Typical - Which Sat Nav?!!

dlambirl

Hi all,

Now I know you are probably all bored with this question - but i have decided to get my boyfriend a sat nav for xmas. My boyfriend loves playing with everyones sat navs and would love a sat nav in general but doesnt trust them - cos lets face it they do take you some roundabout ways!! I wanna get him a good sat nav but havent got alot to spend.

Is it better to get one with European mapping? I doubt there is much chance that he'l actually be driving in Europe but then again you'd never know.

Firstly what are good makes of Sat Navs and which arent so great.

I seen in halfords that they had a Garmin 200 for €109 or thereabouts and a Garmin 205 for €139 which would be better. Are there any other good sat navs for under €150?? I heard RAC ones are excellent but probably very expensive.

Is it better to buy sat navs out of a brick and mortar store in case something goes wrong??

Passenger

I see the abundance of replies to your query. People are so helpful in here.

Anyway I'm buying the Garmin NUVI 200 as a gift as it appears to be the most popular, reasonably priced and appearantly you get a lot of bang for your buck.

I doubt it would matter too much where you buy it. Hope that was of some assitance.

CM21

Have a look here
http://www.elara.ie/products/gps.asp?srch=&anyallexact=all&manu=GARMIN&mancode=&searchBtn=Search&layershowhide=#

They have some great prices and if you dont live too far away you can collect from them in Parkwest.
The 255w is great for that price.
Pay the extra for the euro maps if you think there is a chance you will use them because they are dearer to buy later on.

Rowley Birkin QC

Doesn't the 255W shown in the link already come with the European mapping?

Seems to say so in the Spec sheet.

Any ideas how long this offer will run, certainly a good price.

CM21

Yeh the 255w comes with the europe maps. But the 200 and the 205 dont.
No idea how long they stay at this price.

murphym7

Bought a TomTom One in Argus on Saturday for €150. Very happy with it.

mrmac

Hi, I'm doing a wee bit of investigating of "cheap" sat navs myself, and managed to get a loan of a TomTom One V3 and a Garmin 255W, to try out.

I've used them for the last week between Letterkenny and Leixlip, and noticed a few differences.

TomTom one starts up and finds sats quicker.
255w has a nice wide screen
255w is far easier to remove from it's windscreen mount (when leaving the car)
TomTom one normally takes the windscreen mount with it!
TomTom One does not have an SD slot, 255w does and can view pictures.
TomTom One has a headphone socket, which, I presume, means you could use an adapter to connect to your car stereo.
I found the brightness of the TomTom was a bit high at night-timeime, even using night-time maps and brightness at 0, it was still a bit glarey.

Now as far as actually using as a Sat Nav.
The TomTom has up to date maps (I think) and the 255w is using NT Europe 8.

When calculating the route from Leixlip to Letterkenny, the TomTom was spot on. The actual final destination of my house was slightly off, but can't really complain.

The 255W was way off! It did get me there but both options of Fastest Route and Shortest Route both brought me the most awkward way. Also, when I ignored the recommended route, and went the TomTom route, the 255W did recalculate, but still not the most direct route. Not impressed. Maybe the latest NT 9 maps would be better at setting routes.

I met two diversions last week-end, and the TomTom was slightly faster at recalculating the route. But, in fairness, only slightly quicker.

Personally, I like the ease of use, widescreen, and the easy un-clipping of the Garmin, but I'm going to get a TomTom, as I think the route planning is better. Perhaps I'll go for the TomTom XL or 720, as I like the extra features (especially bluethooth on the 720). I also like the "over-speed" warnings of the TomTom.

Garmin 255W is 157.95 euro in Elara atm.
Tom Tom One Classic (not V3/4) - seen in Halfords, Letterkenny, last week-end for 99.99 euro.

That's my 2 cents worth - hope it helps.

FrankGrimes

That's a very good post mrmac, thanks for posting.

