Portable Sat Nav

Navman911

Navman911

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I'm thinking about getting a portable sat-nav to save myself time and energy looking at road signs (my ability to map-read is deteriorating)

Anyone have any tips on whats hot and not? Only going to be using it in the UK, the bigger the screen the better, and warnings for traffic cameras and traffic jams would be useful too

Cheers!!:icon_thumright:
 
Navman911 said:
I'm thinking about getting a portable sat-nav to save myself time and energy looking at road signs (my ability to map-read is deteriorating)

Anyone have any tips on whats hot and not? Only going to be using it in the UK, the bigger the screen the better, and warnings for traffic cameras and traffic jams would be useful too

Cheers!!:icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

Take a look at the new What Car magazine. Came through letter box on 20 December. Tom Tom 720 looks good. Don't want to py Audi 2200!!:hubbahubba:
 
I just bought the cheapest one I could find as a christmas present for the g/f...the Binatone Carrera. It's pretty damn good for £80, as easy to use as my parents' Tom Tom and you also get free 'safety camera' alerts for 6 months.

It's not got the largest screen but it calculates the route quickly and animates smoothly. At that price it's disposable too! No TMC yet but apparently they're releasing a dongle soon.

Obviously the RNSE is the best though!
 
Picked up my Tomtom 520 with traffic updates this evening, and on first impressions it looks like a fantastic piece of kit (granted all I've done is navigate around the house so far!! But it gets me from sofa to fridge without any probs!! lol)

Not had a chance to try out the traffic updates, but it has everything I think I'm gonna need on, lookin forward to takin it out for a spin tomorrow!!:whip:
 
Hey Navman,

How are you finding the Go 520? Just about to purchase the 720 myself. Have read good reviews, although there seems to be a few reliability problems with the bluetooth functionality.

Be interested in what you think of it.

For anyone else looking, this is a great site for finding best prices ...

http://www.find-satnav-deals.com/

Cheers

Mike
 
Hiya Mike,

I've had the 720 for a while, bought it when it first came out, and not had any issues with it, lovely piece of kit. And it is now considerably cheaper than what I paid :(

J.
 
marriedblonde said:
Hiya Mike,

I've had the 720 for a while, bought it when it first came out, and not had any issues with it, lovely piece of kit. And it is now considerably cheaper than what I paid :(

J.
Click to expand...

Planning to pick one up on Thursday. PCW 230 with Traffic updates and Europe maps. Is this good? :hubbahubba:
 
marriedblonde said:
Play.com are doing it for a tenner less but it's mail order...
Click to expand...

Have just found TT 720T for £200 in Dixons mail order
 
Been having some fun with the 520 - still not got round to attaching the traffic updates, but so far i've yet to get lost! And realised that I've been going the long way round to get to some places, so I'm pretty sure I've been saving some petrol too!

Can't believe I didn't know about the satnavdeals site until 2 days after i picked mine up and a mate pointed it out! Unlucky!

P.S how long are the sticky attachments to windscreen meant to last before my satnav falls off?? Mine lasted about a day, now it ends up wedged between dash and windscreen!! Rubbish!!!!!!
 
TomTom 300 had it for about 2 1/2 years and its great. Dead easy to work and replaced the TomTom splash screen with an Audi splash screen.

In my 05 A3 it sits down on the ash tray and wedges into the gap to the AC and rarely loses its signal down there.

My new A3 in March will have a deeper stereo with only a small gap to the ash tray so a rethink on installation may be required.
 
Not a Tom Tom but a Snooper Strabo instead. Does all apart from traffic updates, you need the Snooper Syrius for that. The unit is the smallest one avaliable as I wanted something to fit in the top right of the windscreen.

Pros: Size, v easy to use, updates on Cameras
Cons; 7 digit postcode doesn't work all the time, gps antennae takes a while to sync it self.

Looking further into it the Road Angel 9000 is the one, but the ability to mount it where I want it is impossible and it is too big for my liking.
 
jesters3 said:
Not a Tom Tom but a Snooper Strabo instead. Does all apart from traffic updates, you need the Snooper Syrius for that. .
Click to expand...

The Snooper Syrius is the one I'd like.
I believe it won Auto Express's 'best buy' award.
One of the car mags, anyway.
Some places are offering it with free lifetime camera updates too, worth around £99.
 
bowfer said:
The Snooper Syrius is the one I'd like.
I believe it won Auto Express's 'best buy' award.
One of the car mags, anyway.
Some places are offering it with free lifetime camera updates too, worth around £99.
Click to expand...

I got the 'lifetime updates' with my Indago.
You get it if you send them a Radar Detector or other GPS Lamera Locator back...so they include a new, basic Snooper Radar Detector in the parcel with your nice new Snooper Indago/Syrius etc...and for the cost of £3-4 in postage, you get lifetime updates.
Winner.
At least that's how it was for me when I bought the Indago.

The information it gives is perfect, the Sat Nav superb and the 'best' camera database, properly updated (never had a false alarm, which I do get with the Road Angel I have too)

Highly recommended.


I think you are correct and it was auto Express, BTW.
 
Ess_Three said:
Snooper Indago.
I wanted the 'best' camera database...so the Snooper fitted the bill.
It's a great unit too...excellent Sat Nav.
Click to expand...

I bought the Snooper Syrius for exactly the same reasons, and have exactly the same opinion. Classy-looking, too.

Spookily, I also exchanged an old Road Angel for free life-time updates. Are Ess_Three and I the same person?
 
Cracking units...
Big memory on the Indago - not sure about the rest - so I programme it in the house then pop it in before I go (maybe they all have battery support and big memories...I'm not sure)
 
Seems 'WHICH' rate the Snooper Syrius too.

