The subject about people having their TomToms stolen made me wonder if satnav is really worth it in the first place.
I mean, it's a nice idea and it's technologically fantastic that this thing is triangulating your position and speed by listening to satellites and that, but is it really that useful? I tend to pretty much always know where I am and where I'm going. I rarely need to consult a map when I'm driving, so would I get any use out of it?
Then again, I used to say that with British weather aircon was useless, and I'd not be without mine now.
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Yes very useful. Really miss it when I'm not in my car in a strange town. Safety benefits as well.
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I hate being without it.
I travel without worrying how to get places. I don't have to write down tiresome instructions which are either wrong or I can't read later anyway. I always know when I am going to arrive somewhere. I avoid a lot of traffic jams. etc. etc.
It is important to remember not to get too anal about it.
i.e. I spent years with an analogue watch thinking it was just after 3:15pm. Then digital watches made me think it was 15:17:30 - life got much better when I went back to analogue watches and rough timing.
Satnav can do the same. Its easy to stress because the first route said it would take you 1 hour 13 minutes and you can find a route which is 45 seconds shorter. The trick is to try and see all distances and timings as approximate. It says 30 minutes, well then it will be somewhere between 25 and 35 - that sort of thing.
It is also for guidance, not strict obediance. Sometimes I think people's expectations of satnav have been set by Star Trek rather than the real world. I can beat satnav in areas I know well by using back streets and the like. However, I don't use satnav in my own backyard. Sometimes it does get a priority wrong, or miss a turning - not often, but it happens.
Gotta go, more thoughts later.
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I belong to a couple of car clubs which means I am often driving to and frm unfamiliar places, my sat nav has made that much easier.
I also drive in europe and again the sat nav is ideal.
Once I only ever drove to the same few places, so no a satnav would have been of little use to me.
So horses for courses I guess
:) JaB
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Brussels !!!!!!!!! I forgot, the place drove me mental before sat-nav.
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I like gadgets and I had considered purchasing a satnav system. However, after doing a fair bit of research via dedicated websites and forums, I rapidly came to the conclusion that there was not an ideal system. I decided also that they were a tad expensive for my needs.
Most of my motoring in the UK is done on roads and routes that I'm familiar with, and I always have an up to date road atlas. If I had to visit unknown destinations, particularly in towns and cities, then I'm certain that a satnav system that could direct you to a given postcode would prove invaluable.
Having a holiday home in France I travel there twice a year and - touch wood - I never lose my way. The best road maps I have found to be IGN - www.ign.fr - 1 cm = 10 km for route planning. They also include fixed speed camera sites.
Why pay hundreds of pounds for a satnav system when you can get a new map every year for about eight Euros.
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I got a medion system for 80 quid from their website earlier this year - refurb or end of line I think. Satnav Is magic.
I went to buy a set of replacement alloys with nearly new tyres the other week and I just asked for his postcode and it took me direct to his door.
Stuck in the middle of Leeds one way system, nowhere to stop to look at a map or a2z - just pressed 'home' and thats where it took me.
Out on the bike with a buddy, bank holiday weekend, 200 miles in North and East Yorks on tiny backroads hardly seeing another vehicle - just a gentle voice in the earpiece keeping us off the main roads.
I repeat, magic.
Martin
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If this post had been made 3 months ago, I would probably have been the first to say that satnav was a complete waste and a map was a far better method (in fact, I think I did albeit in a slightly different subject).
Then I got my new car.
It has satnav as standard so it wasn't about choosing it as an option - it was just there so I tried it. So now, no more trying to peer at maps in traffic, no more downloading routes from the internet the day before a trip, no more crawling round strange towns at 10mph searching for a road sign, no more motorway drives wondering if I'm going to make it back in time for Eastenders (ok, I agree with you, it's sad), no more swearing at the boss when he rings at half six to tell me I'm spending the next day two hundred miles away from where I thought I was, no more unexpected roadworks or traffic jams, no more "oh blast, the M1's shut, how the bleep do I get to Gatwick before my flight closes?", etc etc
I am converted.
