Which SatNav?

wadewade

Amazon have both of these on special offer at the moment and both suit my requirements. Which one is best?
(Need UK and Western Europe only).

Garmin Nuvi 2599LMT-D Sat Nav, 5 inch (Free Lifetime Map Updates for UK and Full Europe, Digital Traffic and Bluetooth)

TomTom VIA 52 5-inch Sat Nav with Western Europe Maps, Lifetime Map and Traffic Updates and Bluetooth Hands-Free Calling

I do not use bluetooth - will Traffic Update work just on the power cable if bluetooth is not connected?

Thanks.

daveyjp

Its a Coke or Pepsi discussion.

Some prefer one over the other. What is best is the one you prefer, I suspect both are very similar.

The Garmin power cable is also the receiver for traffic data.

kwikbreaks

Garmin traffic is based on data from the blue cameras you see alongside the roads and broadcast on FM radio (I think) there is a receiver in the power cable. From personal experience this is often way out of date and if you take a diversion based on it there is a good chance it's just taking you out of your way for no good reason. Sometimes it isn't though... In short pretty much worthless.

TomTom HD traffic is based on data from other TomTom units which report back (I think by an inbuilt phone SIM) and when I had that it was about a £50 a year subscription but was spot on.

I'm not familiar with the new TomTom system but if it is their HD traffic service and is free for life as opposed to just the first year it is worthwhile. It seems to rely on a smartphone so I'm guessing that talks to the unit over bluetooth. There was a slideshow about it on the site I linked to.

My preference was the TomTom software but I ditched them when my map was way outdated and would have cost as much as a new unit to bring up to date. Garmin were offering lifetime maps at the time so I switched because TomTo weren't. Naturally they started offering them a few months later.

Moto2

Not sure about the Garmin but the Tomtom requires a data link to your mobile for Live Traffic
It's pretty good most of the time but mine has been off for some reason for the last couple of days

Also with the Tomtom, it doesn't allow custom POIs if it has NAV4 software - like speed camera alerts from PGPSW - so if that's important to you??

DigForVictory

What are you used to? As switching from one to another is *stressful*.

Says the former Tomtom user who is now wrestling with the Garmin infrastructure.

If you've never had a satnav before, then you may as well flip a coin IMHO, but if you've used one of the two, stick with it!

wongataa

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Garmin traffic is based on data from the blue cameras you see alongside the roads and broadcast on FM radio (I think) there is a receiver in the power cable. From personal experience this is often way out of date and if you take a diversion based on it there is a good chance it's just taking you out of your way for no good reason. Sometimes it isn't though... In short pretty much worthless.

The Garmin mentioned has digital traffic. This is not broadcast over FM - it used DAB - and Garmin says it has more details and is ore up to date than the FM traffic service.

Contessa

wadewade wrote: »

Amazon have both of these on special offer at the moment and both suit my requirements. Which one is best?
(Need UK and Western Europe only).

Garmin Nuvi 2599LMT-D Sat Nav, 5 inch (Free Lifetime Map Updates for UK and Full Europe, Digital Traffic and Bluetooth)

TomTom VIA 52 5-inch Sat Nav with Western Europe Maps, Lifetime Map and Traffic Updates and Bluetooth Hands-Free Calling

I do not use bluetooth - will Traffic Update work just on the power cable if bluetooth is not connected?

Thanks.

I have that Garmin model. It replaced one I bought several years ago.

The Real Time traffic updates are received via the power cable and are excellent. The first time I used it in anger was when travelling from Milton Keynes to Lancashire. As I was leaving the car park I was informed that the M6 was closed on part of my route. It successfully navigated me away from and then back onto the M6.

It really is excellent.





I've never had a TomTom so can't comment on them.

[Deleted User]

Ive had Tomtom and Garmin and pound for pound Garmin is cheaper but as a straight choice I would choose TomTom again. I had a Garmin with lifetime maps and Traffic which is why I bought it but the unit barely lasted 2 years before going faulty.
At the moment I am using Herewego maps on the iphone which is OK considering it's free but I am considering using the TomTom App available on the iphone for £14 a year which includes traffic and obviously will always be upto date.

Mr_Toad

Don't get too hung up on the free lifetime map updates.

Lifetime doesn't mean lifetime, it means the lifetime of the SatNav unit.

When they stop making that model the map updates stop. And not wanting you to keep your unit for years they make subtle changes so that the new maps don't work in the old units.

http://uk.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/19326/~/about-lifetime-maps

Occasionally you get lucky and other units still in production use the same maps so you sometimes get a bit of an extension.

People who buy a Sat Nav thinking that as long as they take care of it and it doesn't go faulty that it'll last 20 years and they'll get free maps will be disappointed.

I've got a very early TomTom unit somewhere that still works but the map is so out of date as to be useless.

grant_uk

If you've got a decent sized smartphone, have you considered using that with Google Maps' navigator? It does everything I need it to and is very good for finding specific locations, venues etc. if they already have a presence on Google.

I'm not sure how it does for traffic information - not something I've looked into, but I don't need to use it often enough.

[Deleted User]

The thing about Google maps is it doesn't show the speed limits which I think is a must for me.