Sat. Navs for motorhomes

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simmons

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Hi. We are trying to decide on which sat nav to purchase. We have a autotrail hiline Imala 720 and plan to go to Europe this year. We are trying to decide between Tom Tom go expert 7, Tom Tom camper max 7 or a Garmin.

Can we have your advice please. There doesn’t seem to be a lot between them which is making it an even harder decision.,
Many thanks
 
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simmons said:
Hi. We are trying to decide on which sat nav to purchase. We have a autotrail hiline Imala 720 and plan to go to Europe this year. We are trying to decide between Tom Tom go expert 7, Tom Tom camper max 7 or a Garmin.

Can we have your advice please. There doesn’t seem to be a lot between them which is making it an even harder decision.,
Many thanks
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Hi, try the Garmin truck version with a 10 inch screen, I have one it works perfectly. FYI got mine from Halfords, certainly not the cheapest but does the job.Cheer’s
 
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Our Xgody X4 9" Sat Nav with up to date mapping and Truck files (.ftr), took us all through France, Spain, Portugal, and home again without a problem. A journey of more than 5K miles with no nasty surprises, as it routed according to the dimensions programmed in. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
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Donnymoho said:
We stopped the installed Xzent unit which is useless and now use an Avtex Tourer 2. This is a rebadged Garmin but includes all CAMC sites also. Very happy with it.
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I've been looking at the Xzent F275 - if that's the same model you had, what was it you didn't like / found useless please?

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My Garmin 780 took me down roads wide enough for my Adria 670 but often not wide enough for anyone coming the other way. Devon was a nightmare with one road 2 miles long with no passing places, fortunately nobody did come the other way! Have a new Fiat now and their nav seems pretty good thus far.
 
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Patiopat said:
Having no luck with snooper I went to aguri been great for years just got a new aguri but having issues with it phoned them up as there after service as always been good but sad to say no luck with them about my issues. So now gone to copilot using iPad which is great to use with searchforsites you find your location press the the little squiggly bit on the bottom of page it then asks how you want you want to use I press copilot and just like magic the route is set. Great combination.👍
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Yes, that connectivity with Searchforsites and IPad/Copilot is a real timesaver
 
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wfdTamar said:
This is the one I mentioned earlier. It does all sorts of things, not just maps

carpuride.com

CARPURIDE W901 Pro Portable Smart Multimedia Dual Bluetooth Dashboard Console

Upgrade with Carpuride W901 Pro, a portable car GPS navigation systems features with dual bluetooth. The portable car stereo with Bluetooth radio is ideal for hands-free control and enhanced driving convenience.
carpuride.com carpuride.com
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I use one of these, had it for six months or so and it’s faultless so far, great for car play, music, maps etc.
 
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I also have a 'cheap' 9" XGODY and used it this year and been quite impressed with it.
It has a few other easy to use features aswell as 'size matters' ....


The amusing part is that we couldn't decide where to mount it in our Fiat cab. Took me a couple of hours sticking it here and there before realising I could just pull up the 'clipboard thingy' on the dash and mount it safely and perfect to see whilst allowing the arbitrator of all things necessary to input as many changes as she chose!

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Rozzer said:
My Garmin 780 took me down roads wide enough for my Adria 670 but often not wide enough for anyone coming the other way. Devon was a nightmare with one road 2 miles long with no passing places, fortunately nobody did come the other way! Have a new Fiat now and their nav seems pretty good thus far.
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I think you will find most people who go to Devon/Cornwall have this problem don't matter which sat Nav anyone uses
 
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I've decided I need something better than the Xzent inbuilt thing which fails to pick up traffic chaos. Sitting in a half hour queue on the A1, with national radio traffic reports discussing it, and yet there are no alerts on the sat nav :(

Currently experimenting with CoPilot, which seems OK, but would have preferred a free or at least much cheaper alternative.. What I'd really like to do is display it on the Xzent unit, and have the directions bounced through the radio speakers, but that seems to be a stretch to far for my Xzent that may be just one version too old.

Nanniemate said:
Down load an app and use your phone loads of free ones with adds or pay to get it without
Roadlords
Is just one
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Roadlords isn't available in the UK, at least not yet.
Stealaway said:
TomTom the bigger the better as you always have to mount it a way off.
Don't worry about a model with dimensions. We have had one and it's so rare it needs to warn you and you always get loads of warnings.
In 10 years and a 100k we have had to divert maybe twice.
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I suggest you don't visit the New Forest with so many width restrictions. Waze will have you heading off the M27 straight towards Lyndhurst expecting you can turn down a little side lane, so you end up in a mega queue.
 
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Just because a normal sat nav thinks you are legal for a certain road, doesn't make it a pleasant experience. My MH miles are mostly in France, and I can tell you that it was night and day when I got my garmin ("camper deluxe" based on dezl 560, bit long in the tooth now). So many times normal sat nav would take me through a French town/village and they can get very pokey. Legal and possible yes, enjoyable not at all. So just because you don't need to divert doesn't mean you shouldn't divert. It only takes one badly parked car or a ladder sticking out the back of a parked van to ruin things.

