Sat nav.

[Bren]

I always said I would never have one - until today.

 

Trying to find my son's campsite in East Lancs using a printed copy of an AA routeplanner was fucking useless - there was more chance of me finding Jimmy Hoffa than this place. Bollocks to AA routeplanner.

 

Can anybody recommend a decent sat nav that does'nt cost the earth? I did'nt want a car with a built in one because the upgrades are not cheap.

[Tamworthbay]

Try a few, I like Tom Tom but now just use a free one on my phone.

[Wilko220]

I've got a TomTom One which must be about 10 years old now and it's great. Still gets free updates from the TomTom website. I bet you can pick old ones up for buttons on eBay.

[stripped fred]

Get a secondhand one off eBay for £cheap or use an app on your phone like Waze or Google maps. They are the shiter options.

[garethj]

I use google navigation on my Android phone, if you're too tight to pay for mobile data you can download maps offline and store them for 30 days I think?

 

I also use Waze sometimes as its traffic updates are better than nothing.

[purplebargeken]

Borrow a satnav from someone when required?

[406V6]

Another vote for Tomtom. The voice instructions are delivered at the right time and easy to understand. An important thing with any satnav is to be able to check the route it's planned to see if it's sending you by a dubious route - which even Tomtom does. Mine has options for re-routing which are pretty good.

[Rocket88]

Garmin.................it's what you're used to I suppose...................

[adw1977]

Waze app on your phone would be my recommendation.

[stripped fred]

Waze gives you your speed and advises if you're over the limit. Also gives free camera alerts.

[Pillock]

Waze does need quite a decent phone to not be a frustrating mess though - I tried running it on a four year old work phone and I almost just threw it out the window. Google maps is a bit better, or Here Drive on a Windows phone was surprisingly pleasant.

 

Standalone satnavs are better for the "no hassle, they just do one thing" approach but I prefer phones for the fact you can be really vague - "fast food near Swindon" will get results, not sure satnavs are that clever yet.

[skattrd]

... use an app on your phone like Waze or Google maps.

 

If you have a smartfone use an app on your phone.

I've used tomtom, sygic, waze and now M$ maps, all on phones, and all have worked well. Just make sure whatever app has offline maps, and you download them over wifi before you use the satnav.

[neil1971]

I have a Garmin Nuvi 205, not ultra modern but has done the job when I've needed it, easy enough to use and about £20 on eBay

[Noel Tidybeard]

i mustard mit to having looked at most brands of satnag and always seem to gravitate back to tomtom

 

nissan birdview isnt bad for a built in dvd based system but can be spenner for updates

hondas dvd based one doesnt do a 3d perspective view which is an arse but it is cheap to by "back-up" discs for updating

 

if you want new wait for an offer at helfrauds most of the new stuff comes lith lifetime map updates

tomtom go also has lifetime traffic either using phones data or built in data use

[Pillock]

You've got to have traffic. Don't rely on the RDS system that a lot of cars use either, that seems to only mark a road as busy when there's been something on the scale of an apocalypse happened and there's six hours delay.

 

I've got a built in one to my Astra, and I use my phone too. Built in - Nav650 - is awful, rarely knows anything about traffic incidents, is already three years out of date with no "backups" available online and pretty much just guesses at ETA.

Google Maps gets ETA spot on to within a few minutes usually, unless something happens whilst driving - and then is pretty quick to reroute. You get coloured bars depending on the speed of traffic ahead so can plan around stuff manually too. "Driving mode" is new, and is like having a satnav without a route programmed.... it just shows you traffic density and accidents etc.

 

BTW, Google own Waze so Google Maps has all the accident data from Waze and Waze gets all the traffic speed data from Google (it just uses the average speed of anyone who has Maps running on their phone in the background). The only difference really is the interface, and you can "gamify" commuting with Waze, earning points for reporting incidents and stuff. 

[Sheefag]

+1 for Google Maps for all of the reasons that Pillock outlined.

[robinmasters]

If you're using a phone app, just bear in mind that if you haven't downloaded the maps, when you're lost in the back of beyond with no signal it won't work. 

 

Second-hand sat navs cost buttons these days. 

