Sat Nav for coach drivers

rae25_2

I'm a coach driver and I need a sat nav that shows British and European mapping, low bridges and width restrictions and also good points of interest. Which is the best model to go for? Thanks in advance.

boatman

To give you a bit of back ground, all satnavs use map data provided by either Navteq or Teleatlas so any satnav will give you similar information, the newer the map data the better the information(most of the time anyway!). Where the differences come in are the way the different companies implement this info. Garmin and Mio have a specific lorry/bus mode, Tomtom doesn't. But, before you dismiss Tomtom, none of the companies have specific low bridge info built-in, I guess this is because for the most part major roads are designed to allow all vehicles up to a reasonable height. Here is a website with a bridge height database for satnavs. Width restrictions are not specifically covered, only by the fact that roads are classified by speed which generally means small roads are generally only used at the start or end of the journey. Models to look at i would suggest are Garmin NUVI 250,250W, 660T or 760, Tomtom 720, ONE Europe, ONE XL Europe, Mio C620. They range in prices from £120-250, each company use the same mapping/directions on their models so by spending more you'll not get any better/worse directions than the cheapest, the differences between models being whether you get widescreen, bluetooth, TMC traffic and FM transmitter.

http://www.find-tomtom-deals.co.uk/
http://www.pentagongps.co.uk/