Recommend a Satnav for me please

AnotherJoe

AdrianC wrote: »

I've been very pleasantly surprised, yep. But - as you say - if it's in the car, it can be on charge.

I find sat nav most useful for detours and last-few-mile - there's absolutely no need for the bulk of a journey.

I would have agreed with that but where its starting to come into its own is warning of hold ups some way ahead and suggesting an alternate route. . Speaking of which, I suspect that the cheaper dedicated units won’t have that functionalityu less things have changed since I last looked.

Though for the OP I suppose that initially doesn't matter since they want to navigate the last mile or two. For which a handheld smartphone or indeed the cheapest dedicated sat nav would do, though with a phone you’d always have recent maps without needing to mess about with updating the maps.

RichardD1970

Just a quick aside about the "maps for life".

This usually means (and is stated in the small print) "maps for the useful lifetime of the device (or app)" ie, until we decide to stop supporting it.

giraffe69

My car satnav started to misbehave. I didn't like it much anyway so I started to use google maps. I bought a mount and it works fine. I can download maps at home if I wish so that no data is needed or used unless I want traffic updates. It is rather better than the in car one in terms of being up to date and showing traffic problems.

Gloomendoom

mgfvvc wrote: »

I use an ancient Garmin and supplement it with various smart phone apps. I have had Google Maps lock up on me at least twice, so I missed turnings. The HereWeGo app downloads maps to the phone, but when I was in NZ, it often wouldn't work offline.

I would trust the Garmin a lot more than the smartphone apps, but it didn't come with free map updates so it's maps are out of date. I can't easily add US/NZ maps and, even if I could, it would cost more than just buying a cheap satnav locally.

I have an 2008 Garmin and use it in preference to ipad and phone apps. The latter have their place but I prefer the convenience of a standalone device. The battery packed up last year but was easily and cheaply replaced. It came with UK, Europe and North American maps installed and extra maps are easily added using an SD card. We have used it all over the world. Currently stuck to the windscreen in Australia and working well.

AdrianC

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I have an 2008 Garmin
It came with UK, Europe and North American maps installed and extra maps are easily added using an SD card.

Are those maps now a decade out of date, or have they been updated?

Gloomendoom

AdrianC wrote: »

Are those maps now a decade out of date, or have they been updated?

The North American Maps are a decade out of date. The UK, Europe and Australia were updated just over a year ago.

iolanthe07

Gloomendoom wrote: »

The North American Maps are a decade out of date. The UK, Europe and Australia were updated just over a year ago.

My Garmain came with free lifetime USA updates (I bought it in the US because that is where I mostly used it) ) and only paid around £35 (iirc) for lifetime UK/ROI updates.