No need to buy a Sat Nav again

Jem8472

I used google maps if I need sat nav. For 95% of my journeys I know where I am going, I only tend to use sat nav if I am trying to find somewhere in a city as it makes it a lot easier to find your way around.

I am surprised that anyone still buys stand alone sta navs when so many people have smart phones that will do it.

Pee

My aged Tom Tom recently broke, just a connection, and a friend did suggest this. It would be about £50 to fix or £62 to buy a new one from Argos after applying my Nectar points. (It was on sale at £99.99.)

My phone is a cheap smart phone, cost about £20, so I don't feel that it would be up to the job.

It's useful for people who only need a Sat Nav sometimes, though. I find that I use mine a lot.

billa_champion

As Jem8472 said, I hardly use a satnav but when I do its Google Maps for me! Cant beat it and the bonus is its free!!

skivenov

I'm a convert, I hardly ever use my TomTom any more, I far prefer Google Maps navigation on my phone. I drive for my job, so it's on a lot and it is by no means heavy on data. The only thing is, make sure you've got a car charger for your phone.

d123

Brassedoff wrote: »

I was recently faced with a decision to update my TomToms map and renew a years traffic. Then I read about a newish Sat Nav that is free if you have a smart phone or connected tablet.

The Sat Nav's called Waze, I don't know if it already been mentioned, but after giving it two weeks of really intensive use I have found it to be the best out there.

Download it for free from iTunes and other download portals. Saved me £99! :money:

I have Waze, but it's a poor substitute to TomTom. It's data intensive, so unless you have unlimited data its a bad idea.

There are free alternatives (with inbuilt maps) to TomTom, like NavFree, but for ease of use and decent mapping I still don't think there is a better satnav system than TomTom.

almillar

I've got Waze, and find it excellent. Good thing is that if you do find something you don't like on the map, you can edit it! Ever tried telling Google about a problem in their maps?!
Waze is actually quite light on data considering what it does, but it does suck some battery (CPU intensive, screen staying on, GPS on, what do you expect?!). It helps avoid traffic jams in real time and is all from crowdsourced information which means it's bang up to date. Only problem for me is in weak data areas but it copes not too bad in them.

laloola

I recently passed my driving test and did a run to Skegness and back yesterday using the navigation app on the SGS3. I turned on the GPS, am I not correct in thinking it uses the GPS rather than your 3G data??? Extactly how a SatNav would work??

mcfisco

laloola wrote: »

I recently passed my driving test and did a run to Skegness and back yesterday using the navigation app on the SGS3. I turned on the GPS, am I not correct in thinking it uses the GPS rather than your 3G data??? Extactly how a SatNav would work??

You need all the map data downloaded in advance if you want to run on GPS only

laloola

mcfisco wrote: »

You need all the map data downloaded in advance if you want to run on GPS only

ah right cool. i've got all you can eat data anyway, but it's good to know

d123

laloola wrote: »

I recently passed my driving test and did a run to Skegness and back yesterday using the navigation app on the SGS3. I turned on the GPS, am I not correct in thinking it uses the GPS rather than your 3G data??? Extactly how a SatNav would work??

Don't confuse GPS with GPRS, GPS is the Global Positioning System - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System and has nothing to do with data, it is the constellation of satellites that are used to pinpoint your location.

Data, whether through GPRS or faster data, like UMTS is needed to "draw" the maps onto the screen of the phone and using Waze or Google satnav will need a data link to show maps.

Tomtom and similar that have downloaded maps only require a GPS link (that costs nothing) and no data connection (which does cost).