen on either of them to mate... Sad

- Sorry
- Navteq better in the north is good... however most of the places I will be traveling will be Derby or lower - will it still be good around there and down south??

Also TTGO (TTONE) can store a place on the exact location.... IE, If I drove to work I could wait till I got right into the carpart (my parking space even) and could then add that as "Work" to TomTom. Then anytime I wanted to get there it would take me to that exactly GPS location right???

If the above is right can the other units including the Navman iCN520 and the Garmin and even the ones you suggested do this??

Thanks gain for all your advice, its really helping me and hopefully will be able to make a decision soon.

Cheers
Darren
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Noonster
Getting a TomTom 510

mikealder · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:25 pm Post subject:

[quote="NoonsterIf I drove to work I could wait till I got right into the carpark (my parking space even) and could then add that as "Work" to TomTom. [/quote]

Darren, this will only work IF where you park is actually on the TT map, where I work is not mapped so the device cannot find a stored point at that location (airfield), the best thing to do in this situation is to store the location of the last avail access point to the site which is on the map - it saves the unit (and user) from confusion - Mike

Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:45 pm Post subject:

Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:20 pm Post subject:

Also speaking to my mate again who recommends a Garmin... he has been saying

"Garmin has full postcode input, it also tells you which side of the road your destination is on - something that even the latest TomToms don't do."

and

"If you skip the postcode input and just give it a road name it will first offer you the nearest one so say you put in High Street (How many of those in the UK?) it will start by listing the geographically nearest to your current location,TomTom does'nt do this either. "

Would you agree with them statements??

ALSO I really like the look of the Navman... the Garmin and TomToms seem really simple - however that could be a good thing I suppose??

Ahhhh I dunno - Been thinking about this for a few days (weeks) now and its really starting to send me crazy Sad

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Noonster
Getting a TomTom 510

mikealder · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:23 pm Post subject:

Darren, they will only work when the place you are at is actually on the map, if the map provider has no access to the location you are at then the software will not know where you actually are, this is normally private corporate companies (with large sites) or military establishments (for obvious security reasons). The best option is to save the entry point to the site as a favorite location and use the nav to fav option. I can only comment on the TT product as I have not bothered with the others (yet). This also becomes the case when planning a journey, if I am at work the position is correct, but the map has no idea as to the road I am on - its not a problem it just takes some getting used to advanced planning nav from a known point to a destination is fine, as soon as you aquire a mapped road the device fires up and works fine. - Mike

Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:34 pm Post subject:

Noonster · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:37 pm Post subject:

Sorry to go on!

Just spoke to a mate who has a Navman iCN650 and on his unit you can add your exact current location to your favorites. He said you do the following:

Stop Car (Obviously)
Click Ok
- It then shows your Longitude and Latiude
Click Ok (or options?)
You can then select lots of options from a list... one saying "Add To Favorites"
Give it a name
Press ok and its done - that exact place.

The iCN650 uses SmartST V3 and the iCN520 uses the SmartST 2005 (newest version)... I am guessing if the above is possible on the iCN650 then it will be on the 520??

Can anyone confirm this?? As this really is a big selling point for me and something I really need to be able to do.

Cheers
Darren
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Noonster
Getting a TomTom 510

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