Need a Sat Nav which re routes around traffic...

Raymond Lin · 13 Apr 2016 at 12:57

geekman said:
The speed camera alert volume is my only criticism of Waze - it makes me wish my car had bluetooth audio streaming as that would make it a non issue.

You get used to keeping a watchful eye on the screen though: one of the reasons I use it is because the police alert system with the little icon on the road saved me from a 90 in a 50 ticket

You don't get that with a tomtom!

Not thought about one of those £15 Bluetooth to Aux kit? I got one for my car and it's great.

geekman · 13 Apr 2016 at 13:03

Raymond Lin said:
Not thought about one of those £15 Bluetooth to Aux kit? I got one for my car and it's great.

That's an awesome suggestion, thanks so much! Never considered that before: it'll be particularly useful as my AUX connection is in the back so this will save me running a cable into the front like I do right now.

grudas · 13 Apr 2016 at 13:05

geekman said:
That's an awesome suggestion, thanks so much! Never considered that before: it'll be particularly useful as my AUX connection is in the back so this will save me running a cable into the front like I do right now.

yeah they do work well, I used one but got annoyed by the fact that mine needed charging + turning on xD I wanted one where it would power up just from usb power

Raymond Lin · 13 Apr 2016 at 13:14

geekman said:
That's an awesome suggestion, thanks so much! Never considered that before: it'll be particularly useful as my AUX connection is in the back so this will save me running a cable into the front like I do right now.

Mine is in the compartment under the arm rest. There is also a 12v socket behind that too for the rear passenger so the cable doesn't go far, then I feed the USB coin thing out, and sort of sits on a coin slot by the cup holders. With the phone on a holder. It connects wirelessly and instantly when you start the car. It just says "connected" through the car speakers when you turn on the engine. Then every sound from the phone comes out of the car.

It's actually very neat and works flawlessly.

Mine sits on the little slot behind the handbrake. I could feed the lead to the dash but because of the design of the car, i am not sure where you stick it to. The perfect spot is where the key goes ! Plus the phone holder is now in so it will just duplicate the controls. I left it out instead of inside the compartment because if i want to use siri, it uses the mic in the Bluetooth dongle, and not the mic in the phone.

Logsi · 13 Apr 2016 at 13:51

Every time my onboard sat nav calculates a quicker route around traffic it always backtracks immediately and tells me to U-Turn...

Skeeter · 13 Apr 2016 at 13:56

Android Phone. If you setup your home and work locations Google Now will soon learn where you are and how you commute and start warning you of traffic problems before you even set off.

iaind · 13 Apr 2016 at 14:07

Skeeter said:
Android Phone. If you setup your home and work locations Google Now will soon learn where you are and how you commute and start warning you of traffic problems before you even set off.

iOS has been doing this for some time too

joeyjojo · 13 Apr 2016 at 15:14

tom_e said:
The problem here is if it's that bad then everyone else with a Satnav will be end up going the same way as you, what you really want to do is spend a bit of time looking at your own alternative routes so there's less chance of ending up in a snarl up on some little country road or similar.

You may also just have to accept that doing that sort of commute on those roads is never going to be nice, my housemate spends plenty of time on the M6 around the midlands and even though he knows the place well it can still take him hours to get from the M5 to J10a.

Pretty much this. You might get the odd sneaky detour but most times you'll get stuck in traffic trying to do exactly the same thing as you.

Best solution if possible is to shift your hours.

ShiWarrior · 13 Apr 2016 at 16:22

Joebob said:
Just checked it out and the latest model 6100 is almost £300 which seems pricey these days for a Sat Nav.

I've downloaded and setup Waze and I have to say it looks really good.

I have the GO 6000 to, but you don't need anything as good as that if you want traffic updates

be careful, there are two ways of doing this, one is through your phone (data charges may apply) or the other way is direct from the tomtom (like the 6000)

As I use PAYG phone, I opted for the unit to do it all for me

LizardKing · 13 Apr 2016 at 16:40

Waze is awesome up until it routes you down a national speed limit road you wouldn't want to do 10mph on let alone 60.
Oh and the diversions that take you down residential streets with the added bonus of speed bumps.

