navigator which brand

[fatcat]

Hi all going to get a navigator for the work car any models better than other and which have the best maps thanks

[Mick-Kelly]

Ive got a Navman Pin 570 that im fairly happy with. Its a PDA aswell so i can store lots of useless crap. I need to get my hands on destinator software though because the standard one is adequte but irritating.

[amtravic1]

I have had a Navman bluetooth unit running on a Toshiba pda for around 4 years. Its been very good however I recently bought my wife a TomTom 910 which she wont use so am going to take it as I think it is much better than the Navman unit I have.

Ian

[cartm58]

l have a street directory for around Perth and several area maps for going out 4wding l find them very good

[Mark86]

I have the Tom Tom 910 as well have had it for about six months and have had no problems very easy to use mines got a 20 gig hardrive to store photos and the like on which is handy but this makes the unit heavier than other models. Lots of models on the market now go to store try some out and see which one you find easiest to use.


All the best Mark:)

[dobbo]

I use "the missus" brand of navigator and for one would not recommend it. It's a high maintanence unit that constantly needs money spent on it for it to work happily. In the past few years I have had it in my possession I have literally spent thousands just to maintain the damn thing, then mid journey it will break down into a default mode and the automated voice goes to a high pitched sqeal and then refuses to give any other driving related instructions.



Go buy a Tom Tom

[p38arover]

I also have the "missus" model. It's absolutely useless as a navigator.

Ron

[DeeJay]

I also have the "missus" model. It's absolutely useless as a navigator.

Ron

I used to have the above, tried several places but could'nt get a trade in valuation.
I now have both a Garmin c320 and the original "I told you so" model.
One of them is brilliant.:eek:

[Grizzly_Adams]

I purchased an original TomTom GO when they first came out in Europe in 2003 and when we came back to Australia in 2006 I brought her over here, purchased the Australian maps and I'm still using it today.

I tried a couple of other navigators (at the time) but for it's time the TomTom GO was eons ahead of the competition with their ease of use: easily to use menu layout, big touch sensitive screen (no niggly little buttons to fiddle with), good map presentation - not to mention about half the price :angel:

When my existing TomTom GO finally does die I'd like to upgrade to a TomTom 510 or equivalent. It has everything the existing TomTom has plus Bluetooth for integrating with your phone so you can subscribe to real-time traffic updates (including speed cameras and navigating you home around traffic jams etc.) and runs off a SD card.

As I work with computers I am reticent to put a mechanical "computer" component in my vehicle (ie. a Hard Drive) because - though they are better these days - it is not what Hard Drives were designed for and when I end up going off-road they'll get bounced around too much for my liking. Even my ipod is only an ipod nano so it doesn't have a hard drive. Both my ipod and TomTom GO have been up to Cape York and back so they've both seen a bit of punishment and have survived it to this day.

I'm pretty sure the real-time traffic services I mentioned are all services that the other manufacturers offer these days but like I said I'm more than happy with my TomTom.

One thing you must remember with all navigation units though is that they are only as good as their maps - sometimes they'll take you strange ways, sometimes they may miss a turn-off because the road has changed since their map was last updated. However no matter what they do get you where you need to go... as for which has the best maps, that's the same as asking 'how long is a piece of string?' Everyone will have different experiences and unless you line 'em all up side-by-side and do test runs to and from the same waypoints you just won't know. Generally maps get updated yearly so it's not too bad anyway, though I probably won't update mine until next year as I can live with being a couple of years out of date on my maps

[adm333]

Yep "the missus" couldn't use a street directory to save herself.

That's why I got a Navman PiN 570 which is very good.

Being a PDA also doubles as an MP3 player which you can hook into the car stereo.

The missus loves it too, and I no longer have to spend an hour explaining to her how to get somewhere using obscure visual markers as reference points.

(eg. turn left at the house with the green letterbox, keep going til you get to that building where the guy was standing in a yellow shirt that day)

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[p38arover]

What does it cost to upgrade maps?

I ask 'cos last week I used Destinator on my PDA to drive from Tusker's office to home (just as a trial). I use the M7 which wasn't on the maps so the woman in my PDA went berserk telling me to turn left, turn right, recalculating routes, etc. trying to get me onto other roads.

It was worse than my wife! At least I could turn the navigation system off.

Ron

[Grizzly_Adams]

I haven't really seen an upgrade cost unless it's in a promotion (ie. they just brought out the new maps for this year etc.).

Normally with TomTom it's a complete re-purchase, just like buying a new UBD / Refedex.

Unfortunately though the maps are expensive - unlike the Refedex. Looking on the TomTom site they want to charge 199 Euro for the latest complete map of Australia... having said that I believe the prices are pretty much just passed on from the map supplier (in this case Whereis / UBD).

[p38arover]

Flamin' heck!

I won't buy one.

Ron

[amtravic1]

What does it cost to upgrade maps?