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I'm a bit like you, I usually know where I am and where I intend to go ....and I don't usually have to travel much for work. Having said that after having a PDA based system for sometime now I wouldn't want to be without it.
For me, when SatNav is really worth it's weight in gold is when your get stuck in traffic. You can take a detour very easily and re-route without all the stress of trying to map-read while driving etc.
I remember a few Xmas' ago we set out from Watford to go to my MiL's in Scotland. Just as we reached J8 of the M1 the traffic was at a complete standstill and we hadn't even gone 10 miles of an almost 600 mile journey.
The Merc CL500 coupe in front managed to come off on the slip road - I said to SWMBO, "I bet he has Sat-Nav, let's follow him, we've nothing to lose".
Luckily for us, he must have done, because after about 15-20 minutes of weaving about about on various country lanes we popped back out on to the M1 near Luton where it was virtually empty.
A week or so later I bought my own SatNav.
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I travel all over the southern half of the country for business, never visiting the same address twice, and for the past 18 months have been spared the time-consuming journey planning, looking at routes and maps perched on the passenger seat, asking for directions and being sent off in the opposite direction, the frustration of being late and still not being able to find the place in spite of those extra miles......
It's magic, pure and simple. And mine has paid for itself countless times over.
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I was having a think about getting TT on here and was given a lot of useful advice. I was talking to my uncle one night who said,
"Adam. What the...hell do you need sat nav for".
I couldn't give him an answer.
That being said, if I had it, I have no doubt that I'd love it and program routes which I knew in anyway!
--
Adam
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Then again, I used to say that with British weather aircon was useless, and I'd not be without mine now.
If it was a choice between aircon and satnav I'd take satnav. I would not contemplate buying a car without it now. I prefer in-built systems as they turn the car audio down when giving directions and they are a lot neater.
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If it was a choice between aircon and satnav I'd take satnav. I would not contemplate buying a car without it now.
Really? It's that good. I was hoping to get a response along the lines of "no Jon, don't spend a few hundred quid of your hard-earned on a useless gadget", but now it looks like I may be nipping down to Comet with my credit card in the not too distant future.
I prefer in-built systems as they turn the car audio down when giving directions and they are a lot neater.
More difficult to steal as well... but that's a point for another thread.
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I have a Primera with Sat Nav built in.
It's good if you regularly travel in unfamiliar parts of the country or need to locate many addresses in te course of your daily business.
Like most things its great if you have a use for it and a waste of money if you don't.
See if you can find a mate who has one and have a play with it to find out its limitations and ease of use.
It's very much a novelty thing unless you have a genuine need.
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See if you can find a mate who has one and have a play with it to find out its limitations and ease of use.
This is good advice, I've just lent mine to a mate who is driving to the south of France.
Should save wear and taer on his wife as well ;)
:) JaB
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>>It's very much a novelty thing unless you have a genuine need.
I've not got the same need for it I would have had seven years ago - I don't do anywhere near the mileage these days. I would say it's a nice luxury to have though. I love the idea I can set off to somewhere unfamiliar and be confident I'll get there with the minimum of fuss. Just the other week I got to a flat in Edinburgh I'd never seen before without even thinking about it.
Of course, a map will do the same job with a lot more effort. But in the same way I could wear thermal pants to keep warm in the winter, I prefer our heated seats. Not necessary, but nice.
Oh, and it's got to be worth every penny to avoid the usual "This way", "no that way" arguments with your special other.
-- Lee .. A festivus for the rest of us.
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the toyota has a built in one and i also have a portable one would not be without it , as stated elsewhere sometimes it doesn't take the most direct route, even had it guide me round a few narrow lanes only to bring me back to where it had told me to turn left (it took me round the block for no reason) but apart from its occassional oddities it always gets you there. it just doesn't like the shortcuts it will however re-route very quickly if you decide you know better .
KEO. Drink Well Be Happy.
