You guys had to see it coming ...

[Tak]

I have a licence to roam the roads now ... with negative navigation skills or sense of direction and the ability to get lost in a bed-sheet :p

I always said that once I had passed I would look at buying myself some kind of satnav.
Using my iphone isn't an option as the lighter in the car doesn't work and the battery life isn't great on my phone when using it for stuff like that (I also just want one :p )

So - what is the best type of satnav? The two I've been told so far are tomtom and Garmin but there are so many different models.

I'm hoping to spend £100-£150 (obv after all these lesson costs, the least the better! But as I won't be planning on "upgrading" it for a while, I'd like something that isn't just about to run out of shelf life).

I've heard about problems or extra payments needed to update maps - is that all satnavs or just some?

So requirements are: good battery life, clear audio, easy to update and program, "accident hot-spot" warnings, (if it could to the re-route en-route type thing that would be useful too)

Cheers everyone - be prepared for many daft questions to come ... :o

[Knipples]

Tom Tom. Mine tells me where speed cameras are as well. I don't have the traffic updates stuff but it does the job, and has only had one or two head fits where its let me down. Its great for work and very easy to use.

[Tak]

They aren't allowed to tell you where speed cameras are - they tell you where "accident hotspots" are (and you can only put a speed camera in a hotspot area - unless they changed stuff ... ? )

Do you know any good models? As I said even with just 2 makes to look at there are still so many ...

[Knipples]

Mine tells me where speed cameras are, it even does the ones where they've had average speed cameras are (50mph) and you can add or delete cameras that are on there incorrectly. (I think it works if enough people report them - you plug them into the puter and it sends and receives data)

I've got this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-Start-UK-RoI-Navigation/dp/tech-data/B002MZZXG2/ref=de_a_smtd

I paid for the thing where you get so many map updates a year (I think its like £35 quid a year) just because I travel here there and everywhere quite a bit, and so its useful to have things up to date.

[Kitten]

Afaik, it's legal because the information comes from a speed camera database which is in the public domain. The one built into the Megane does the same.

We have a TomTom Go, had it years, use it loads, it works internationally, maps and updates can be..acquired easy enough and it cost around £100.

[divine]

Be vary wary of battery life.

I've just got myself a TomTom Via Live 125 EU and the battery life is only 2 hours or so I think, so if your power socket is knackered, it'd only be any good for destinations about an hour away :p

No idea what the lower end models are like, probably a bit better due to less pointless gubbins trying to communicate here there and everywhere but it's something to keep an eye on, I think a lot of them are designed with the assumption you can plug it in.

They aren't allowed to tell you where speed cameras are

They are, and they can even tell you the limit of the camera you are about to pass in case you missed the signs.

[Tak]

I think a lot of them are designed with the assumption you can plug it in.


That is what I was thinking :confused:

[divine]

The TomTom XL IQ Routes models seem to claim a 3 hour battery, which isn't toooo bad

[Kitten]

silly question, but why doesn't the lighter work, do you know?. Could be something simple like a fuse, might be really easy to fix, then battery wouldn't be so much a problem.

[Knipples]

silly question, but why doesn't the lighter work, do you know?. Could be something simple like a fuse, might be really easy to fix, then battery wouldn't be so much a problem.

Yup, mine died when it fused due to broken car charger for phone. I looked in the book for the car, found which fuse it was, trip to car parts shop and hey presto it lived again. :)

[Tak]

Checking with Mic it probably is a fuse but he doesn't know which one and going through the manual none of them actually say they are for the lighter.

I'll have a look at those ones Divine - thanks :)

[TinkerBell]

Is there anything else that has stopped working. With me my reversing lights stopped working. Worth a check to see.

[Knipples]

Is there anything else that has stopped working. With me my reversing lights stopped working. Worth a check to see.

Yup, mine was the same fuse as the reverse lights too. :)

[TinkerBell]

Yup, mine was the same fuse as the reverse lights too. :)

That is probably because we had the same car :D hehe!

[Mark]

Tom Tom for me too. Garmin are good too but despite being a Garmin owner I still recommend (and buy) Tom Tom. I can certainly recommend the Tom Tom XL (parents have XXL, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you get your charger socket fixed).

