Sat nav for cars

redvee
redvee Posts: 11,922
edited November 2009 in The bottom bracket
Dad wants a sat-nav gadget so he doesn't get lost driving routes he knows like the back of his hand :lol: Budget of around £100, what recommendations can people here offer?
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Comments

  • jellybellywmb
    jellybellywmb Posts: 1,379
    Tom Tom One, you can get them for less than £100 now, very easy to use and very rarely go wrong.
    I travel approx 40,000 miles a year and it serves me well .

    I also have a Garmin withh Europe on it and I really dont like it as much as the Tom Tom
    "BEER" Proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy
  • gimboid
    gimboid Posts: 24
    See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8331824.stm. TomTom etc might be forced to drop prices soon (even on the standalone units).
  • Slow Downcp
    Slow Downcp Posts: 3,041
    Tom Tom One - my wife has one and if she can understand it and not get lost, it must be good and easy to use. :lol:
    Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos
  • nicensleazy
    nicensleazy Posts: 2,310
    Or, you could use the female sat nav

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwLDNAmQ7TM
  • Verbal
    Verbal Posts: 100
    Yep, Tom Tom One. Cheap and cheerful and does the job and you can download other maps if you need as well different voices. Dennis Hopper took me and the Missus through France in the summer "slow it down man, slow it down!"
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    edited October 2009
    Or Darth Vader: "Prepare to enter hyperspace" (motorway slip road), "Your journey to the Dark Side is almost complete" etc.
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • OffTheBackAdam
    OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
    I use a Garmin, which I find very easy to use.
    If I miss a turn, it's very quick at recalculating and suggesting another route, rather than telling me to turn round.
    Might be worth spending the money on an i-Phone & use Google's free navigation application?
    Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    I was wondering the other day. If it were somehow possible to attach a car sat nav to the bike, could you avoid paying 250 odd quid for a Garmin Edge? All I need is simple GPS/sat nav so that I can go out on rides and find my way back without stopping and pulling out a map. I'm not that interested in all the other Edge functions like cadence, elevation etc. I just want a simple, good quality sat nav system that I can fix to the bars. Anyone tried using a £100 car one?
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  • Mister W
    Mister W Posts: 791
    Another vote for the TomTom One. I bought it over a Garmin because the reviews said that it responds quicker, so warns you of turnings earlier and is quicker to recalculate your route.


    As for using a car sat nav on a bike... the Garmin Edge gives you the option to plan a route then be navigated round it, which isn't something a car sat nav will do.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    Mister W wrote:
    Another vote for the TomTom One. I bought it over a Garmin because the reviews said that it responds quicker, so warns you of turnings earlier and is quicker to recalculate your route.


    As for using a car sat nav on a bike... the Garmin Edge gives you the option to plan a route then be navigated round it, which isn't something a car sat nav will do.

    Ah, good point. Edge it might have to be then. They just seem ridiculously expensive compared with car sat navs
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  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Went for the Tom Tom One but ended up buyiong it from Halfords :oops: , my Dad needed it for today so web sales were out of the question and got the free map updates for life option. Dad is happy with his new toy and I'm impressed with how quick it re-calculates the route when you deviate, in error or deliberatley. Makes me want a Garmin Edge 705 even more now.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • hopper1
    hopper1 Posts: 4,389
    nicensleazy wrote:
    Or, you could use the female sat nav

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwLDNAmQ7TM

    Spooky... You don't know how close to reality that is... If, like me, you own a VW.
    The b1tch that runs my Sat Nav causes arguments when there's only me and her in the car.
    Quite often I'll be driving a route that I know and she'll churp up with a ' take the next left', when I know where I am, and I know I need to stay on that road. Then I'll be telling her to shut the f*ck up, while she goes on and on about making a U-turn... Eventually, I hit the off switch :wink:
    Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!
  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    redvee wrote:
    Dad wants a sat-nav gadget so he doesn't get lost driving routes he knows like the back of his hand :lol: Budget of around £100, what recommendations can people here offer?

    Buy him all the OS maps he needs and then teach your mum how to navigate.
    Do Nellyphants count?

    Commuter: FCN 9
    Cheapo Roadie: FCN 5
    Off Road: FCN 11

    +1 when I don't get round to shaving for x days
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    nwallace wrote:
    Buy him all the OS maps he needs and then teach your mum how to navigate.

