In-car satellite navigation?

[Hilary]

Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) of sat nav systems here?

I know DH would love one in his car, and I'd like to get him one for Christmas but have no idea what to look for. I'm hoping to get something that he can plug-and-play and that does the business without being hopelessly complicated. Oh, and not too expensive either!

All suggestions gratefully received

 

[wicket2005]

If you do get one, make sure your hubbie takes it with him when he leaves the car. In my area, they are causing the biggest break in in cars. People tend to stuff them in the glove compartment and the cradle is still visible so crooks know what to do.

 

[Hilary]

If you do get one, make sure your hubbie takes it with him when he leaves the car. In my area, they are causing the biggest break in in cars. People tend to stuff them in the glove compartment and the cradle is still visible so crooks know what to do.

I hadn't even thought of that! Maybe an installed one would be better - I can't see DH going to the bother of removing a portable one all the time Or are the installed ones just as attractive to break-ins?

 

[Tron[ADS]]

I have TomTom5 on my phone (O2 XDA IIi), and its absolutely superb, although I never really go anywhere so its hardly used.

I also have all the USA maps for it...which will be nice in May. Last time I went I had a dodgy copy of the USA TomTom 2.24 on an IPAQ PDA, which ended up being a bit unreliable in that it kept stopping working....still I guess you get what you pay for !

 

[diberry]

Having been born without a sense of direction I'd love one too!!! I've heard tomtom are excellent http://www.tomtom.com/products/product.php?ID=72&Language=1

 

[Goofyish]

When we are driving anywhere in the UK my wife uses a neat laptop version I got from Smiths. It was only £12 and cover all roads in the UK.

You can only have the one woman's voice for the directions and it somtimes gets confused as to whether the blue lines is a river or a motorway! You also have to tell it what page to turn to next
One other problem on long journeys is it seems to go into a power saving mode and you have to nudge it to switch it one again.

 

[wicket2005]

I hadn't even thought of that! Maybe an installed one would be better - I can't see DH going to the bother of removing a portable one all the time Or are the installed ones just as attractive to break-ins?

In our paper it was the portable ones that were being nicked. I don't know about the installed ones.

 

[susieh]

Recently bought the TomTom 300 and it is BRILLIANT.

We use it in a Renault Clio and in a Jaguar X Type and just move it from car to car depending on who needs it when. I feel so much safer travelling to strange places with it especially in the dark as I know I'm not going to have to ask for directions if I get lost.

It is very very easy to install and/or switch between cars and to hide when you dont want to risk it being stolen. The battery life seems very good (it runs off the 12V socket but so does my mobile phone charger so i have to swap it between them).

We've used it for basic directions, for finding a restaurant when we were travelling and didnt want to stop in the Mway service station, to find a petrol station, to navigate round a bad traffic snarl up.

Definitely recommend it - got ours on-line from Dixons for £300 plus £25 P&P which is cheaper than they are in the shops. It says that some windscreens cause it problems cos they interfere with the signal so we thought the Jag would have problems (it has a heated front windscreen that has 'mesh' in it and is also tinted etc) but it is absolutely fine.

 

[Frances999]

My DH has TomTom Go in his car, and I have a "COMAND APS" unit which was built into to mine when new, direct from the manufacturer.

I find the TomTom Go in DH's car extremely easy to use (more so than the one I have in my car). It is very clear, with excellent graphics which clearly allows one to visualise the route. There are also additional "packs" / software which you can add on for greater coverage. It is user friendly and I would highly recommend it. I think some of the better installed units have to be installed by your main dealer to ensure they are coded properly. I guess this may depend on the car, though - but it was the case for mine, which is why we had it fitted when ordered from new.

 

[Hilary]

Thanks, everyone, that's really helpful. I feel a lot more confident that I know a bit about them and will definitely check out the Tom Tom