Silly question time though.
Does the Syrius come with some form of mount, or is that extra?
 
bowfer said:
Seems 'WHICH' rate the Snooper Syrius too.

Silly question time though.
Does the Syrius come with some form of mount, or is that extra?
Click to expand...

You get a windscreen mount included, but you can then buy, at extra cost, a simple metal bracket that allows you to mount it on the dash in conjunction with a Brodit pro-clip.

Here's the bracket and pro-clip on a B6 A4. Ignore the "extra" holes on the pro-clip, they are from when I was using it with the mount for my previous sat-nav.




Here it is with the Syrius in place:

 
Cheers for that.
Other silly snooper syrius related questions.

1/ Does it really detect mobile camera vans and laser? I've only used a borrowed Tom-Tom before, that only did fixed camera sites.
2/ Can you download European maps easily enough, on demand?
3/ Does it bluetooth the phone?
 
I've got the Brodit mounts too...
One in the Fabia and one in the GTI.

No need for an additional GPS pick-up...I bought a couple of the hard wire wiring kits, a couple of the GPS specific brackets and the two car specific Brodit mounts (all from Snooper) and it looks similar to yours - I had spare switch blanks on both cars so I fed the power cable through that to keep in neat.

I kept the suction mount for use on other cars if required...
 
bowfer said:
Cheers for that.
Other silly snooper syrius related questions.

1/ Does it really detect mobile camera vans and laser? I've only used a borrowed Tom-Tom before, that only did fixed camera sites.
2/ Can you download European maps easily enough, on demand?
3/ Does it bluetooth the phone?
Click to expand...

Indago related:
No...only fixed sites on the database...although well known regularly targetted areas come up as a warning (giving you an audible alert, telling you to be wary and posting the speed limitin force, as well as your speed)

On the Indago you need to buy a matched SD card...
Once you first install it, it becomes matched to the unit...so you need to buy the maps from Snooper.
I got full European mapping as part of my package.

No bluetooth.
 
Sorry to go on about this, but mobile camera/laser detection is top of my list.The Syrius website states the following, which suggests it would do more than the usual fixed sites, unless I'm reading it wrong??
I just want to make sure it will cover me for 'sneaky ******** in vans'.

Provides advanced warning of:-
  • Gatso & Truvelo Cameras
  • Watchman
  • MCS (Multi Camera System) “The Daddy”
  • Speedcurb
  • SPECs average speed
  • Roadwork cameras
  • DS 2
  • Accident Hotspots
  • High Risk Zones
  • Mobile Laser
  • Mobile Safety Vans
  • Temporary Gatso
  • Truvelo Cameras
  • Congestion Charge Cameras
  • Digital Cameras
  • Schools (optional)
 
I'm intrigued as to how it's likely to know where some thief is going to park his Scamera Van?

Unless it picks information off the dadabase of listed locations they will be frequenting...but that's not accurate...it's the same as the warning zones...and you have to update daily to have a half chance.

I really don't see how ANY form of detector can spot Scamera Vans or handheld Laser, without having a Laser detector fitted - which I don't think these do.

As far as I know, there is NO foolproof way of getting notice of Laser detecting Vans/Handhelds.
Even with a Laser detector, by the time it detects the Laser and alerts you, it's too late.
 
Hmmm, I admit I'm sceptical too.
I'll e-mail them for clarification.
EDIT, it's in their FAQ section.

2 Do Snooper sat nav systems detect laser?
Unfortunately due to impending changes in the law our sat nav systems do NOT have the ability to detect laser, however Snooper sat nav systems will include many mobile sites within the database. These sites will be where the Police often user mobile laser guns or vans and although there may not always be a laser trap at this point the alert informs you that there is a high risk that one could be there.
 
Ess_Three said:
That's the warning areas mine has...
BOD, just before the bridge, coming in from Ellon for example...
Click to expand...

Between that and fixed sites, does it become a pain?
Or can you switch off the warnings, for familiar roads?
 
FYI, the Strabo I got was £180 off fleabay and includes EU mapping and lifetime camera database. It has Bluetooth which I have to say is excellent and a spare SD slot to double up as a media player as well. No laser detector on the unit which was what i was ideally after, the only ones are the Road Angel, Pogo Alert and Micro Go. However the problem with them is the mounting. the Strabo was the only one that fitted where I wanted it to go in the top left.
Photo042.jpg
 
bowfer said:
Between that and fixed sites, does it become a pain?
Or can you switch off the warnings, for familiar roads?
Click to expand...

Not a pain, no...

I'm not sure if you can selectively turn them off or not.
I just give the screen a tap when it bleeps at a familiar point and it switched off the noise...but leaves the speed warning and set limit up to remind you.
 
Isn;t the problem wqith the laser detectors that by the time they have wanred you it's too late as the beam is so narrow and the range so great, something like 2km's? Basically it goes off and tough you've been nabbed.

J.
 
Well I've just taken the plunge and using the price website earlier in the thread, purchased a TomTom One Europe Traffic. The voucher on the website dicounted the price to £154 reserve and collect from Halfords. Incidently the discount voucher brings the Europe version down to about £2 more than the UK version so it was a no brainer to go for the European version.

I have IPOD support on my Alpine install and a Parrot BT kit so just wanted SatNav with TMC and Camera database.

Just downloaded a load of free POI databases onto it too. Like my fav restaurants and hotels etc for when I stay away for work.

All the free voices I've found so far are poor imitations, so anyone recomend any decent free voices ?

Paul
 
Tom Tom XL, i use it for work and its brilliant, has a nice large screen and a small sucker cup, lists cameras and known places where camera vans like to lurk, also does cameras on traffice lights too.
 
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