Which Satnav?

Richard53

Moto2 wrote: »

Personally, once I've been somewhere, I don't need it saved in the sat-nav for future use, I can usually recall it.

The locations that I 'lost' were places like a camp site in rural France, not in any book, and a restaurant on a back road somewhere near Florence. I suppose I could have written down the lat and long for them all, but then what would be the point in having 'favourites' on your satnav?

Moto2 wrote: »

TBH - I only ever tend use sat navs for the last couple of miles or so of a trip. I've spent a large part of the the last 30 years around the UK and Europe using maps and A-Zs.
Stuck behind a bus in a wet and dark city can be frustrating, that's where sat navs are invaluable to me.

If I'm on a trip, I usually have the satnav on all the time, even when I know my way. The distance and time features make the journey pass more quickly, and the camera 'alerts' have saved my bacon more than once. But I agree about the last mile or two. Finding an unknown address in an unfamiliar city in heavy traffic can be a nightmare - road atlas on passenger seat, etc etc. With a satnav, you have both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road, and you get there by the most efficient route. It's a big safety feature in my view.

andrewf75

Just looking into getting my first satnav. I'd like to think I won't use it all the time but for driving into unfamiliar cities and abroad mainly.

I know people are split between Garmin and Tom Tom, so I'll make my own mind up there but there seems to be a huge range of options ranging from £90 to a couple of hundred. What do you get extra on the more expensive ones?

Ronneh

I have found the "Navman" brand to incredible value for money

andrewf75

Ronneh wrote: »

I have found the "Navman" brand to incredible value for money

hadn't even realised there was another brand

They certainly seem very cheap

molerat

Top range : TomTom & Garmin
Good : Navman / Mio
Anything else : don't bother. They will all get where you want to go but many of the cheap units are a pain to operate.

Kimberley

My old Garmin I replaced yesterday with a new one but it doesn't have lifetime map updates, it's a UK and ROI one for £99. The ones with the lifetime map updates ranged from £160 onwards but were for Europe as well. I only wanted the UK. Garmin map updates are expensive. I haven't unpacked the sat nav yet so would I be better off changing it to a more expensive model just for the lifetime map updates even though I don't need the tons of European maps on the Garmin? Do I really need the map updates for the next 3 years though because the UK roads will not change that much will they?