Hi,
When it comes to sat nav for driving, what alternatives are there to the Tom-Rom, Garmin etc devices you get from Curry's etc.

1. Bulit in (obviously)
2. Mobile phones?
3. Laptop with gps dongle?

Anyone any experience of 2 or 3, or are the Tom-Tom's of the world the best option.

 

Mobile phones. Was offered this service when I renewed my Orange contract a couple weeks ago. Orange maps.

Can you imagine trying to drive and read a tiny Satnav screen on your mobile?

Laptop. Is the passenger meant to sit with a laptop on his/her lap through out the journey?

 

1. Voice only
2. In the footwell.

 

Believe me, voice only is not the way to go. If you have two roads very close together and it is only saying "turn right" you don't know which one to take, as current sat navs are not accurate enough. You need the visuals, and if you are looking to the passenger footwell to see it.........

Why don't you want a normal one? They are designed for cars, why choose something not suitable for the job?

Geezer

 

I'm just exploring the alternatives. Ideally i'd like it built in.

 

laptop in the footwell is the way to go.

use your mobile at the same time, while lighting up a ciggy too

lol


ps: cant beat a nice big screen on the dash in my opinion

or what about one on a double din dvd screen, which tilts / slides away?

 

Never had a problem using my old Nokia 93 as a satnav with the TomTom software on it.
I even had Darth Vader telling me where to go


And never had a problem a few weeks ago when i used Google Maps on my HTC Hero and needed to find where the car boot sale was.

Cheap "air vent clip-on" phone holder for the car = 2quid

 

Majority of alternatives will p1ss you off, the user interface on the TomTom's are unbelievably simple. They just work.

Get your budget, get the TomTom within that budget, simple.

 

I use TomTom Navigator 6 on my Sony Ericsson P1i - works fine

Only trouble is the scumbags at TomTom are not supporting Navigator 6 anymore - I'd only had it a year when I found out that the latest map you could get was already 2 years old - and that cost £29 - AArrrgghhh - Weasles!!

I think the current(ly supported ) version is Navigator 7 - which (at the moment) they do provide updates for...

One reason I prefer it in a mobile is since you're going to take from the car with you anyway...If you haven't got built in sat-nav then you have to take the thing with you as well to avoid £100s worth of damage as some morron breaks into your car to sell the sat-nav down the pub for £20

Makes my blood boil!

Mr Angry from Purley

 

HTC Touch HD (a mobile phone with a big touch screen and built in GPS) running TomTom though I understand iGo is better but seems complicated to get it setup.

With the phone in a Brodit vent mount it more than meets my needs and is easy to read

 

Buy a new head unit with sat-nav built in, I have a blaupunkt one, have to say it's not as user friendly as tom tom but I like having it built in to the car, think Alpine do one as well, they are both a lot more expensive than buying a tom tom though

 

i've a widescreen Navman- about £130 from halfrauds- 1/2 price deal.

tend to charge it up at work- then whilst out- no messing about with leads.

plus the places I go to (through work) - you wouldn't leave it in yr car/on windscreen

 

GoogleNav when release in this country is going to stomp all over most dedicated satnavs IMO


When they released it in the states, apparently the share price of Garmin dropped?

 

It'll only run on Android OS based phones though, GoogleNav I mean.

I use Navigon on my iPhone 3GS and it's pretty good. Not distracting and it sits in a vent mounted cradle too. Ok, so it's not exactly cheap, but it's preloaded maps, so doesn't need to download them on the move.

 

Agreed. I'd rather not have something you have to keep taking in and out of your car.

 

What about on the iphone. The screen must be about the same size as some Sat nav's.

 

The iPhone screen is bigger in some cases. I think if I didn't already own a tomtom I'd get the iPhone version.

 

Jon Bentley on the Gadget show tested some, inc the iPhone version... might be helpful to you

FiveFWD - Jon's Sat Nav Trip video from The Gadget Show

Mick

 

I also have been using tom tom on my pocket pc for years, works great & big enough to use in the car and as stickymicky said - Cheap "air vent clip-on" phone holder for the car = 2quid. can't beat it

boab

 

I have the Touch HD and have used Igo8 - very good software but it seems to have an issue with roundabouts. For some reason it can't count exits and I've gone whizzing down the wrong road on more than one occasion!

However, the Touch HD is excellent as a GPS / Sat Nav device, you can use QuickGPS to get a near fix on your location which makes Satellite pickup VERY quick.

Plus as you are using a phone you can link to your contacts and if you have their address in there, you can pick them from the menus. The screen is very clear, the speaker more than adequate, and you get all the flexibility of a multi-use device.

Oh, and despite what TomTom say - you can use TomTom7 on it.

 

Bought a Garmin, really good features and quality.

 

tom tom excell,.....superb for us short sighted people.