sat nav

kueef

hi, i was thinking about getting 1.
are they any good?
what ones are the best?
thanks

Eric Cartman

garmin or tomtom are the best, wouldnt touch the others, their maps arent as good and the software can be awful. i preffer the garmin myself, but tomtom is great

Do-more

Good deals here, got a Garmin 250W from them a few months back.

AWD

kueef wrote: »

hi, i was thinking about getting 1.
are they any good?
what ones are the best?
thanks

Go with Garmin. If you got a blue tooth phone, they work well as a hands free kit (blutooth option) I had a Shinko first... c$%& , then a Sony ... Naw ... bit fussy. Depending on what you want it for .... make sure you go with the complete European Maps.. I guess it might be standard now ... some years back it was just IRL UK ... but to buy the add on maps was expensive. Next Generation have pulled the price way down from what they were.
If it was my money- Garmin

omerin

Do-more wrote: »

Good deals here, got a Garmin 250W from them a few months back.

i ordered from this crowd a week ago and haven't received it yet, 2 to 4 days my *****

kinetic

I got one in currys a couple of weeks ago. Garmin 255 deluxe i think.It working fine for me.It cost €151.
I had Tom Tom for a week previously and it didnt have as many street names on it as the Garmin.

**Timbuk2**

omerin wrote: »

i ordered from this crowd a week ago and haven't received it yet, 2 to 4 days my *****

I wouldn't worry yet... 2 to 4 days probably means working days. In which case, 5 have passed (a week). Whereas its still late, it's not that late. If it doesn't come in the next week, ring them or write to them.

Berty

My father bought on in Limerick for €150.

It was a new generation Tom Tom one with a new map of Ireland and the UK.

Very good value I must say.

cyclopath2001

Berty wrote: »

It was a new generation Tom Tom one with a new map of Ireland and the UK.

I've just driven around half of Ireland on a TomTom with 9-month old maps, possibly the latest. Mostly OK but some re-alignments and by-passes missing.

One annoying thing is that when it gives you the text list of the proposed route, it does not give you the names of towns you'll be passing through/near.

TomTom is a good, consumer, simple-to-use GPS and it's quick and generally reliable. But if you want to plan an intricate route, it's fiddly. I found CoPilot better for that. You could plan on your PC, set precise waypoints from a map and download to your GPS.

Another issue with TomTom is their over-priced and not-very useful data services. On the other hand, it has some nice downloadable voices. 'Aongus' is a big hit with foreign visitors.

Eric Cartman

if your buying a garmin make sure it comes with the 2009 or 2010 maps, if it comes with 2009 you can get an update to 2010 for free , and like the previous poster said about copilot and planning on your pc, you can do that with a garmin

Berty

Its not the only place you can get free maps but due to the charter I cannot tell you where.

You can find the maps here possibly

mondeo

I have only bought Garmins and their dedicated units. I have never tried a Tomtom but I beleive the unit software is superb but the maps are not near as complete as Gramins.

Eric Cartman

i have a kenwood DNX-5220 as my stereo and it has the garmin sat nav built into it. superb unit and i cant fault the garmin maps at all, updated to the 2010 maps recently and its fixed a lot of things (m50/n4 junction, speed limits etc..)

snowman707

My daughter bought the a tom tom about 2 weeks ago with the latest maps, up dates etc.


bottom line the maps are sh1te, especially in the countryside where some of the maps are referring to names which were relevant during the landlord times.

I have since researched these (too late for her I'm afraid) & the general feeling is that while tom tom are extremely accurate their mapping lets them down,

tom tom may be ok or better for towns or cities but if you need an all rounder Garmin is the way to go.

tom tom use tele atlas mapping & garmin use navteq.

Berty

Tom Tom also copy Google earth or vice versa or use the same company to buy their mapping from because in Co Limerick both have a bridge which does not exist on their maps.

I used "report an error" with Tom Tom so at least the entire mysterious road has been removed.

I used Tom Tom in North America and Australia and it was perfect, the same went for Paris and Berlin.

That being said they are not building any new roads in those areas. Its worse in Ireland because roads are being built everywhere and new maps are €48 each time.(You do get 4 maps per subscription these days)

I have the original Tom Tom Version 1 which is perfect and I always HAVE to have the newest ones. Im just too happy with my bog standard one, no remotes, no mp3, no bookreading(WTF?), no large screen...................

cyclopath2001

snowman707 wrote: »

bottom line the maps are sh1te, especially in the countryside where some of the maps are referring to names which were relevant during the landlord times.

Try finding 'Cobh' in yours?

kueef

i was lookin at the garmin nuvi 265wt and 310 today..

anyone have a preference.

they were in different shops but the 310 was cheaper.

which is better

Penn

My Tomtom keeps randomly turning itself on. Got in the car to go downtown for lunch, heard a muffled voice from the glovebox say "In 80metres, you have reached your destination". I haven't used it in over a week so I know I didn't leave it on, battery would have died long ago.

I'm just scared it knows when I get into the car.....:(

Quint

I have a Garmin about 4 years, it's great. Might even update the maps, it's missing a load of bypasses and stuff like the new N2. Hopefully now the celtic tiger is dead they'll stop building roads:D
Mine has european maps on it, was handy on a few european trips where we were renting cars. You can program your hotel and places you want to go before you head off.

Mike 1972

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Try finding 'Cobh' in yours?

Try "Queenstown"