[twosmoke300]

Ive got an old Tom Tom one ( looks like a small crt telly ) and it's brilliant . Battery life much better than the newer ones

[254575]

I use tomtom uk and Ireland for the iPhone.

 

Had it over 5 years now so it's more than justified the £30 cost, and it receives map upgrades for free when you update the app

 

I see they have replaced it with " Tom Tom go mobile" now. Which has a yearly subscription of £14.99

[Bobthebeard]

Google maps on my Android phone seems to work ok... Apart from when it doesnt. Usually ok. Sometimes changes voices to an American woman randomely. Usually gets me to where I want to go...

[SiC]

I've got a TomTom stand-alone had for years. Stopped using it when I got integrated sat navs (inferior but less hassle). In America I got a cheap phone mount, a decent car charger and paid £15 for the yearly TomTom app subscription.

 

Total convert to mobile phone sat nav now.

 

Also, being able to shout at my phone is very handy. "OK GOOGLE .... Navigate me to the nearest McDonald's"

[dollywobbler]

I've got a ancient Garmin Nuvi. Can't find updates for it though, so it often thinks I'm driving through fields at high speed. I do like it though. Bought it in 2008 I think. Battery lasts ages (handy when you're inevitably having to charge up your smartphone) and it's nice and clear. It also has a habit of finding spectacular scenic routes, regardless of whether set for distance or time. I've been to some lovely parts of Europe with it.

[Pillock]

...when trying to find a carpark in Dudley.

[forddeliveryboy]

If you've a recent-ish tablet or phone with gps there's no need to buy anything else, there are free offline navigation apps which are superb, using open source mapping. I've got Navmii and Osmand on my tablet, which both work superbly well. You need a support bracket to hold phone/tablet in the car, they're a fiver or less. 

[Mr A Lawrence]

I used to have a "Bonnie Tyler" satnav..

 

It was rubbish.

 

All it did was say turn around and every now and then it just fell apart.

 

Also got me lost in France.

[gordonbennet]

Don't have a smart phone, far too complicated for me.

 

Garmin, we both have them and i have an all singing all dancing company supplied fleet version in the lorry.

 

Seldom use the things as a satnav but handy for traffic spotting, luckily with Garmin you can use them to traffic spot without having to enter a destination.

Two traffic systems, the old one and the new digi traffic which updates faster than the older one.

 

It might seem odd not entering a destination but still wanting traffic, but if there's an accident on a major road you are not using it can affect the road you are on and you won't know the whole area you are to pass through is fucked and should have taken an entirely different route until the planned route is fucked too, which might be too late to do anything about.

 

Pity Garmins technical don't know their digi traffic works without a destination, chap at Halfords phoned them for me when i was considering an upgrade, technical told him no it doesn't work like that, took me 5 minutes the following day to suss it out on the lorry one.

 

There's for an against with Garmin and TT, a mate had an old TT that was a doddle to use, but they changed the software a few years ago and i can't get on with the later version.

Garmin i find reasonably easy to use, i'm shit with new things so stick with what works for me.

 

Garmins traffic is free for life, thats the icing n the cake, not sure about TT.

[saucedoctor]

I have Navigon on my phone, and while it's not brilliant, it stores the maps in the phone, so no mobile data usage. A mate got a Garmin with free lifetime UK/IRL map updates from Halfords for £59. I can't remember the model, but it seems pretty decent.

 

I also have this wee fat one, a StreetPilot C310. With a little bit of tinkering, you can use the current map updates, even though it's officially unsupported - you just have to change the filename!

 

The battery packed up in this a while back. £23 off eBay for a new one. I got one of those mobile power bank things from Home Bargains for £2.99, took the cell out of it and soldered it on to the sat nav's internal power cable. Job jobbed!

[Skizzer]

Another 'upvote' (I believe that's a word now) for Navigon on the phone. I've used it a lot in France, Benelux, Germany and the US and it's pretty good. Owned by Garmin.

[LessThanEqual]

I use Google Maps on my Nexus 6 to get around. Probably the best option, you can pick up a new, half-decent smartphone for £35 new nowadays like the Motorola Moto E. You don't even have to use it as a phone, just for navigation.

[face]

I always use 'Waze' - can't really fault it and it's free.