Advice Please - Which SatNav to buy?

NataliaD · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 05, 2009 Posts: 3

I've read pages and pages on this website and am now a new member as I need your advice!

I thought I wanted a TomTom 730T but my husband now thinks it may have a lot of extra features that we just don't need so I'm hoping if I list what we need someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

I'm a new driver so want to be come more confident driving around on my own so I'm looking for something that is easy to use, generally consistently reliable and can get me around the south east of England. We may want to go to Europe in the future (hence why I originally wanted the 730T) but probably not this year (2009), I thought the Advanced Lane Guidance was a great idea but I understand this is really only on major intersections like M25 - husband reckons this feature isn't worth the extra money as the only motorway driving I'll probably do is to Bluewater and the massive changes are probably not on any of the systems anyway!

I liked how the 730T had generally good reviews in comparison to Garmin and other TomTom's but at around £200 on Amazon its a whole £100 more than the TomTom One/Go etc. Is it worth paying extra now to get Europe and not use it for a 1-2 years or just get a UK model and upgrade when necessary? Which UK model is the best? Easily upgradable? Does Garmin do a better UK version?

The only experience I've had with SatNav is seeing my mother's Garmin Nuvi constantly searching for signal and being home before it actually kicks in - which is why I'm overly paranoid about buying the right one.
Sorry for the longwinded request but hoping one of you experts out there might advise me. Thanks!

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:51 pm Post subject:

I would say look for a Go 720 or 730 if you want Europe mapping or a 520/530 if you only need the UK and Ireland. They are very good models and are being sold very cheaply now the x40 range are out.
They can be upgraded for free to the latest software and maps, and they also have an SD card slot if you want to add extra maps at a later date, which the One models don't have.

Otherwise, if you do opt for a One model I would recommend one with a widescreen (i.e. the "TomTom XL" or the older model "One XL".
Comet are doing an exclusive "XL" with added text to speech at the moment, which is normally only available on the more expensive Go models.

matthewj · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751

I think what I'd be looking for is the text to speech option. It will help you navigate better as you can be told "In 300 yards, Turn left, High Street" and "Follow A66 for 9 miles". Worth paying extra for. Beyond that, make sure you have an SD card slot, and buy UK only for the moment. You can always buy European maps later, and put them on SD card. That way they will be up to date when you need them, and not have to pay for an update.

bullyterrier · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:04 pm Post subject:

deesoft · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:36 pm Post subject: Text to Speech

Bullterrier you are being harsh, the TTS ton my 540 is absolutely fine, except for odd quirk with "R's" It doesn't stutter and is quite accurate, I actually use the Male Computer Generated Voice.
All right Bullterrier I have suffered with TomTom in other ways but with TTS NO. Very Happy

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Ipaq hx2750, TTN5, Globalsat 338 GPS, Garmin Nuvi 310D and GTM12, TomTom GO910 and now GO540

God gave us the Integer, the rest was devised by man.

matthewj · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751

It didn't have problems on my old 910, and doesn't on the 740 I have now. Sure, if there is a specific issue then it wouldn't be so good, but that applies to all features really.

D4VE · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:57 pm Post subject:

I have recently added another 520 bought from www.handtec.co.uk
it was a TomTom refurbished unit, in other words as good as new in my opinion, and cost only £99.00 + delivery.

It came with 7.221 firmware and 715 maps, I upgraded the firmware too 8.300 then used the LMG to update the maps to 815.

For all intents I know have a 530 at half the retail price and no issues with stuttering thus far.

Om my current unit with western europe maps I did suffer the stutter problem which has been cured with firmware 8.204.

Hope that helps you decide.

Dave
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iPhone4 IOS 4.3.3
TomTom Western Europe v865.3252
App 8.300 V1.6 (670441)
TomTom iPhone Car Kit

PC Operating System: Windows 7

dougproctor · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:10 am Post subject: What voice problems!

The TT730T I am selling (for sale/wanted) has the latest software/mapping and has never had voice problems. And Lane Guidance works on the M27 very well!
Doug
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Returned to a proper Garmin although still have Co-Pilot on a Galaxy S3!

G4GVB · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 04, 2006 Posts: 233

Larok · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 08, 2006 Posts: 79

NataliaD I would focus on Andy_P's advice here. When you have the machine come back to the forum and we'll help you back up the software on the unit and then update it with the latest software and maps. It's not diffilcult and would make the unit much more useful to you. My own recommendation would be to go with the 720 or 730 (europe maps) or the 520 or 530 (uk maps). For the type of drving it sounds like you do I wouldn't worry to much about the T version with the traffic reciever. As you have to stick a long ariel around the windscreen of the car to get it to work. If it's a similar price I suppose it may come in handy for the longer journeys but the arial isn't best known to always work reliably.

If it helps the european maps cost £70 seperately. So if you want them, can get them for less than that when you buy the unit and don't mind driving with maps that are how ever many years out of date when you do go to europe then go for the european device from the off. Otherwise get the UK one and pay the £70 if you want to later, (at least you would get fresh UK maps then as well). Mind you its no massive hardship driving on maps a couple of years old, most people don't renew their road atlas every year!

dougproctor · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:02 am Post subject:

G4GVB

bullyterrier · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:37 am Post subject:

dougproctor · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:54 am Post subject:

Trouble is for very one disatisfied owner, there are another nine who are probably happy we never hear from!
I have had many types of GPS systems from Navman, Garmin and TomTom and they are all much of a muchness! I find that Customer Service standards nowadays are pretty poor - you would think in a recession they would want to keep me as a customer! Apparently not with Navman's answer to my "does the S80i have TTS" of "Not really sure".
Doug
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Returned to a proper Garmin although still have Co-Pilot on a Galaxy S3!

Calomax · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject:

Poor NataliaD, you must be totally confused by now, but I would advise you not to take too much notice of the negative comments. My Go 720 is just fine and if you can get one you can update it for free when it will be virtually a 730 but at a cheaper price.

Tomtoms are still by far the best devices around even though TT support leaves much to be desired. But, in the unlikely event you get any problems, someone on the forum will almost certtainly be able to help you sort it out.

Two essential bits of advice though.

1. Before you do anything else to the device make a complete Windows backup, not a HOME one. Instructions are in a sticky at the beginning of this forum along with a lot of other information; and

2. Always make sure you click eject or safely remove hardware before you disconnect it from your PC. Failing to do this and disconnecting while files are still being updated is the major cause of corrupting the software.

Whatever you decide to get, you will find it an incredibly useful device to have.
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TT Go Essential

NataliaD · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 05, 2009 Posts: 3

Thank you to everyone that responded, we decided to go with the 530 and just received it from Amazon today. I have to admit to setting up some about 8 favourites before plugging it in to the computer (I hope I haven't wrecked it!) but as soon as I had plugged the cradle into the machine and then attached the 530, when it went looking for the driver it said "Driver not found - Failed".

Not sure what to do next - would appreciate any advice!
Thanks again
Natalia

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