Chicken bald back

[Lavenders_Blue]

I am thinking of buying a sat nav - yes, I know, it's unbelieveable that there's anyone out there who still doesn't own one

Anyway, can anyone recommend me a decent sat nav? I don't really want to spend a huge amount of money on it and it doesn't need to come with a whole host of whistles and gongs. Just something that will get me from A to B will be fine

As I am new to all this, how do map upgrades work on sat navs? Do you need to pay/subscribe to update your maps, or is it included in the price? Any helpful tips would be appreciated!

[Geoid]

Garmin Nuvi, cheapest I saw was about £70. My mum has one and hasn't got lost yet!

Garmin will update your maps for free within the first 90 days, after that you will have to pay.

[Gertie]

I love my sat nav! I have a large screen Tom Tom & it's very good, reliable and easy to use. I've had it more than 4 years with no issues.

[Lavenders_Blue]

Thank you, I will have a look at both of those. It all looks very bewildering when I go online so it's good to have a starting point to work from.

[Cinnamon]

Tom Tom here too - we have 3 of them between us & they are brilliant

[chickric]

We have just updated our satnav as the old one was quite out of date and not cheap to update maps.

 

We went for this one, link, as it offers life time map updates.

 

Seems quite good so far although haven't really put it fully to the test yet.

[Lewis]

We have a Navman S80 which is the families but I do so many long journeys to work experience + shows that I bought my own.

 

I went for the Navman Ezy and love it! Its quite small but is handy for me, really easy to use and works well. Some other cheaper ones my friends have aren't touch screen and are a bit clunky.

I got mine for £40 off eBay and there are a couple on there at the moment

[Chicken shack]

I have both a Garmen and Tom Tom. Don't ask why I have two. IMO I find the Tom Tom is far easier to use and to follow. I used both in France and found the Garmen sent me in circles at time. Perhaps it's just me.

[Valkyrie]

OH had a Navman but now he has a Tom Tom which he prefers. I still like to use maps - and then homing instinct!!! Although I think they would be useful for towns when confronted with a one way system that maps rarely show - but then I just print a map off Google or whatever for that purpose. We always asked the guy in the shop what he had and why he liked it. He would then say "whatever but I think next time I'd look for this or that function", which always is an additional help - particularly if you hadn't thought of that something extra.

[Charlottechicken]

OH has the Tom Tom app on his iphone and loves it. It was £60. He plugs the phone adaptor in to the car cigarette lighter socket so it charges as he drives. He also bought a really cheap adaptor that plays the sound through the car speaker system. As it is on his phone he never leaves it behind in the car, and as he has all his music on his phone too, the sat nav voice cuts in if music is playing, so you don't miss any instructions.

[Lavenders_Blue]

Thanks for the info folks. The Garmin with free map updates looks good - it's more than I wanted to pay for a sat nav, but I don't know how much the map updates generally cost, so maybe it would work out cheaper in the long run?

 

Valkyrie - maps, Google maps and the homing instinct has sevrved me very well so far too! However I do quite a bit of driving for work, and usually end up trying to navigate through side streets, complex junctions, roundabouts, switch lanes etc with a Google map in one hand and the steering wheel in the other - not very practical or safe! I will admit to being somewhat reluctant to buy a sat nav, but I think it's come to the time where needs must!

[Valkyrie]

Yes, I agree invaluable when it comes to stressful driving - particularly changing lanes. Very impressed with Lewis's navigation around Brum - and Wigglebum in hot pursuit - but I would definitely need a nav if I was going it alone! Of course getting there is eeeeeeeeeeeeeasy!

[Shirl]

I'm a Tom Tom lover. Only today it showed me an alternative route after the local A road ground to a halt. Although I knew the usual route I didn't know an alternative.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Another Garmin Nuvi devotee ........I have to give myself over completely to her or we come to blows however .....she has been known to try & take me an alternative route on a "well trodden" path & I have ignored her until she sees sense ....DH gets a bit rattled by that, but when he's copilot he can't do anything about it .....and don't get me started on why she felt clockwise on M25 was better than anti on one particular route but I digress!

 

As I do a fair few (for me!) long distance, solo trips these days I never leave home without SatNav, AA & credit cards (usually )

 

We had a TomTom in a hire car in Spain......DH was strongly tempted to throw it out the window.....it's just what you're used to really...

 

Oo another thought......the Garmin slots happily into my handbag or hoody pocket when I leave the car at destination or services....TT is quite bulky....

 

Good luck with deciding...

 

Sha x

[Daphne]

OH has some sort of Garmin...which he uses for his bike However, you can switch it to car mode. I hated it to start with but I have to admit it is probably easier than map reading for navigating on unfamiliar busy roads and the uploading of maps (Western Europe) makes it very useful for holiday trips. But, for reasons I don't understand, it does sometimes throw a wobbly....I ended up in a field once You can allegedly use it to find shops/restaurants....but "Ooops, word censored!"ody has worked out how to get it to tell you that the restaurant closes on the day you visit

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Oh yes forgot, our garmin can be set to use OS references & direct you either as a driver or walker & will run with OS walking maps......if you buy them of course...

 

This our 3rd Garmin too.......the others still worked, but were slower & crankier....the middle one still gets dragged out in an emergency

 

And DH has a "watch stylee" one too....he likes his gadgets

[Lavenders_Blue]

Oh yes forgot, our garmin can be set to use OS references & direct you either as a driver or walker & will run with OS walking maps......if you buy them of course...

 

Ooooooh that could be really handy. Hubby and I do quite a bit of walking, so OS maps could be very useful indeed, especially for holidays

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Look into the price of the maps, I was I recall when DS was enlightened how much they were for Sat Map...another gadget! I nearly choked!

 

Oh heck...am now worried I've got the "toys" muddled......SatNav def does do grid reference directions, I've used it to locate the boys by car when they hiked the South DownsWay... ......*Sha tries to ring DH for confirmation & gets voicemail why doesn't he KNOW I need him!....men!!!*

[Lavenders_Blue]

Don't worry, I shall be going into Halfords and asking lots of very dim questions, so will ask about OS mapping whilst I am there!

[sage]

Our Tomtom died 1 month out of warrenty . they have quoted £185 to mend what cost us £155 13 months ago. Will be telling them to stick it where the sun don't shine.

 

Sage