Satnav and Heat Reflective Windscreens (Ford Focus)

Confused said:
With the newer SiRFStar III chipsets in most newer Sat-Nav units, this isn't anywhere near as much as a problem as it was before.

The older ones from 2-3 years ago might struggle, you can tell if it's one of these as to how many satellites you can see from indoors - if you see NONE when indoors, it's an old SiRFStar II chipset, if you still get a partial lock, chances are it's SiRFStar III - which can even detect and use signals that have bounced off other items! (Such as the interior of a vehicle/house)
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You've hit the nail on the head. With my old Acer N95, it would take ages to lock on, and vary from car to car, and weather conditions. Plug in an external aerial, and it gets a lock within 1 min - faster if the aerial in positioned at the back of the car. A few years ago there were loads of reports on places such as PocketGPS about SatNavs including the older TomToms, Garmins etc having difficulties with certain cars (Renaults?).

With the current/newer SirfStar3 TomTom, I've never had any problems locking on in any car including modern Focuses, Astras, BMWs, Hondas, VWs etc. It's much more able to pick up a signal in whatever conditions. I suspect the salesman is confusing the issue with older SatNav units which really did struggle.
 
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ShakenNstirred said:
if i were in the car and u got a sat lock then its fine
so you answered your own question mate
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Not really - I got a lock in ideal conditions when the car wasn't moving. I was hoping someone could offer a more in-depth experience, which was thankfully the case :D

That said, I'll still be taking the car for another run, although I've now got a 3dr hatchback version coming for a test drive as I'm not sold on the 4dr (but I do like how it looks - it's just the boot I'm not sure on) and I'm pretty sure this one doesn't have reflective glass....or the cd-changer....and it's more expensive! :eek:

Thanks for the replies.
 
Luw said:
Not really - I got a lock in ideal conditions when the car wasn't moving. I was hoping someone could offer a more in-depth experience, which was thankfully the case :D

That said, I'll still be taking the car for another run, although I've now got a 3dr hatchback version coming for a test drive as I'm not sold on the 4dr (but I do like how it looks - it's just the boot I'm not sure on) and I'm pretty sure this one doesn't have reflective glass....or the cd-changer....and it's more expensive! :eek:

Thanks for the replies.
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most can have problems sometimes in built up areas
if u got a full signal were u were it will be fine, if the window was doing anything , i say u wouldnt have got a full signal anywhere
even in a field
 
Well, went for another test drive today and took the satnav along. It worked fine.

However, I'm still not convinced by the 4dr Focus. Seen two 3drs and a 5dr now as well, but they just didn't feel right, due to the dual climate control and cd-changer on the 4dr......so now I don't fancy any of the standard Titanium specs. Gah. And since that's pretty much all the 2.0l Focus around here at the moment, I guess I'll look elsewhere.

Any thoughts on how to spend £8k on something comfortable, reasonably quiet, reliable and nice to drive (but I'm not the kind of guy who cares about 0-60 but having a bit of extra poke is nice for the motorway)?
 
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