Satnav - TomTom vs Garmin

Well, sure, but isn't it when the 'going get's tough' when the positive assets of something come though / are tested?

If I've been somewhere once I don't generally *need* the GPS but might have it on anyway in case 1) there are roadworks / closures or 2) I need to know / give the ETA.

In many cases yes. When we were motorcycle touring (a fair test for all the aspects of a GPS) we tried to avoid motorways because the biking part was very much part of the point. So more often than not we actually set 'Avoid > Motorways' for that reason. ;-)

Agreed, however, I would suggest they can make the driving safer, especially if your GPS has advanced lane warning prompts (as mine does). 'Be in any of the three right lanes' and with a picture showing the same ensure you are in the right lane before you see the next sign that wasn't obscured behind the lorry ... ;-(

Yup, it happens. ;-)

And that's why I look at the screen now and again, especially when first setting off (sometimes zooming out to see the whole route) in case 1) I've selected the wrong item from my history / favourites, 2) have selected the wrong destination from the Towns (multiple towns with the same name) or lave left it on the wrong auto routing setting and it's going to take me though the city, not round it (shortest / quickest) etc.

If we had the GPS when daughter used to map read when my pillion (and give me route guidance over the intercom), we might not have gone though the toll bridge on the was into Skeggy when coming down from Beamish (the GPS's warn of tolls on the calculated route). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Although my car has a fitted satnav, I could plug my phone in the USB socket to keep it on charge, if I wanted to use the phone for navigation.

Do you ever look at your speedo or just keep paying the fines (or getting in the way of everone else because you don't look in your mirrors either)?

My Mrs can be a bit myopic when driving and has failed to see all sorts of things around her because she's 'watching the road ahead'. Unfortunately that might mean she might not pass the 'Hazard perception' part of the current test (and why she rarely drives these days).

I'm assuming you don't have a commercial pilots licence. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

What, directly, or do you need a suitable cable? ;-)

And that's my point. I know we can do all these things but I'm not aware of many phones that come with a cigarette lighter plug on them as std, most GPS's do?

In the early days I had my none 'scrolling map' GPS outputting location data onto a laptop on my passengers lap with a scrolling map underneath the location arrow. It worked, I could set it up easily (along with the external antenna for the GOPS itself) but it's wasn't 'convenient or optimal.

You walk into Halfords, buy any GPS, plug it in your car and drive to your destination. No smartphone, no app / play store, no mobile data, no charging adaptor, no charging lead, no handsfree mount, no problem seeing the screen or someone else in the car wanting to use the phone.

But like I said, I have and do use my smartphone as a GPS, I just don't use it as my primary GPS when driving because I've already got something that for me, is 'better' (99.9% of the time in any case). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Not when the traffic data comes over the FM radio (RDS) it doesn't and typically an option with smartphone based GPS.

Cheers, T i m

Not sure what that has to do with it, other than you potentially having an accurate escape route? ;-)

Which isn't the most 'up to date' solution (but free for life and doesn't require mobile / phone access).

I'm not sure it would matter what the maker was as it was the technology that was the issue in that case.

Of course there will be things that are 'better' depending on how much you want to pay, if you want to (cost) and can be (service) 'on-line' all the time.

I think the TomTom's (I even hate the name) can upload their current view of the traffic to a central server than then aggregates it from other TomTom users and then downloads the (near) real-time traffic conditions to all similarly equipped users. Fine for those on the road a lot, probably not good VFM for those only out now and again?

Cheers, T i m

Oh well yes, definitely smartphone apps are better. My pint was that that was why I used a smartphone satnav on a motorway. And of course any speed limits.

I was zooming up te M11 and completely missed a temporary speed limit due to passing traffic at the time with the sign on the verge.

Missing a limit sign cuts no ice with plod

Funny that - I tend to look at the road signs.

Maps are still free with the upgrade

If there was only one on the verge at the start of the new limit that limit is unenforceable as the signage is incorrect. The start of any change in speed limit requires two signs, of a minimum size dependant on road, one each side of the carriageway.

I was loaded a Ford when my car was being repaired that (could) automatically set the limiter from reading road signs - and it worked with temporary limits.

Obviously satellite navigation is not for you. That's why it is not mandatory under the Construction and Use Regulations.

I have a sister-in-law who has a fantastic sense of direction. Unfortunately, as I come from a different gene pool, my sense of direction is crap and I feel I am less of a hazard on the roads if I know where I am going.

On the contrary I find satnavs very useful. But if I am coming up to islands, mutliple lanes etc I will know enough about my route to take the A614 turning to Doncaster and see the lanes and signs for that without relying on some algorithm someone wrote for the satnav.

Occasionally when all is not clear, and that includes the satnav, and I miss a turning then so what? Better that than be distracted by looking at a screen and missing an obstacle.

One of the main benefits of satnavs is their ability to put you back onto a route to your destination.

Yes my sister can't see that if you are coming off a dual carriageway/motorway on a slip road and intend to turn right at the approaching overhead island that you will cross the road you've left before you turning off the island. And if you miss a turn on an island just go around again.

No they are not. When they upgraded the app they offered previous users 3 years of maps for 1 usd after which any map upgrades were around £14/years. The upgrade of the app was free. They claimed that with the updated app the old maps were no longer compatible and hence the end of the free for life map updates.

If you buy the app now perhaps they are offering free map upgrades for life as did the original app but their business model seems to be to make all their products obsolete within a few years. My guess they are already working on an upgraded app which again will have incompatible maps.

A good AatNave with Traffic inforamtion will tell you that the motorway is shut ahead and suggest an alternative route. Well before the days of SatNav, this happened to me in France. Luckily I had some idea of where I was attempting to reach.

SWMBO left her TomTom in the car on a very hot day - that killed the battery,

I pay money for my smartphone app (TomTom Go) every year, maps are free in that.

The other one had been I suspect knocked flat. There was only one on the hard shoulder - I saw it in the mirror, but not what speed was on it of course...

the requirement for 2 signs was dropped by the 2016 regulations