On my longer commutes I pretty much ignore it completely now as id rather sit in 4 lanes of queues than a single queue on a random minor b road i have zero knowledge of for the sake of 3 minutes. :rolleyes:

On a more positive note I've seen some great scenery on its detours

This is primarily the m1/m25, up north may well be completely different!

Yet Waze is still the best of the lot!

geekman · 13 Apr 2016 at 17:18

Raymond Lin said:
Mine is in the compartment under the arm rest. There is also a 12v socket behind that too for the rear passenger so the cable doesn't go far, then I feed the USB coin thing out, and sort of sits on a coin slot by the cup holders. With the phone on a holder. It connects wirelessly and instantly when you start the car. It just says "connected" through the car speakers when you turn on the engine. Then every sound from the phone comes out of the car.

It's actually very neat and works flawlessly.

Mine sits on the little slot behind the handbrake. I could feed the lead to the dash but because of the design of the car, i am not sure where you stick it to. The perfect spot is where the key goes ! Plus the phone holder is now in so it will just duplicate the controls. I left it out instead of inside the compartment because if i want to use siri, it uses the mic in the Bluetooth dongle, and not the mic in the phone.

Thanks for that. I've got a power socket in the rear close to where the AUX plugs in, so powering it won't be an issue.

NooBish AbbZ · 13 Apr 2016 at 17:37

Tom-tom on iOS i've heard good things about. I'm on android now and Google Maps is excellent.

joeyjojo · 13 Apr 2016 at 18:08

In case people didn't know, Google Maps uses Waze for its traffic.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/02/04/google-maps-using-waze-data-to-offer-faster-directions/

They bought them nearly three years ago so I don't know why Waze still exists on its own.

https://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/google-maps-and-waze-outsmarting.html

monkey_boy · 13 Apr 2016 at 21:33

Another vote for google maps especially since you can download offline maps so the only data you're using is for the traffic data itself rather than all the map data.

Skeeter · 13 Apr 2016 at 21:46

iaind said:
iOS has been doing this for some time too

Coolio. So with either you should be able to get advanced warnings of traffic before setting off.

A smart phone does everything you need here, purchasing a stand alone sat nav would be a waste.

LiGhTfasT · 13 Apr 2016 at 21:55

I use tomtom go on android and together with google rewards I've got 4 years worth of unlimited miles. I use it all day at work and cant fault it, its amazing how precise it is with traffic.

Joebob · 17 Apr 2016 at 21:24

Thanks to everyone for your input. I've been using Waze for a good few days now and I think it's great.

It took me off the motorway once only to put me straight back on again on the same junction but other than that it's been really good - I'm still getting used to trusting it when it reroutes me, but I've not been stuck in traffic since using it

Lowe · 18 Apr 2016 at 10:11

Joebob said:
Thanks to everyone for your input. I've been using Waze for a good few days now and I think it's great.

It took me off the motorway once only to put me straight back on again on the same junction but other than that it's been really good - I'm still getting used to trusting it when it reroutes me, but I've not been stuck in traffic since using it

That's actually useful in certain circumstances - you can sometimes jump a few hundred meters up the queue when in a real rush. My satnav quite often suggests it on the M6 around junction 10. I've never done it, but it did raise a wry smile.

Alibaba99 · 18 Apr 2016 at 11:05

This is also of benefit on the M42 Southbound when the VSL and extra lanes are in use around the Solihull area. Staying on the far left and leaving the motorway and then reentering saves quite a bit of time.

Blackjack Davy · 18 Apr 2016 at 12:23

kindai said:
Tom tom re-route is ****!

Last time I used it, all it did was try to get me back onto the same road I was trying to avoid.

I had the same trouble with Garmin it kept trying to send me back on the main road that was closed because of flooding! Had to switch the thing off in the end and pull the road maps out.