Car Navigators

[Gordon@1962]

I had to take a trip up to Manchester last week and borrowed my father in-laws car navigator (Tom Tom) What a wonderful piece of equipment!

I had to be in Manchester for 10.00am Monday morning so I set off from Hull at 6.30am.
It should have taken 2 hours but I added myself a 30 minute stop over and added an extra 1 hour for delays.
Well as you’d expect I got as far as Leeds on the M62 and there was a complete standstill so I clicked on the traffic info on the Tom Tom which told me I’d be 2 hours late for my meeting!

No problem, I clicked on update and it re-routed me via the M1 and Sheffield, which knocked me 1 hour and 40 minutes off my time and I was just 20 minutes late.
On the way home it did exactly the same but this time sent me the opposite way on the M60 to avoid an accident.
I thought this is amazing and I must get myself one of these!

My only thought was his didn’t have the safety camera locations on his model.
There are so many models out now like the Garmin, Navman, Road Angel and the Tom Tom.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

Regards
Gordon

[poprivet]

I've used a Garmin colourmap StreetPilot for many years, cutting edge technology in its day and very expensive at the time, its been in daily use failing only once, having cooked itself on a hot dashboard in the summer heat. Although out of warranty, Garmin bless 'em exchanged it for an as-new reconditioned model free of charge, excellent after sales service.

Last year I complimented it by getting a Navman 520 which has much more capabilities which one would expect with the advance in technology. I like its ability to voice direct to post code or house number location which has helped my daily use of it at work. I used it extensively during my round-Britain trip which it coped with perfectly, even when taking a wrong turn, the lovely voice in the box never got angry, just re-calculated another route, something that never happens when Mrs Rivet is navigating! The only thing to watch with it is that it will direct you along some strange and narrow roads if you let it take full control, also it sometimes it indicates the wrong exit to take at roundabouts for some reason. The voice activated directions took some time to get used to, Its easy to follow them to the letter. For instance on right-turns I almost went through some red traffic lights a couple of times. 'I was only following the voices in my head officer'!
Brilliant technology which everyone would benefit from, I wouldn't like to suggest which one is better then the other, large screen size helps though else the map can be too small to see a wider picture. Naturally watch the security side though, never leave it or the cradle on display when leaving the car, the chavs know all the hiding places and the unit will quickly navigate itself in a different direction to the car.
Pop

[ng4xjs]

Like Pop I used a Garmin colourmap StreetPilot which I think cost me about £600 some 7 years ago. Yes it was very good in it’s day but the modern systems are that much better. I now have a 700 series Tom Tom which again is very good and has worked well for me both here and in France. The only down side was that I felt (and still do) a little cheated in that I bought mine at “full price” not knowing that the new model was about to be released. Still I am happy with the one I have.

Nick

[Mark_B]

A tip from me might want to consider.. when the jag's in a car park and unit is removed there's a tell-tale round sucker mark on windscreen that can attract a break in to check the glovebox for it.

I got fed up with cleaning the mark of the screen each time so I left the holder stuck on the window with the message "Taken Away" clearly labelled on the sucker. I'd say it's worked so far the last 2 years now, the jag lives mostly out in a street and in car parks where there's various break-ins every fortnight average or so.

Mine's a Tom Go300, holder wired-in to the car so it mutes the stereo/telephone etc

[Gordon@1962]

A tip from me might want to consider.. when the jag's in a car park and unit is removed there's a tell-tale round sucker mark on windscreen that can attract a break in to check the glovebox for it.

I got fed up with cleaning the mark of the screen each time so I left the holder stuck on the window with the message "Taken Away" clearly labelled on the sucker.


Good tip Mark, thanks