    Small problem: They got divorced 30+ years ago.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • nwallace
    nwallace Posts: 1,465
    redvee wrote:
    nwallace wrote:
    Buy him all the OS maps he needs and then teach your mum how to navigate.

    Small problem: They got divorced 30+ years ago.

    Doh!
    Do Nellyphants count?

    Commuter: FCN 9
    Cheapo Roadie: FCN 5
    Off Road: FCN 11

    +1 when I don't get round to shaving for x days
  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    nwallace wrote:
    redvee wrote:
    Dad wants a sat-nav gadget so he doesn't get lost driving routes he knows like the back of his hand :lol: Budget of around £100, what recommendations can people here offer?

    Buy him all the OS maps he needs and then teach your mum how to navigate.

    I love maps, especially OS ones. I think GPS is useful for pinpointing where you are on the map if you're in fog on the top of a Lake District fell but I#d still want the paper map. I suppose they're useful for delivery drivers too.

    My wife, Avice, is an ace map reader who rarely goes wrong, so I claim that we use AvNav :D

    Geoff
    Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster
  • SteppenHerring
    SteppenHerring Posts: 720
    Headhuunter wrote:
    I was wondering the other day. If it were somehow possible to attach a car sat nav to the bike, could you avoid paying 250 odd quid for a Garmin Edge? All I need is simple GPS/sat nav so that I can go out on rides and find my way back without stopping and pulling out a map. I'm not that interested in all the other Edge functions like cadence, elevation etc. I just want a simple, good quality sat nav system that I can fix to the bars. Anyone tried using a £100 car one?

    You could certainly use a £100 car sat nav on a bike. Just put a 12v car battery in your panniers, hook up an alternator, wire it up and away you go.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    SteppenHerring wrote:
    Headhuunter wrote:
    I was wondering the other day. If it were somehow possible to attach a car sat nav to the bike, could you avoid paying 250 odd quid for a Garmin Edge? All I need is simple GPS/sat nav so that I can go out on rides and find my way back without stopping and pulling out a map. I'm not that interested in all the other Edge functions like cadence, elevation etc. I just want a simple, good quality sat nav system that I can fix to the bars. Anyone tried using a £100 car one?

    You could certainly use a £100 car sat nav on a bike. Just put a 12v car battery in your panniers, hook up an alternator, wire it up and away you go.

    There are plenty of car sat nav systems which are powered by a couple of AA batteries, you don't need to hook them up to a car battery!.... Do you?
    Do not write below this line. Office use only.
  • Mister W
    Mister W Posts: 791
    Most car sat navs work from an internal battery that you charge via the lighter socket so they'll work quite happily for a few hours without an external power source.

    My Mum told me that my Dad talks to the sat nav, in exactly the same way he talks to her if she's navigating. I'm not sure what response he expects to the question "Are you sure that's the right way?" :D
  • snailracer
    snailracer Posts: 968
    Headhuunter wrote:
    I was wondering the other day. If it were somehow possible to attach a car sat nav to the bike, could you avoid paying 250 odd quid for a Garmin Edge? All I need is simple GPS/sat nav so that I can go out on rides and find my way back without stopping and pulling out a map. I'm not that interested in all the other Edge functions like cadence, elevation etc. I just want a simple, good quality sat nav system that I can fix to the bars. Anyone tried using a £100 car one?
    I occasionally use my car satnav on my bike. The main drawback is that the colour screen is almost invisible in daylight, so I bodged together a DIY visor which sort of works.
    Voice instructions are inaudible in traffic unless you use a earphone (tangles up). Relying on voice instructions alone might work if you live somewhere without many complicated junctions, not so good in London.
    Mounting & waterproofing are also issues, I put mine in a stout transparent plastic bag, reinforced with duct tape at the folds, and attach to a bar bag with velcro strips.
    The battery in the satnav has been adequate so long as I start out fully charged. If your journeys are longer than 3-4 hours, you might run out.
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    Make sure that your dad realises that Sat-Navs give suggestions, not orders! :shock:

    Here's a photo of where that driver got stuck:

    mad-sat-nav-route-wide.jpg
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    ColinJ wrote:
    Make sure that your dad realises that Sat-Navs give suggestions, not orders

    He isn't going to be following it turn for turn. More for guidance when in strange towns and when we get lost. Recently it took us 2 hours to get from Ilfracombe to Crediton :oops: but we put the blame at the police roadblock.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.

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