With my Garmin the stress level of the driving dropped significantly, even if it means adding a few extra miles.
I also switch between 3.5T and 4T before I leave to see the differences because again 3.5T are allowed places 4T are not, but they can make for rather unpleasent driving experiences, so if the mileage difference isn't that great I'd always follow the 4T route. I will never go back to normal sat nav.
(by normal I mean without taking weight and dimensions into account)
 
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TheHat said:
I use a 9'' Chinese truck sat nag which i have used for about 5/6 years, running 2022 q4 maps at present
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You and me both Bill. (y) I am in the process of updating from 2022 Q2 to 2022 Q4.

That one with the built in dash cam died a death though, so I bought another 9" unit, (Mediatek), minus the dash cam. It's been brilliant. :)

Cheers,

Jock. :)

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JockandRita said:
You and me both Bill. (y) I am in the process of updating from 2022 Q2 to 2022 Q4.

That one with the built in dash cam died a death though, so I bought another 9" unit, (Mediatek), minus the dash cam. It's been brilliant. :)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
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are you running that through the XGODY sat nav? if so, i would be interested in finding out more about it if its a lot better?
 
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nickq said:
Just because a normal sat nav thinks you are legal for a certain road, doesn't make it a pleasant experience. My MH miles are mostly in France, and I can tell you that it was night and day when I got my garmin ("camper deluxe" based on dezl 560, bit long in the tooth now). So many times normal sat nav would take me through a French town/village and they can get very pokey. Legal and possible yes, enjoyable not at all. So just because you don't need to divert doesn't mean you shouldn't divert. It only takes one badly parked car or a ladder sticking out the back of a parked van to ruin things.

With my Garmin the stress level of the driving dropped significantly, even if it means adding a few extra miles.
I also switch between 3.5T and 4T before I leave to see the differences because again 3.5T are allowed places 4T are not, but they can make for rather unpleasent driving experiences, so if the mileage difference isn't that great I'd always follow the 4T route. I will never go back to normal sat nav.
(by normal I mean without taking weight and dimensions into account)
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Thank you for your reply.

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Kannon Fodda said:
Tried to download on google play but it said not available in your area (I'm in Surrey) :(
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You have a van download it somewhere else :rofl: I'm away at present I'll send you a list of free apps if you've not heard by Tuesday give me a shove as I've forgotten
 
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I recently bought a motorhome and pondered over various Sat Nav's, cameras etc. When I finally chose one with two cameras, I have never as yet found anyone in my area who will fit it, as I didn't buy it from them. I bought the cameras to cover the rear when parking and using it as a rear view mirror to give me a better view. It saves my banksman (Reg) from having to get out in all weathers.... I'd see if you can get someone to fit it before you buy one. Happy trails.
 
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This year I upgraded from my Dezl Camper Deluxe (now 10 years old) to the Garmin Camper 795.
I was a little hesitant as I couldn't find any reviews that compared them, however I can say that it was definately a worth while purchase.
Garmin 795 benefits:
1. Route calculation is quicker
2. Touch screen is modern with pinch to zoom capability
3. Campercontact points allready pre-loaded and easy to see on your route (didn't need to enter coordinates once over a 2 week make it up as we go along trip in France and Germany)
4. Petrol stations easy to find and add as a stop on your route if pre-planning on the screen the night before
5. Ability to set maximum speed against a profile to make estimates more accurate
6. Screen updates quicker when panning and zooming

I would expect the performance benefits over a 10 year old model but just couldn't confirm it anywhere.
Well worth the upgrade in my opinion.
 
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Yes I agree taken a while to get use to it The only bad fault for me sound not load enough for me even turned right up as I am partly deaf anyone got any ideas how to solve this problem for me
 
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BOWHOUSE52 said:
Yes I agree taken a while to get use to it The only bad fault for me sound not load enough for me even turned right up as I am partly deaf anyone got any ideas how to solve this problem for me
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If your unit has an FM Transmitter, you could tune it into a frequency not commonly used on your cab radio, eg, 107.FM, then set that volume to suit.

Cheers,

Jock. :)

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IMO Google Maps on a iPad mini or equivalent blinds all of them.
 
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Hi Jock sorry if I sound thick not sure how you do that can you explain please
 
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NR said:
IMO Google Maps on a iPad mini or equivalent blinds all of them.
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But not for large vehicle route planning, however I do agree that Google Maps are a great up to date source of route info, ie, roadworks, delays, closures, etc. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
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JockandRita said:
But not for large vehicle route planning, however I do agree that Google Maps are a great up to date source of route info, ie, roadworks, delays, closures, etc. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
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It so rarely makes a difference. I used TomTom for a while and came across more issues to do with out of date or bad mapping than saved me due to it claiming to take into account vehicle dimensions. Nowadays I primarily use Google Maps, with Sygic Truck (which uses TomTom maps) as a backup on a tablet.
 
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BOWHOUSE52 said:
Hi Jock sorry if I sound thick not sure how you do that can you explain please
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Not to worry, but you need to know what your Sat Nav is capable of.
1. Does it have an FM transmitter built in?
2. Does it have a Bluetooth facility built in.

Either of the above would allow you to connect to an external speaker/or speakers, they providing the volume you require to be able to clearly hear the route instructions.

I too am partially deaf, however, fortunately my designated Truck Sat Nav volume, is loud enough for me to clearly follow it's instruction, using Katie's voice. ;)

HTH,

Jock. :)

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Guigsy said:
It so rarely makes a difference.
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Driving a 44 Tonner, I can honestly assure you it very often does make a difference, and it is that same "preventive thinking" which I apply to our large MH when route planning. (y)
Keeps me out of trouble, as do my levels of observation. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
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