Great 'Sat Nav' Hunt (merged)

stars_bright

Can anyone tell me whether any of these devices wil tell you where the nearest car park is? As someone who really cannot find my way around I am planing to puy one of the sat nav systems but am thinking its no use getting to where I want to go and then not being able to find acar park!
Also, having looked at the NAVMAN devices in a local shop the PDA wsa cheaper than the pure GPS, but the guy in the shop recommended the pure GPS for ease of use. Can anyone exokain why it pure PDS is easier to use and why the PDA. which I presume does more, is actually cheaper?

B33fy

I know Tom Tom will find the nearest car park for you, it's one of the items on the extensive points of interest list.

I guess a pure GPS is simpler to use, but a PDA is a far more useful gadget -games, music, films, applications etc., the PDA is less expensive because they are made in bigger volume

heathen

stars_bright wrote:

Can anyone tell me whether any of these devices wil tell you where the nearest car park is? As someone who really cannot find my way around I am planing to puy one of the sat nav systems but am thinking its no use getting to where I want to go and then not being able to find acar park!
Also, having looked at the NAVMAN devices in a local shop the PDA wsa cheaper than the pure GPS, but the guy in the shop recommended the pure GPS for ease of use. Can anyone exokain why it pure PDS is easier to use and why the PDA. which I presume does more, is actually cheaper?

hi,the pda systems used to have to be set up(downloading from a cd onto a sd card from your home pc etc)which can take a bit of working out but lately a lot of them are coming with the software already preinstalled onto the sd card so getting started shouldnt really be any harder than with a stand alone sat nav system.i had to install mine myself and it wasnt that difficult and it may help u if in the furure you need to reinstall it after a problem(or a change of pda)at least youve done it before.u just follow the on screen instructions realy and then alter a few things to your personal preferences.

once set up a pda system is just as easy to use as a pure gps box.

ian

ian

fanlandcheese

I have a garmin V and its now about 2 years old. You have to download the maps that you want onto it before you leave and that takes ages. If you change your mind you have to download yet more maps onto it. But as a GPS unit it works fine. I found a website that allows you to join it to your PDA.

The real problem with it is that the maps are way out of date and nt accurate, and you can't get updates. In addition to that it tells you that you're off route and has to recalclate.

The best and most up to date maps come with the TOMTOM software.

I really don't understand wh all these companies use second rate maps anyway. Ordanance Survey has the most complete maps (which the AA copied and then had to pay compensation) but NONE of them use t.

I will be getting a TOMTOM 500 in the next few days. The 700 has a Hard drive but I think vibration will be a killer whereas the 500 has a SD card and vibration doesn't affect it at all..

I hope this hels in any decisions

Eric

lolly5648

How much is a Tomtom 500 and does it come complete with everything you need and preloaded?

heathen

lolly5648 wrote:

How much is a Tomtom 500 and does it come complete with everything you need and preloaded?

the tom tom 500 is a dedicated sat nav unit only and therefore everything is already on the machine,its not cheap(around £450) but if you want ease of use and some of the latest maps it could be the way for u to go.

u may want to add the speed camera database later or more poi,s but you should have no problem getting started straight out of the box.

hth ian

PaddyLen

I just got a TomTom GO 500 from Curry's for £429 to replace a Navman 620.
Bought the Navman in November 04 - the maps in it (based on OS maps) were 9 years old! Couldn't wait to get rid of it. So many unexplained diversions en route - froze regularly - often took 20 - 30 mins to find a satellite - crazy menu system - awful rubber buttons lodge under the facia - no Post Codes - no 3D - No Battery - only covers half of UK - New maps needed for northern half etc etc. 3 times it took me to a town then refused to show a return route! THE TOMTOM - what a difference totally straightforward - includes roads built in the last year! One button - On/Off rest is touch screen - EVERYTHING IS BRILLIANT about the way it works. So many extra features on 300 or 500 compared with the Navman. Will make you a GPS Bore!!!
Seriously considered PDA + TomTom software but size/simplicity/dedication/bluetooth made 500 irresistable. Do not just look at price - test function and features of all.
Made a mistake first time - never again.
paddylen

swebb

overide wrote:

The Garmin i3 firmware version 2.4 is available to download at http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=995 this fixes the hanging issue.

Thanks to cuppa from http://www.pocketgps.co.uk forums

My i3 came yesterday - excellent value for money (I also got 5% off with a code for Currys). I have loaded the speed camera POI from the above link. A couple queries that I hope someone can answer:

1. I get alerts for the speed camera (a beep and actual speed limit notice), but no picture of their actual position. Is this correct or should there be an icon or something on the display? i.e. on the map.

2. Are there any other POI that are available (for free)? e.g. I'd like schools for example. I have tried http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/tomtompoi.php, but I can't get these to work on the i3 (the loader says it needs a .csv).

Cheers.

Sun

1) only Speed Camera & Redlight icons will display in navigation mode, u need to convert bmp files to 8 or 16 bit.

2) Use POI Edit from https://www.poiedit.com, select NAVMan CSV format for conversion, once it is geneated, open it in notepad and remove top 3 lines. Thats It!

Cheers !

swebb wrote:

My i3 came yesterday - excellent value for money (I also got 5% off with a code for Currys). I have loaded the speed camera POI from the above link. A couple queries that I hope someone can answer:

1. I get alerts for the speed camera (a beep and actual speed limit notice), but no picture of their actual position. Is this correct or should there be an icon or something on the display? i.e. on the map.

2. Are there any other POI that are available (for free)? e.g. I'd like schools for example. I have tried http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/tomtompoi.php, but I can't get these to work on the i3 (the loader says it needs a .csv).

Cheers.

Cuppa

swebb wrote:

1. I get alerts for the speed camera (a beep and actual speed limit notice), but no picture of their actual position. Is this correct or should there be an icon or something on the display? i.e. on the map.

2. Are there any other POI that are available (for free)? e.g. I'd like schools for example. I have tried http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/tomtompoi.php, but I can't get these to work on the i3 (the loader says it needs a .csv).

Cheers.

The icon only displays when you're going over the speed limit set for the POI. When you reduce under it disappears. (A little weird and I've asked Garmin if they're going to allow POI icons to be displayed all the time).

If you pop over to the pocketgps forums there are some threads on the i3 and where to get csv POIs or at least how to convert other formats.