Portable Sat Navs

[FarmerPug]

Since getting a factory fit sat nav really doesnt make economic sense, or nor does it really do much for the car. Whats the best sat nav to go for at the moment?

[GeordieBoy]

You really cant go wrong with a Tom Tom. I got the Tom Tom XL Europe a few years ago as I was driving thru France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

It got me from a Hotal in France to a hotel in Italy via Swizz, and Italy to hotel in Spain, then back home again. Absolutely perfect, couldn't fault it at all.

[FarmerPug]

is there lane guidance on it, my garmin hasnt got it and thats the biggest flaw is you dont know what lane to be in.

[Gary406]

tom tom go 500 i had. was a really good one but a bit chunky

[highlander]

I had the most basic TomTom available at the time I bought it - no lane guidance, but with the combination of the Sat Nav and the road signs, you can figure it out well enough

[no2lurch]

i use the tom tom start for uk and ROI. its fine for me. never had a problem. and its only 90 quid in halfords at the mo

[highlander]

Actually, since I got my HTC Desire smartphone, I don't even use the TomTom anymore - Google Navigation is free, as long as you have a good data plan for your phone, and it will give you turn-by-turn navigation based on Google Maps data.

Works a treat.

[omega]

tom tom good
rac sat navs are a waste of time

[xero01uk]

ive got the tomtom XXL with lane guidance and i love it, never goes wrong, and its always gets me to where i need to be but now you can get a tomtomt live for the same price as a tomtom XXL model

[FarmerPug]

is the updates included?

[DaiRees]

I've got tomtom on my smartphone, it's excellent

[mjb]

got tomtom on my iphone and used it for my trip to Germany last year. It's ok, but I won't be using it for long distance trips abroad again. The GPS receiver in phones just doesn't compare to a PROPER one.

My preference is for tomtom on an old PocketPC device (ipaqs with a VGA screen like the HP HX4700 are cheap on ebay) and a decent bluetooth GPS receiver (like a http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/GPS_Rec ... T_368.html - mine's the older BT-338). You can sling the receiver right at the front of the dashboard for great reception, and have the ipaq mounted wherever you like. Phones running Windows Mobile will be able to run tomtom too, but the bigger screen on iPaqs is a big plus and I don't know if use of an external receiver is an option...

Satnav falls flat on its face in every way conceivable if it loses reception in built-up areas, so using a separate receiver is worth its weight in gold.

[CountryPug]

Some folk tell me that Garmin is the better choice for Northern Ireland farmerpug. My friend works in halfrauds, I'll ask if there is any truth behind this rumour. I don't have a sat nav myself, I prefer the ancient art of pretending I know where I'm going

Edit* Checked with my mate and she says Garmin is by far the better sat nav for Northern Ireland coverage. On the mainland Garmin and Tom Tom are very similar but over here and Tom Tom won't have a notion where it is alot of the time

[FarmerPug]

Some folk tell me that Garmin is the better choice for Northern Ireland farmerpug

yup thats why i have the old nuvi is because the man at halfords said garmin knew ni better, but that was 4 years ago. What about a whacky brand off ebay selling for 10p, and promising every feature under the sun.

[DaiRees]

got tomtom on my iphone and used it for my trip to Germany last year. It's ok, but I won't be using it for long distance trips abroad again. The GPS receiver in phones just doesn't compare to a PROPER one.

My preference is for tomtom on an old PocketPC device (ipaqs with a VGA screen like the HP HX4700 are cheap on ebay) and a decent bluetooth GPS receiver (like a http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/GPS_Rec ... T_368.html - mine's the older BT-338). You can sling the receiver right at the front of the dashboard for great reception, and have the ipaq mounted wherever you like. Phones running Windows Mobile will be able to run tomtom too, but the bigger screen on iPaqs is a big plus and I don't know if use of an external receiver is an option...

Satnav falls flat on its face in every way conceivable if it loses reception in built-up areas, so using a separate receiver is worth its weight in gold.

Nah, I used to have TomTom on a Dell x51v PDA with a 3.5" VGA screen and a separate gps receiver, in fact I had 3 separate GPS receivers, a wired one that came with it, a bluetooth one and one that was built into a cradle that I bought for my jeep. One of the main reasons for buying it was to use Memory Map for offroading. It was very good.

Now I've got a newer version of TomTom on my phone, a HTC HD2 with a 4.3" WVGA screen, together with google maps (which is brilliant if you have data reception). The built in gps is brilliant too, aquires much quicker than any of the old ones and never ever drops out completely (unless you're in a tunnel ). As discussed previously, the only thing that spoils this phone is bloody Windows Mobile!