It is from the perspective of someone with little GPS knowledge though so it would be great if some of the heads on here that know plenty about GPS could chime in to confirm if that view reflects the general consensus or if there's something else beginners like myself should know before purchasing. I'm sure this question crops up all the time but GPS prices and map availability are changing so fast getting the current insight would be of help to many readers here I'm sure.

mrmac

Thanks for the "Thanks" everyone!

FrankGrimes - yes, I'm fairly new to GPS units. I do have TomTom 6 running on a PDA, but the battery doesn't last long, so I've never really used it.

Since my post, I bought a TomTom Go 720 (on Sunday), and so far, it's brilliant!
As I mentioned earlier, I really like the wider screen, this one is very sharp and vivid, plus the extra features work great;
i.e. bluethooth connection to my Sony E. W580i phone was simple and easy, imported my phone book no problem. It also reads out your text messages, great when on-the-road, but a bit freaky at first! Also, the way it attaches to the windscreen mount is great, a really big improvement from the TomTom One, and ALMOST as handy as the Garmin.

I know some people have complained that the TomTom maps (TeleAtlas) do not include townland names, where as Garmin maps do (NavTeq), but that doesn't bother me. If I plan to go somewhere that is not named on the map, I'll google map it first, and just enter the location on the TomTom as a favorite or POI, and then get a route to it.
It's the same method I had to use on the Garmin when I was looking for a specific hotel.

I'd also like to repeat, I was impressed with the Garmin 255W; for the price, it's really good value. The only thing that really let it down, for me, was the route planning. I lost confidence in it because of that. I can detail exactly the route, and issues, if anyone wants to know.

So I went mad and bought a 720! Geez, I'm a gadget freak, but I'm very impressed.
Shiney, my precious...........

I'd also like to hear from other, more experienced GPS users (note I said GPS, no brand loyalty), especially on issues of route planning, and device faults/issues.

Osteosam

Oh I just bought a 720 too... can't wait to have it delivered! It's got all the maps I need (AU, IRE, UK and eastern EUR) and it was an absolute steal of a price! Fingers crossed I love it as much as you like yours!

(And i'm sure people will be seeing me gazing admiringly at it chanting "my preeeecious" too!)

Sam.

dlambirl

Hey all.

After a week with no reply i kinda forgot abbout this thread.

I bought the Garmin 250 with the european maps. Got it local so paid a little more than the links that were posted above.

FrankGrimes

Looking at the view count for this thread (446 at the moment) it's clear that there's a lot of people interested in it but yet there's been very little by way of input from experienced/knowledgeable posters - I'm sure there's quite a few people who would appreciate that kind of input.

HJL

Looking for one myself, thinking of a price range of 150-200 euro, id like a widescreen one and bluetooth so it can act as a handsfree thing for my phone.

Leaning towards Garmin as i always believed they were the best as they make lots of other GPS for aircraft and boats etc. But then again a maker that makes them only for road usage may be better.

mrmac

Ok, here's an idea that might help.
Instead of the usual question - what do you think of this GPS - why not ask a specific question - like does the latest maps show my townland of Ballydehouse, or what way does a Garmin plan a route from Cork to Westport?

It's a bit harsh to be asking "what do you think of this, or what would you suggest?" and then critisise if you don't get a reply. All modern GPS units are very good at what they do, and deciding between a Garmin or a TomTom, is really down to personal preference.

At the moment, I have 3 GPS units in my van!
A Garmin 255W - TomTom One V3 (both on loan) - TomTom Go 720
And I've a TomTom Go 910 coming next week (the perils of bidding on multiple items!)

If there is something, specific, that you'd like to know, feel free to ask.

Rowley Birkin QC

HJL wrote: »

Looking for one myself, thinking of a price range of 150-200 euro, id like a widescreen one and bluetooth so it can act as a handsfree thing for my phone.

Leaning towards Garmin as i always believed they were the best as they make lots of other GPS for aircraft and boats etc. But then again a maker that makes them only for road usage may be better.

I just ordered a Nuvi 265w from Elara there, €189 with me collecting it from their depot in Parkwest.

Cheapest I found in bricks and mortar shop was €269.