Spec me a Sat Nav

hardc0re_tid · 15 Sep 2007 at 10:20

not sure whether to post this in motors or here, move if neccessary.

garmin, tom tom?

been using a garmin nuvi 300 for a bit, its alright i suppose - its works.

my dad brought a tom tom one v3 home the other day. build quality looks better than the nuvi.

reason im looking a sat nav is because im moving away from my current place of work and need a sat nav for my new job. whats the best to go for. ive 400 quid sitting aside for upgrades on my pc

, but i dont want to eat into it too much. :mad:

paradigm · 15 Sep 2007 at 10:38

I've always favoured TomTom (unless I can use a decent factory-fit satnav), the software just seems better.

Always had it on a PDA though rather than buy a standalone unit.

goldilocks · 15 Sep 2007 at 10:41

i'll be interested to hear peoples recommendations
we're buying my dad one for his birthday
looking for something under the £200 mark - there's so much choice, and i have no idea what i'm looking at

LeperousDust · 15 Sep 2007 at 12:31

There isn't that much choice for under £200 is there? Thought all the decent stuff is £200+? I haven't acually bought a satnav since my TomTomGO though so who am i to really know

Will · 15 Sep 2007 at 12:55

£200 will give you quite a choice these days...going by halfords (where I work

) prices these days you can afford any of the following:

TomTom One v3 (in both UK and Europe flavours)

TomTome One XL (UK version only, European costs more)

Navman F50 (good features for the price and ease of use is okay but as a package it doesn't go together that well, with the tagged on bluetooth module etc)

Garmin Nuvi 200 and 250 (decent enough, but not as good as the TomToms IMHO - small menu issues let them down here! For example, having to switch between different screens for letters and numbers on the Garmins means more button presses when typing on a postcode than you'd have to do with a TomTom). No USB cable or software disk included with the 200 either, so you have to get these separately.

My choice of the lot - Tom Tom One of some type (not sure the XL is worth the extra mind).

TripleT · 15 Sep 2007 at 13:29

My dad was looking recently and after asking a lot of opinions and trying them out we went for a Garmin Nuvi 610 over the equivlent TomTom. Came with more features and seemed to be easier and work a lot better.

Been using it for the past 2weeks while he's away and I must say I can't fault it one bit.

Wang · 15 Sep 2007 at 13:56

Thought I would join this thread as I'm also looking at getting a SatNav unit. Does anyone have any experience with the Shinco GM-408? Really like the look of it but as I have no experience of using a SatNav before I have no idea if they have the same features etc as say a TomTom. Do they have speed camera database on there? Traffic updates?

hardc0re_tid · 16 Sep 2007 at 08:33

thnik ill go with the tomtom one v3 3rd edition. will be getting it today more than likely, ill report back!

S@njay · 16 Sep 2007 at 09:13

I just got a garmin 300T, i love the garmin units as they are slim and can fit in your pocket.

Also the 300t comes with free traffic updates via FM data which is very handy.

Only got it for £169 (but then paid £40 for 3 years warantee so £209 in total).

triggerthat · 16 Sep 2007 at 11:25

Picked up a TomTom ONE v2 Euro for £160 months back on ebay.

knip · 16 Sep 2007 at 11:27

triggerthat said:
Picked up a TomTom ONE v2 Euro for £160 months back on ebay.

I picked up a TomTom 1 V3 that "fell off the back of a truck" still in all its packaging for £90.

Scuzi · 16 Sep 2007 at 11:40

Make sure you get one with the right map versions for Ireland. I had a Tom Tom a while ago and the coverage of Ireland was atrocious. My more recent Navman F20 had better coverage but still not great.

I forget off the top off my head which map version you need but Teleatlas rings a bell. Look into it before buying.

Zip · 16 Sep 2007 at 11:44

Pioneer have a new good one out :cool:

bobert50 · 16 Sep 2007 at 12:44

The tomtom ONE XL can be had for £150 pretty often now new. I don't know if i'm allowed to say the name of the place but the most recent i saw it at was advertised through www.hotukdeals.com ...which often has satnavs very cheap.

barnettgs · 16 Sep 2007 at 13:11

Scuzi said:
Make sure you get one with the right map versions for Ireland. I had a Tom Tom a while ago and the coverage of Ireland was atrocious.

Agreed. Tomtom uses TeleAtlas mapping which has a lot of poor accuracy of roads in Northern Ireland, especially with my home area (missing link, roads that do not exist etc).

All Garmin Nuvi use NAVTEQ.

Have a look at links below for mapping comparison before buying one.

NAVTEQ

Tele Atlas

hardc0re_tid · 16 Sep 2007 at 19:15

why do all these posts come in AFTER i buy a tomtom one v3 lol, glad i done a bit of reasearch first!

after speaking with a guy from hellfrauds this morning, he advised me to go for the tomtom one v3 europe as its uses the NAVTEQ which is the better one to go for here in Norn' Iron', the bog standard tomtom v3 uses tele atlas which is poo for over here.

so i got on tinterweb and ordered a tomtom v3 europe from a well known orange, free delivery site :eek:

this review reassured me to go with the europe ed.

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/776/tomtom-one-v3-europe

and the tomtom site too

http://www.tomtom.com/products/maps.php?ID=394&Category=-1&Lid=1

majority of western europe has 99% coverage of each area

only downfall is there is no carry case with it, oh well, fleabay has them for ~£8 inc P&P