Map updates will cost you £8.95 per quarter, but you'll get a recent-ish set of maps out of the box unless you buy an old model. Watch out for offers including your first update free as that'll keep you going even longer without paying for updates.

[TinkerBell]

Sorry, didn't post anything about sat nav's. I have always been a tomtom girl. They are easy to use, reliable, last a long time.

Never tried Garmin so can't be any help there.

[volospian]

Checking with Mic it probably is a fuse but he doesn't know which one and going through the manual none of them actually say they are for the lighter.

I'll have a look at those ones Divine - thanks :)

What car is it?

[Jhadur]

Focus 1.8 zetec. The only other thing that doesn't work is the remote boot release, either from the keyfob or the button in dash. That used to work whereas the lighter socket hasn't worked since we got the car.

[TinkerBell]

Best to try the fuse first, if you can't find which one in the manual, just take each fuse out at a time and check to see if they are all okay. Make sure you put them back in the right place though

[divine]

Couple of possible locations for it (the fuse that is), depending on how old it is, all easily googled though

they apparently have a habit of blowing them though

[Del Lardo]

I could significantly improve the battery life of my TomTom by setting the screen to turn off between instructions.

[divine]

I think mine can be set to dim the screen significantly between instructions, not sure about off though

[Piggymon]

YAY !! You did it !! Well done poppet :D

[Tak]

The TomTom XL IQ Routes models

Been reading lots of a reviews this morning and a lot of them say to avoid these models - inability to edit/bypass/deviate from a route without completely re-plotting it and other software problems like randomly deleting maps without telling you if you run out of internal memory.

I started looking at the Tom Tom Start 20 and 25 and am leaning towards that - no traffic updates without an additional £50 purchase but its still looking really good for what I'll need.

Now to look for best price :)

[Mark]

Must admit that it was the non-'IQ routes' version that I got. I'm somewhat dubious about making such route plans based on the driving skill of others. :)

[volospian]

Focus 1.8 zetec. The only other thing that doesn't work is the remote boot release, either from the keyfob or the button in dash. That used to work whereas the lighter socket hasn't worked since we got the car.

Looks like the fuse you need is in the passenger footwell, under the glove box. Apparently there is a foam panel held in place with two yellow tabs, and the fuse box is behind that. A couple of wingnuts holds it closed. The lid should say what fuse does what.

I haven't got access to a Focus to check this, mind. my mate has one, but he's on hols atm...

Hope that helps...

[Stan_Lite]

I've always sworn by my TomTom One. It's never let me down yet.

One thing to look out for with TomTom. If the software updates when connected to the PC, it wipes the map settings file and you lose all your favourites. I've learned now to back up the map settings file and reinstate it after an update.

[divine]

Must admit that it was the non-'IQ routes' version that I got. I'm somewhat dubious about making such route plans based on the driving skill of others. :)

I'm loving the IQ routes to be honest, they've been brilliant for me so far, taken me down a few different routes compared to my old one that have turned out quicker.

I'm fairly sure all it does is use typical speeds, rather than recorded limits to more intelligently plot the quickest route. so where previously it may have used a main A road at 8am, it will now go another way if the data shows that typically people are doing about 15 mph on that A road at 8am. If however you made the same journey at 2 in the afternoon, it probably would use the main road as the average speed would be much higher. Nobodies driving skills come in to play :) As a bonus, it also means the predicted arrivals are much more accurate, it rarely needs to adjust it en route.

Not encountered any problems with replotting routes when deviating from what it wanted either, though that may be a specific XL IQ problem.

[Nutcase]

IQ routes is fine until you want to go into a city where it doesn't have a clue (amusinly they had a demo route on their website that was through central london...) but apart from that, superb.

[Jhadur]

Found a fuse box BEHIND the glove box. You have to pull the glove box open then past it's stops (so everything falls out) to get to it. The fuses are also not marked as to which does what as there was no cover on the box.
Now will have the fun of removing each fuse to make sure they are ok. And will need my long nosed pliers from work to do it. :(

[divine]

It should be number 35 if googling has served me well enough, most likely a 15A fuse