Sat nav for parents

Contessa

Get a satnav with a large screen.

Yorkie1

Many thanks to you all for the suggestions. I'll feed them back to the parents. I don't have one either, so when it comes to helping them install it might just be a case of the less blind leading the more blind, to paraphrase the more usual term!

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Are you talking about it finding out about the problem and rerouting itself or you finding out about an issue yourself and asking it to reroute you?

I guess I haven't really thought about it; they recently spent over 8 hours getting to N Wales because of hold ups on the motorway. My thinking is they could have been told about it in advance to route them another way, but being unfamiliar with satnavs myself I'm not sure a) how feasible that is, and b) how much difference it is in cost.

Contessa wrote: »

Get a satnav with a large screen.

Good point!

Yorkie1

Just had another thought - do you charge them in advance at home, or through the car? And how do you get the maps updates?

Mum only has an iPad so no USB connector to a computer.

wongataa

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Just had another thought - do you charge them in advance at home, or through the car? And how do you get the maps updates?

Mum only has an iPad so no USB connector to a computer.

You can plug sat navs into the car's 12V power socket to power/charge them. You can charge them up at home too with a USB charger or by plugging them into a computer. For any updates you will need an internet connection.

wongataa

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I guess I haven't really thought about it; they recently spent over 8 hours getting to N Wales because of hold ups on the motorway. My thinking is they could have been told about it in advance to route them another way, but being unfamiliar with satnavs myself I'm not sure a) how feasible that is, and b) how much difference it is in cost.

Any sat nav that offers traffic alerts will have an option to reroute around traffic. Some traffic alerts require payment and the more basic ones ones usually do not.

I_have_spoken

And how do you get the maps updates?

The TomTom Live/GO models contain a SIM card so they get traffic updates whenever switched on; however for the (usually) quarterly map updates they need to be plugged into a PC which is connected to the internet.

InsideInsurance

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I guess I haven't really thought about it; they recently spent over 8 hours getting to N Wales because of hold ups on the motorway. My thinking is they could have been told about it in advance to route them another way, but being unfamiliar with satnavs myself I'm not sure a) how feasible that is, and b) how much difference it is in cost.

Its very feasible but are by no means perfect, most the time they work but occasionally they miss things, detour you pointlessly or the annoying one where they keep rerouting you because they cant work out the lesser of two evils.

Price difference didnt used to be too much. I accidentally was given the traffic adapter for my TomTom by Halfords but in those days it was just an extra cable you plugged into the device. My Mercedes came with it as standard so no price comparison.

I'd have it as a nice to have feature than a must have, pay a bit for it maybe but not a lot

usignuolo

my oh is defiantly non technical. we have a Garmin Europe version and he rarely
leaves home for a journey of any distance without it.

you can plug it into USB port on PC to update periodically for roadworks etc and on the road it will warn of heavy traffic and propose alternative route where it spots severe congestion.

it is good for navigating from a to b via main roads (you can tell it to avoid motorways but needs a bit of drilling down to do that.) and its best at fine navigation into a postcode or street address. dont expect scenic route plans

don't know if your parents listen to music or radio in car. oh has not worked out how to do this at same tie as listening to GPS!

one tip :we have a"toad " holder which squats on the dash and is very stable. also
you shouldn't leave GPS visible in car when empty too tempting to thieves.

mavisangelica

Contessa wrote: »

Get a satnav with a large screen.

I second that. I have upgraded to a 7" Garmin as I was having trouble reading my existing small one in certain lighting. 7" may be way over the top (we have a motorhome so the satnav is further away from my eyes than the car) but check that they can read all the bits they need to - my old one had a distance box in the corner which was quite difficult to read.

Are you able to borrow one to lend them to see if they can get on with it?

Yorkie1

Thanks all for your comments.

I might be able to borrow one for them to try out; I've got a friend who lives nearby them who would be able to pop round.

The iPad doesn't have a USB connection so that will require some more thought about how to get the updates done.

I've got a USB charger so can address that part.

I think I need to have a look at Halfords and Argos just to get a feel for the range of what's out there next.