Best Sat Nav or Sat App

rxbren

get a proper gps sat nav you can pick up a cheap tom tom or similar for not alot of money
i use navigon sat nav on my phone (its included in my tarriff as a freebie) its ok but still not as good as a dedicated sat nav

NeverEnough

Altarf wrote: »

Google Maps / Navigation.

Built in, always up to date, live traffic, and is free.

No longer available on iPhones as an App.

Altarf wrote: »

So buy a spare battery and/or plug it in.

iPhones don't do spare batteries.

NeverEnough

dx052 wrote: »

I used NavFree covering nearly 4oo miles yesterday & I can't see that! That Binatone one looks good.

400 miles in London ????:eek:

Arfa__

Recently picked up the TomTom Start 60. Pretty similar to the other Start models (20 25), just bigger screen. Like it a lot. Dead easy to use, piece of pish to keep up to date on computer (even on Mac!). 3 months of free map updates, and reasonably up to date speed cams DB out of box. 4GB built in storage and SD slot, so should be future proof.

Screen quality if first class, huge, lots of detail where you want it. But you'll want it stuck to dash, rather than windscreen, other wise it'll obscure your vision too much. Probably not an issue with the smaller ones. I prefer this anyway, I find mounting to screen too far away, have to stretch forward lots to use it, which is distracting whilst driving.

Only thing I don't like about it, is the mount is fixed to the back, so it needs suckering to dash and plugging in everytime, which is a bit fiddly. My last satnav was a Becker, which had a mount you left fixed and wired in place and then clipped the satnav on/off it - 2 second job and much easier.
Also, there's no TMC aerial out of the box (unlike my old Becker), and it's a £50 extra! (though have seen cheaper ones on ebay, just make sure its the newer micro-usb one).

Altarf

NeverEnough wrote: »

No longer available on iPhones as an App.

iPhones don't do spare batteries.

Seriously, you can't use the best mapping software, and you can't pop a replacement battery in when the battery charge is low.

That's not very good is it.

slyracoon

I have the CoPilot app on my Android phone and Google Nexus 7 it cost about £25 for euro maps, UK version only is about £20. I like it, better than my old Tom Tom.

NeverEnough

Altarf wrote: »

Seriously, you can't use the best mapping software, and you can't pop a replacement battery in when the battery charge is low.

That's not very good is it.

Nothing wrong with Navfree or a host of other free mapping apps.

Enjoy having a pop at iPhone users? Stick to your android tat - each to their own. My iPhone is perfect for my needs, I don't need to use it as a satnav very often as my car has a factory fitted one. Dedicated devices are generally better suited to purpose than expecting a mobile phone to cover absolutely every application perfectly.

Wongsky

NeverEnough wrote: »

Nothing wrong with Navfree or a host of other free mapping apps.

Enjoy having a pop at iPhone users? Stick to your android tat - each to their own. My iPhone is perfect for my needs, I don't need to use it as a satnav very often as my car has a factory fitted one. Dedicated devices are generally better suited to purpose than expecting a mobile phone to cover absolutely every application perfectly.

I did think that for a time.

Used to use dedicated / standalone sat nav (Garmin, mostly, although have had several models, and a couple of mid range TomToms over time) in the car, with an RF TMC receiver. It had bluetooth, TTS and played mp3s, so was reasonable where features were concerned.

Then I got gifted a free Nokia 5230 a couple of years back ('er indoors got it as freebie, for renewing a contract, as a back-up handset, to the main one they were sending). So I started using Nokia Maps on it. Free traffic (admittedly over data, so you'd need a data plan - but hardly much in the way of data, so unlikely to push you over some limit), "safety" camera alerts, lane guidance, TTS, but the best thing - free map upgrades, plus you can preload any / all of your maps (including international regions) before you travel. Plus the sat nav will function without a sim in (or with a sim that's not allowed to roam) - admittedly you lose any of the data provided value-adds, and sat acquiring takes longer without the handset being able to use data, but that's not a bad price to pay for being able to use it free, worldwide.

I ditched my automotive sat navs after that. And although have upgraded to a better Nokia handset since (N8), I still think there are some smartphone solutions that do strongly rival the dedicated sat navs.

Arfa__

Altarf wrote: »

Seriously, you can't use the best mapping software, and you can't pop a replacement battery in when the battery charge is low.

That's not very good is it.

You'll find most recent phones, android ones included have none-removable batteries. All part of slimming case down, often the battery cells are no longer in a nice lump that slots in, but actually spread out over the entire case, squeezed in anywhere they can. By the time the cells have reached the end of their decent recharge life, most people would have long ditched the phone and upgraded anyway.

The Apple Macbook Air and new Retina Macbook's are also like this. Keeps cases small, yet lets them squeeze more battery cells in.

End of the day, if you're in the car, you've probably got a handy fag lighter charger anyway...

londonTiger

garmin do free lifetime updates for many of their satnavs, so i'll go with garmin. i have a tomtom xl2. its a bit sluggish.