Oh no! Not new satnav advice again!

[astrocompass]

Crikey it's been a while since I've visited this site. I guess that's mainly because my daily commute to London via our reasonably priced yet gloriously overcrowded trains don't make much demand on my satnav capability. Ever heard of a commuter train taking a wrong turn, or being booked for speeding?

Anyways, my somewhat ageing BT338, iPaq 2210 and Tom Tom 5 .x combo are getting a bit long in the tooth – confusing when you're instructed to take the third exit from a roundabout that's morphed into a four way traffic light controlled crossing with no right turn, and doesn't reflect the other changes to our roadways that have occurred in the last x years.

So I'm in the market for a new setup, and have come to the best place to get advice. The choice seems overwhelming, so I thought I'd ask you experts first. I don't particularly want satnav on a phone, and would prefer a dedicated unit. It must have the capability to download POI's especially the speed cams from here. I'd like European and Nordic maps and maybe North American too, because I'd use them. Real time traffic info might be useful (got stuck in that M25 fiasco not long ago...). I'd like to use the Liz voice, also sourced from here. Budget isn't a problem, but I'm into value for money rather than the latest technology at any price. I don't think I need all the latest technology but am content to be convinced otherwise. I like Tom Tom 5.x, but also was happy with 3.x, but am equally happy to learn something new.

Any suggestions gratefully received from a dormant but grateful member.

Astro
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Garmin 2360LT
iPaq 2210 TTN5.2

[mikealder]

I am not too sure the current TomTom range is worthy of any sort of recomendation given your wish list, about the only things they can do are a custom voice and load the PGPSW speed camera database. You can't purchase maps of anywhere other than those currently installed to the device, if you are lucky it might have a memory card slot for expansion purposes but its disabled with no idea as to when/if it might be put to use. Finally the PC interface for the newer TomTom units is crap, very limitted as to what it can do leaving you 100% in the hands of TomTom support when it goes wrong. At best when it goes belly up you send it back to be supplied with a replacement rather than the old fashioned way of format and re-install a day 01 back up, yes thats right you can't even back up the data you purchased along with the device.

Most of the newer high end TomTom units have the Live services enabled allowing you to Navigate to a Google search entry and the previously acclaimed Live HD Traffic, I use the past tense deliberatly because they have ruined what was a decent service by one of their "upgrades" that limits the range it can look ahead, for use in the UK it is currently as good as useless IMHO.

An iPhone4 running the TomTom app is a decent bet as that isn't as crippled as the standalone devices and can, with a bit of effort be forced to use the Liz Whit voice (mine does). After that I would look at Garmin as they are the only other company that have offered support to devices as they grow old but you can forget using the Liz voice on one of those - Mike

[AliOnHols]

If you pop over to TomTom's Outlet store -
http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/products/tomtom-outlet-store/

you may find that one of the last generation SatNav's suits your needs and at a reasonable price.
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Garmin Nuvi 2599
Android with CamerAlert, OsmAnd+, Waze & TT Europe.
TomTom GO 730, GO 930, GO 940 & Rider2.
SatMap Active 10 & 20.

[Kremmen]

If you do choose Garmin don't worry about the POI female voice as the latest PGPSW dedicated voice is very clear.
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Satnav:
Garmin 2599 LMT-D (Indoor test rig)
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3
Car Average MPG :

[peterc10]

Any particular reason why you don't want a sat nav app on a phone. If you already have a smartphone (or are in the market for one anyway) it will provide the best value, and it will hit all your wish list.

I have an Android phone with Sat Nav apps (Sygic for Europe and Copilot for USA) on a permanently wired Brodit mount in the car. I can also use Google Maps, Places and Nav to find almost anything in the area as well (much better and more comprehensive than using POIs).

Nowadays I don't even bother with camera alerts on the sat nav. I just run PGPSW's CamerAlert app in the background of whatever app I have on. Works fine for me.
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Peter
HTC Sensation
Sygic GPS for Europe (No more TT "support"!)
Copilot for USA
Bury CC9060 bluetooth car kit & Brodit mount

[astrocompass]

Thanks Mike - you've confirmed a latent fear that TT ain't what it was. I think I'll cross it off the list. Appreciated.

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