Gps

book12

I am thinking of buying a GPS. Most of them have the same features when doing a comparison (selecting the GPS brand/models and clicking ' compare products) on the Halfords website. I was wondering about the following:

Lane guidance: how good is it? When you approach a roundabout, junctions, road, motroway lanes, how accurate is it to guide you in the right lane to go to a particular place?

Traffic re-routing: how accurate is it when you go the wrong way, and redirects you?

Postcode/place/road search: when you type in a postcode, was it accurate when you got there? Or is entering the place or road is better (e.g. ABC road, Nottingham)?

How easy is it to move the GPS from one car to another (might want to share it with the family when I am not using it)? I am planning to use their 'free' fitting service instead of their 'integrated fitting' service.

clever_username

well i use a road map cos i live in the 60s but in my experience you just type in the postcode of the place you want to go and it takes you there. most of them just have a sucker that hold them on your windscreen so you can just pop them off and put them in a different car. not sure about the lane control but if the gizmo said 'take the third exit' then anyone who drives should be able to work out which lane they need to be in at a given roundabout.

of course there are the 'special' people who drive their cars into rivers and off cliffs because the thing tells them to since they unfortunately lack the power of independent thought!

also the term that's generally used is 'satnav' and not 'gps' because that means 'global positioning system'.

i'm sure someone who actually owns one will be along soon!

Inactive

book12 wrote: »

How easy is it to move the GPS from one car to another (might want to share it with the family when I am not using it)? I am planning to use their 'free' fitting service instead of their 'integrated fitting' service.

There is nothing really to " fit ", just stick the rubber suckers on to your screen, then plug it in to your lighter socket.

Personally I don't use one.

clever_username

incidentally the other day i used about £3 of sellotape sticking my £2 2008 Collins road map back together. why i thought this was more economical than just buying a new £2 road map i don't know...

Rossy.

I'm with everyone else here.

They are an easy way to navigate but they are not always the best. Sure we've heard of incidents of them taking people to the wrong places but i think that's far and few between.

The thing to remember about Satnav is no matter how good they are, they generally aren't that great at giving you the "quickest" route. I've used them several times and when they tell me to go on a route i usually think to myself "hang on it's quicker if i use this route instead"

Just don't expect miracles with them. if they take you the longer route it'll cost you more in fuel and time spent driving.

I use a traditional map book like everyone else.

Inactive

Rossy. wrote: »

I use a traditional map book like everyone else.

Nobody is going to break in your car to nick a map book .;)

Rossy.

Inactive wrote: »

Nobody is going to break in your car to nick a map book .;)

Or try and nick my derv Laguna either

Inactive

Rossy. wrote: »

Or try and nick my derv Laguna either

That is for certain.

Rossy.

Inactive wrote: »

That is for certain.

LOL!

The car is running rather well at the moment. Had a slight knocking noise on acceleration. Changed the dogbone mount and the top o/s mount and it's gone now.

Filled up the other day too and wacked in a bottle of that injector cleaner stuff. Seems to be improving the MPG a little too. Time will tell though once the tanks been used

Managed 610 miles last month to a tank of derv. Miles better than my 200bhp renaultsport clio. that could only manage 270 miles to a full tank

scotsbob

Book12 I have used TomTom, Navman and I now use igo8 on my mobile phone.

Lane guidabnce is good and accurate.
Traffic re-routing I have never had a problem with, you can also tell the satnav that you are diverting
Postcode search is usually accurate bearing in mind postcode areas are very small, in my area ony about 8 houses to each code.
Easy to move from one vehicle to another is easy if you don't have it fitted.

I now use igo8 because it is easier and more convenient to have satnav on my mobile and it also has a "walking mode" for when you are on foot. Obviously easier to move from vehicle to vehicle and easier to update over the phone than taking a satnav out of the car to update on computer.

Whichever you choose you may want to ensure before buying that there is plenty of readily available software online to update and customise the model with your own points of interest.

This dedicated forum may be of help to you

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/submenu.php?POIs

nickj_2

sat navs are ok , i got a garmin in the summer , it does help if you know roughly the route you want to take as they don't seem to take you on the most logical route
during our holiday in cornwall , we stayed in a small hamlet near st austell and we thought we would go to st ives for the day , i thought i'd let the sat nav find the way for me , if i was navigating my self i would have taken the main road in st austell and then gone on the logical route , the sat nav had other ideas we ended up going down small single track roads and after 1/2 hr it had taken us almost in a complete circle .