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Definately worth it. I don't use mine that often, but when we are going somewhere new having the system in place to simply type in the address and drive is excellent. I've travelled enough to know basic routes from city to city, but when you are trying to find an address (or in my case being a rugby fan an away team's ground in the middle of a huge housing estate) they are invaluable.
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If I was buying an A6/5-Series class or larger car I would have SatNav no question. When looking round for multiple addresses it's invalubable. I haven't used any other systems, but the Audi system is brilliant as recalculating routes instantly, very handy for dodging round traffic jams using little lanes in an unknown area. I'd be debating whether to have it on an A4/3-Series, but for smaller cars probably the cost outweighs the benefit. Safer than a map when looking for addresses though.
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"for smaller cars probably the cost outweighs the benefit"
I don't see that size is important, it's what you do with it that counts...
And of course SmartNav (and probably others now) route you around congestion WAY BEFORE you reach it, rather than helping you out of a mess you're already in...
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Why pay hundreds of pounds for a satnav system when you can get a new map every year for about eight Euros
Robbie - the answer to this is because I can.
It is also a gadget and handles hands free mobile. I can drive across Europe without constantly buying maps and looking at them.
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>> Why pay hundreds of pounds for a satnav system when you can get a new map every year for about eight Euros Robbie - the answer to this is because I can. It is also a gadget and handles hands free mobile. I can drive across Europe without constantly buying maps and looking at them.
As can I. I also drive across France without constantly buying maps and looking at them. Indeed, I'm off to my place on Sunday, and staying until October, and I won't be constantly looking at my map as I drive around France.
I'm not decrying satnav systems. I think they are invaluable if you don't know your way around, particularly if need to find an obscure address. However, if you really want to get to know a country, then a map is invaluable.
Incidentally, they build roads mighty quickly in France, and satnav systems don't seem to be able to keep up to date with changes - according to some of the forums. A new map of France every year informs me of those. A good example is the N154 from Dreux to the E05. From what I read many of the systems still heven't got the M6 Toll added.
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I cannot recommend my system highly enough. It's running on an Orange SPV E200 'smart' mobile phone (£50, eBay), with a BT GPS receiver (£50 or £60, eBay), a 128K memory card (£10) and of course TomTom mobile where I was lucky enough to get a second hand disc from eBay for a tenner, where the owner appeared to have lost the GPS receiver... So a complete SATNAV system for not much - given I needed a new phone anyway.
It takes me home when I'm in strange places; it takes me to strange places when I'm home; it enables me to turn off blocked roads in the certain knowledge that i know I'll find a sensible route.
It sometimes asks me to go the wrong way up a one-way street. It sometimes chooses the wrong place with the right name in the right county. It is hopeless for 'cab-driver-type' short cuts in town.
I love it. Sometimes I know better than it does. However, on Tuesday night I was in mid-Suffolk with a friend. In our separate cars we went to his house. I got there before he did, as my system had a better route than he did.
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Having just come back from France with the aid of a sat nav, I can say that Nicole is extremely grateful. No more shouting at her as we get lost in the dark with a ferry to catch.
Yes you still need maps tho for touring. Plan where to go, the route to take for sightseeing, then sat nav to get you there.
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Driving solo it's worth it's weight in gold for the safety aspect alone since it takes all the 'Where am I now on the map' out of the way. As the destructions say it will get you there 100% of the time but it may chose some 'interesting' routes. When touring it's found me some very nice out of the way places I'd never dream of visiting otherwise. Local knowledge can uaually beat it if you are in a hurry. (or in North Wales 'cos it knows not the difference between single track lanes and two way roads)
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p.s. Mine's a few years old and is massive by modern standards. I'd rather stick to mine which has a nice large screen rather than peer at the modern tiny screens
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I thought it had been quiet. I was enjoying the peace and quiet too.
--
Adam
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Right. The next time this damn threaded view crosses me, I'm going to lose it. I really really am. My previous post was meant to appear after RF's post.
Yes yes - I know in threaded view it would but we're not in threaded view. Are we!
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Adam
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