I ask 'cos last week I used Destinator on my PDA to drive from Tusker's office to home (just as a trial). I use the M7 which wasn't on the maps so the woman in my PDA went berserk telling me to turn left, turn right, recalculating routes, etc. trying to get me onto other roads.

It was worse than my wife! At least I could turn the navigation system off.

Ron


The last upgrade I bought for the Navman I have was two years ago. A new one is due soon. From memory it was around $300.00.
Whether this is value or not depends on the use you have for the unit. For me, where I might need to visit 10 or so houses a day in areas I dont know it is value, as the time saved, as well as ease of driving by instructions especially at night makes it worthwhile. I would not buy one if I did not use it for work. A street directory is more than adequate for that.
I much prefer paper maps for 4wding as well.

Ian

[p38arover]

Yes, in your application, Ian, it makes sense. It is particularly useful in area where there are lots of one-way streets, etc.

My iPAQ with Destinator is a pain.

On the day I went to see Tusker, I switched it on 30 minutes before I left. Tusker is in north Sydney - about 60km away.

It got satellite lock and started giving instructions just before I got to Tusker's office. When I left there to go to the my financial planner, the unit was giving turn instructions too late to be able to make the turn, e.g., I'd be in the wrong lane and couldn't change, etc.

I was ready to throw it out the window.

Once I got out of the confines of the area where Max works, and the streets opened up, it was OK.

I also note that it calculates routes which are not optimal. I often have to ignore its turn instructions as I know a more direct route to the general area to which I'm going - with fewer traffic lights and turns, e.g., straight down the freeway (which is on the maps) whereas Destinator will want me to travel by suburban streets.


Ron

[Bushie]

I'm assuming that 'a navigator for work' will only need street mapping and autorouting, do you need to be able to plan a route via point 1,2,3,4 etc (via the most efficient route) or only to get to places one at a time.

I am currently using a Garmin C320 for work it uses the Sensis (UBD) mapping and is sufficient for most tasks, although the base maps sometimes leave a bit to be desired (address' missing the odd country road not there etc).

I believe any unit that uses the same base maps will have the same problem and I think most are supplied in one form or another from Sensis.

Update for the unit would have been $165 (or thereabouts) but by registering at the right time you can get the free upgrade.

For work in the bush its basically useless.



Martyn

[fatcat]

thanks for help guys but gee my mrs is giving it to she says use the ubd but im a rep i like to relax between calls not muck around getting lost thanks and happy LR driving.

[seqfisho]

I currently use a Garmin Nuvi 660, mainly because I end up in lots of different capital cities as well as a lot of rural areas and find it pretty good especially for most of the rural areas as paper maps arent always readily available.

The other good thing is the screen size and bluetooth, as it hooks up to the phone and gives me hands free in the hire cars.

I agree with Grizzly about the mapping but it does always get you there.

About my only whinge would be the useless at times windscreen suction mount that continuosly comes of the screen letting the unit drop on the floor or your lap:mad:

it is a pain in the rear as sometimes it will stay on for days and then it will fall off every hour or so, will have to look into a different fixing somehow as the cradle is also the 12v connection to the unit.

[ladas]

I have a TomTom 910, and they are bloody excellent for door to door directions/routes etc., around town and on main roads

..............however they are not friendly when even slightly off a track/road that it hasn't got in it's map/memory.

I previously had a garmin quest 2, and that was completely opposite, to a degree - it was okay for door to door, but only just. however on remote tracks it was superb, with even some of the most obscure/tiny little track up by the Golburn or murray rivers

Both are easy to mount and use suction cups off the windscreen or there are other fixing options - both are easy to use.

[loanrangie]

I havent used a dedicated unit before but my ipaq pda with bluetooth gps running tomTom V6 for city use and oziexplorer for offroad is best of both worlds. The ipaq has wifi as well which is handy for those unsecured hotspots and doubles as an mp3/mp4/video player. Large sd cards are now pretty cheap and maps for Ozi Ex CE compress down to just 734mb for all of vic in 1/50000 scale. The TT910 would be brilliant if you could load other software on it to utilise some of that 20gig storage space.

[p38arover]

I believe any unit that uses the same base maps will have the same problem and I think most are supplied in one form or another from Sensis.

Destinator uses MapInfo maps.

Ron

[Tusker]

Go through the reviews here

http://www.mtekk.com.au/Forums/tabid/56/view/topics/forumid/29/Default.aspx

FWIW I run a TomTom One, have found it to be a great unit, easy to use. Its shown my routes I hadn't thought of before.

Just don't hardwire a 5v device into a 12v Defender, like I did :-(

Regards
Max P

[dobbo]

Just don't hardwire a 5v device into a 12v Defender, like I did :-(

Regards
Max P


This could be done safely if you can butcher an old PC power pack, did a similar thing running a cd/rom in my old POS V8 (too tight to buy a cd player for a $500.00 car)