Sat nav for parents

securityguy

wongataa wrote: »

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.

Are there satnavs you can update without a computer running either OSX or Windows? I've never seen one. The usual model is that there's an updater running on the PC/Mac which mounts the SatNav's storage as storage and just writes the files straight into it.

donny-gal

I have the TomTom XL Europe 5". Now quite old, but as we travel a lot through France and Spain, I pay to keep the maps and speed cameras up to date. Yes you would need some form of pc with a usb port. Tom Tom send you an email when there is an update, could they just bring it to you when it needs updating? (if they are not that pc savvy then maybe that would be safest). Data is not cheap for use on the continent, so would not suggest using either phone or ipad as a sat nav. Some newer models come with free map updates for life. When you connect it, it backs up your Sat Nav, which can be useful, if you ever have a problem with it. There are also Points of Interest which can be downloaded, and you can search for fuel, they would soon learn how to, so you can locate a handy supermarket and avoid motorway fuel costs.

DG

wongataa

securityguy wrote: »

Are there satnavs you can update without a computer running either OSX or Windows?

Not that I know of.

Yorkie1

securityguy wrote: »

Are there satnavs you can update without a computer running either OSX or Windows? I've never seen one. The usual model is that there's an updater running on the PC/Mac which mounts the SatNav's storage as storage and just writes the files straight into it.

wongataa wrote: »

Not that I know of.

Genuine question - so how do those of you with only an iPad update your sat navs?

I'm 200 miles away so can't help them to update regularly

securityguy

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Genuine question - so how do those of you with only an iPad update your sat navs?(

I suspect the answer is "they don't". If you're in that position, you use a SatNav app on a phone.

Yorkie1

Thanks securityguy.

I might investigate whether you can get USB adaptors for iPads, as that might solve the technical problem perhaps.

securityguy

*I might investigate whether you can get USB adaptors for iPads,*

You can't, at least not for this purpose. And in any event, there's no software to do what you want. The obvious solution in this case would be an iPad SatNav application (CoPilot, say) and a bluetooth GPS receiver (assuming it's an iPad that doesn't have GPS: only the ones with 3G/4G built in also have GPS built in).

donny-gal

Unless your parents are speed merchants, and need the speed camera updates, the others are quarterly, and I am sure you would see them before they went off on a European trip, which is when the updates are really necessary, as our roads don't change that much.
DG

Yorkie1

securityguy wrote: »

*I might investigate whether you can get USB adaptors for iPads,*

You can't, at least not for this purpose. And in any event, there's no software to do what you want. The obvious solution in this case would be an iPad SatNav application (CoPilot, say) and a bluetooth GPS receiver (assuming it's an iPad that doesn't have GPS: only the ones with 3G/4G built in also have GPS built in).

Thanks - will start looking at these. She doesn't have GPS, I'm pretty sure. I believe you, but it just seems so bonkers that this compatibility simply doesn't exist!

donny-gal wrote: »

Unless your parents are speed merchants, and need the speed camera updates, the others are quarterly, and I am sure you would see them before they went off on a European trip, which is when the updates are really necessary, as our roads don't change that much.
DG

No they don't need the speed camera bits!

They travel to Belgium 5-6 times per year, and France at least once in the summer. I tend to see them about twice per year (Christmas and once during the summer period) so can't always be the solution.

How big are quarterly updates? Would they be able to update the satnav through a PC at the library, for example?

I_have_spoken

How big are quarterly updates

Multiple 10s of MB to gigs for full European maps

Would they be able to update the satnav through a PC at the library, for example?

Very unlikely, the update is managed by a program installed on the PC, it's not just a question of plugging into the USB port and the library PCs should be locked-down to prevent random program installs.

Mum only has an iPad

Do they actually have broadband/wifi into their home?