Hi All,
Just thought I would give some feed back on the 'Meridian' Sat Nav that Aldi are flogging from last Thursday.
My Father has just bought it (£269) which comes with a PDA, cradle, GPS ariel and uk sat nav software.
It was very easy to install and works great. It caters for points of interest which include hospitals, stations etc. It diplays a map and speaks you through the directions. We just put the pda in the cradle, plug in to the cigerette lighter and place the GPS ariel on the dashboard. You can enter in street names or post codes.
I have a Nissan Primeral SVE with built in sat nav but gave this a good testing today and it worked just as well. For £269 its the cheapest system that I have seen unless you already own a PDA. So impressed spoke to the Father in law today and bought him one as well.
The offer started last thursday but some Aldi branches still have them but once they have sold them thats it. they carry a 3 year warrantee to.
Just my 2 pence worth. Interested if anyone else has had exeriance with these.
Cheers
Jlo
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Glad to hear that this kit is good - I thought very long and hard about buying one - even had the box in my hand last Tuesday. Local Aldi had already had their delivery and were keen to sell me one despite it being two days before the offer was due to start.
I could really do with satnav (the wife's not too good with maps) but I also wanted the speed camera database (no I don't normally speed before I get the usual lecture). I wasn't sure if the Aldi kit could do that. I now know it can! You just need to buy a program called POI-Warner (about £20). Had I known that for sure at the time i think I'd have gone ahead because the price was so good.
Anyway I'm a bit of gadget freak, so I managed to convince myself (and the wife) that I really needed a more flexible setup (so I can play!) and I've ordered a Tomtom/Hp setup - but I'm not sure I just shouldn't have bought the Aldi offer and saved a few bob.
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scotty
you have done the right thing. not knocking the aldi one, but tom tom is vastly suprior to the sysem sold at aldi. The aldi one is the same as the one sold at halfords)
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Thanks for the feed back.
I am sure you are right and the tom tom is superior but the aldi one does work and does what it says it does on the box. For a budget system its not bad for the money.
I guess its like anything. If you want to do more with it then you are probaly better of paying the money and getting a better PDA/Nav System.
Will be interested to hear how you get on with it.
Cheers
Jlo
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Yep, I've read some good reviews of the Medion/Navigon combo on sale at Aldi - looks like a lot of happy punters - and then there's that very keen price.
I really like the idea of being warned about them cameras - we haven't really got any fixed ones here in Cumbria (yet) - but I have kittens every time I cross into Lancashire.
I'll let you know how I get on with Tomtom.
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The Aldi GPS bundles are very popular in Germany, they are offered as a 'special' about every month over there (and probably will be here too - so don't worry if you missed it this time!).
The Pocket PC is a Medion brand (a German IT company) - it is basically a re-badged Mitac PPC, made in Taiwan of course. The GPS receiver unit is a RoyalTek PGM-2000 'Sapphire' - this seems to one of the better GPS receivers.
The units come bundled with Navigon software; again German (www.navigon.de) but works in seven languages.
I have used Navigon before and it worked perfectly for me. I have also used TomTom 3. IMHO the only real advantge of TomTom is the option to use '3D' map view - which I personally prefer. Both packages will do the same job. Driving in Europe I have found Navigon spot-on and error free.
I notice that Navigon sell maps of other European countries for about £70 per country in the UK. If you are going to Germany you can buy the full European set over there (on 7 CD's) for about £70 in Aldi - a massive saving if you are visiting more than one country.
Alternatively try the German Ebay (www.ebay.de) for similar offers.
I have tried a couple of GPS set-ups and can recommend a GPS received that plugs into the CF port on a PPC (e.g. plug a Haicom 303E folding receiver into an iPAQ 2210). That way you get a compact unit that clips to a dash or windscreen mount and you can also easily unclip it and use it on foot. Whether you go for Navigon or TomTom is personal preference.
I have looked at some of these 'speed camera databases', however since the two I looked at did not include local speed cameras that I know about, I wouldn't have much confidence in them.
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Hi All, Just thought I would give some feed back on the 'Meridian' Sat Nav that Aldi are flogging from last Thursday. My Father has just bought it (£269) which comes with a PDA, cradle, GPS ariel and uk sat nav software. It was very easy to install and works great. It caters for points of interest which include hospitals, stations etc. It diplays a map and speaks you through the directions. We just put the pda in the cradle, plug in to the cigerette lighter and place the GPS ariel on the dashboard. You can enter in street names or post codes. I have a Nissan Primeral SVE with built in sat nav but gave this a good testing today and it worked just as well. For £269 its the cheapest system that I have seen unless you already own a PDA. So impressed spoke to the Father in law today and bought him one as well. The offer started last thursday but some Aldi branches still have them but once they have sold them thats it. they carry a 3 year warrantee to. Just my 2 pence worth. Interested if anyone else has had exeriance with these. Cheers Jlo
Aldi is a good store and when they have specials like this, they are AMAZING value. I don't know how they do it.
(As an aside, same goes for Lidl too).
The same gear at Halfords is almost double the price!
If Aldi make a profit, how much are Halfords making on it? Shudder.
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Anyone looking for a budget PDA based satnav solution could consider the following:
Mitac Mio PC - £129.97 at PC world
TomTom car kit for the above - £39.97 at PC World
TomTom Navigator3 + GPS - £121.04 from www.ebuyer.com
256MB SD card - £32.88 from www.ebuyer.com
Apart from P&P, total cost is then £323.86. Admittedly the PDA is pretty slow (only 200MHz) and does without Bluetooth and wireless LAN, but the screen is good and it looks okay; certainy adequate if you're not too bothered about actually having a PDA.
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One advantage of Aldi is that they have a no quibble 1 year money back return policy.
I've read of people who bought their previous GPS system last years for 350 quid (I think) taking it back, getting a refund and buying the new one.
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Aldi is a good store and when they have specials like this, they are AMAZING value. I don't know how they do it. (As an aside, same goes for Lidl too). The same gear at Halfords is almost double the price! If Aldi make a profit, how much are Halfords making on it? Shudder.
Medion (the people who supply the GPS system to Aldi, and also sell a wide range of PC kit) are a major German PC company. I think they are one of the biggest in Europe and in my experience all of their stuff is of a good standard. I would have no hesitation in buying anything Medion branded.
I guess Halfords make an large profit on the systems they sell - mind you they once tried to charge me about £7 for 500ml of DIII ATF!! When I queried the price, the young upstart of a manager made the comment that 'if you want it badly enough, you'll pay it'. I nearly rammed it down his throat and I avoid the place like the plague now.
I have bought most of my PC stuff in Germany (I have 3 PC's) - it is generally a fair bit cheaper than UK. I also buy some car parts there. I bought 6 NGK Iridium spark plugs for my Nissan recently - UK price was about £9 a plug, but I got the same ones from a German factor for about £5 a plug. Merc and BMW parts are a lot cheaper, as you would probably expect.
I'm off over there again at the end of the month for a couple of weeks work so will be keeping my eyes peeled for any bargains. Unfortunately the Euro has risen a bit lately, which won't help!
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3 year warranty, if I remember correctly.
Of course, now you own a Pocket PC, you could do far worse than to check out www.pocketgamer.org (PocketGamer.org), the premier source for Pocket PC gaming news and reviews.
OK, shameless plug over now! ;)
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