Snooper Ventura S7000 Sat Nav

[Daisy21]

Until recently I've been using a TomTom 510 in my car and campervan. It took me on some very 'interesting' routes over the years but it did a good job, and as campervan was fairly compact in size we never actually got stuck anywhere However, bit more concerned after changing to a Coachbuild m/h recently so decided to invest in one that allows for height, weight etc. Went with the Snooper S6000. I prefered the screen, options etc on my old TomTom but now I'm adjusting to it I'm quite happy with it in principle. The lane guidance is very useful although I'm not quite sure why it keeps telling me to do 40 in a 60 limit (max weight is 3400kg and we are only running at 3050kg so I don't think reduced speeds apply?). However I'm not convinced about its routing options. We managed to get to the Shepton Mallet m/h show ok from Longleat (only our 2nd weekend in the van) but return journey was an impromptu advanced motorhome handling course!!! I've no idea why it didn't choose to take us back the same way we came. Initially I thought it was being clever avoiding the hill we had come down but instead the roads just got narrower. Wouldn't have been quite such a nightmare if numpties didn't park their cars in crazy places on already narrow roads but nowhere to turn round! Was also very nervous having had grounding issues with towbar couple of days before and was terrified of getting stuck. I've never been in tears before about driving....but I was that day Eventually when I came across a steep hill and sign saying Not Suitable For Long Vehicles I decided enough was enough and managed to turn around ... as awful as the roads were at least I knew what I had to get through by going back. Made it back to the showground and then ignored satnav and returned to campsite via original journey (never been so glad to get to a campsite!). So for now I'm going to program it with us being 12ft (vs 10ft1) tall, 8ft3 (vs 7ft3) wide and 30ft (vs 20ft) long in the hope that it gives us a more sensible route!! At least until I can trust the satnav a bit more, get the rear suspension sorted, new tyres and a few more miles in it under my belt. So in short...my current verdict on the Snooper is that it is a clever bit of kit but not yet able to recommend based on route planning.

Daisy2

 

[yorkieman]

As for me, I still can't decide between the S7000 or one of the Garmin units.

I would definitely go for the Garmin. I made the mistake of buying a Snooper. It is a very flakey piece of kit and there are a lot of bugs in the software and firmware.

My unit does not show ANY points of interest around the current location, no matter where you are. Amazingly, the guy who fit it insists that you have to enter in where you are for this to work.

Here's the exact wording he used in a letter:

"The points of interest function works as long as you request for the town you are in".

So, imagine you are in the middle of nowhere and you need a petrol station or a campsite, you first have to ask someone where you are so that you can enter it in the Snooper. I've tried my best to explain to him that there is an error and that's NOT how it works, but will he listen?

As for the width and length feature, trust me, the Snooper still sends you down some roads that you should not be on as they might be wide enough, but they are totally inappropriate for a valuable MH.

Garmin, TomTom, and pretty much any other sat nav is better made, more stable and more reliable than a Snooper and anyone who tells you otherwise has never had a Garmin or a Tom Tom

The one thing that the Snooper does well at - and it really does - is the speed camera. This is understandable as that's what Snooper specialise in, but as I tend to drive to the speed limits any way that's more of an annoyance than a useful feature. I don't need the darn thing shouting at me every time I pass a speed camera.

 

[Welsh girl]

We have had the snooper s7000 since July last year and are very pleased with it - we have no problem loading POI's onto it - in fact we do that almost weekly - we have been very pleased with its accuracy and we must say that the back up service from snooper is excellent - if you send an email query you usually get a comprehensive personalised answer within an hour or so and if you need to have voice contact that can be arranged but the email has always sorted it. Son in law has the all singing version of Tom Tom and more than once the Snooper has been more accurate

Sorry to hijack the thread but how do you add POI's to snooper, it says you have to send them the co-ordinates for them to add them to the download list, I used to add them when we had the basic tom tom but now find the snooper best of all except for adding poi's.

 

[MrJinks]

As for the width and length feature, trust me, the Snooper still sends you down some roads that you should not be on as they might be wide enough, but they are totally inappropriate for a valuable MH.

I would agree with that statement 100% I am always watching the road signs and making sure in my own mind the directions are correct as I have been sent down wrong/unsuitable roads numerous times by Snooper.

The best yet was outside Tarragona...it tried to send me under a railway bridge to the campsite. The height was fine but anything much wider than a Smart car would not make it. So my RV...... Thankfully there was a slip road back onto the main road.

 

[hawkmoon]

For what it's worth I too deliberated for quite some time before ordering a Snooper S7000. I did not get to use it in earnest as it was so flakey it was untrue. The screen size was good but the touch screen was a nightmare especially around the perimeter of the screen where it did not select the characters that I clicked on. I carried out a few re-calibrations but to no avail.

Their tech support suggested another re-calibration and seemed to know about the issue as he stated that he has to operate the scroll bar to the far right of it to get it to get it to operate correctly. I could not beleive that their flagship model could be as bad as this that made the device near unusable.

Snooper did not state 'your device is obviously faulty - return it for a replacement' so I returned it for a refund. After a couple of weeks of not receiving a refund I chased it up only to be told their policy is to refund after 28 days! Then, to add salt to injury they withheld £10 which I suspect was their intial postage cost to me. I sent them an email stating that as the unit was faulty I expect a full refund and the cost I incurred sending it back to them, but received no response from them!

Obviously, my dealings with Snooper are a bit biased but I would suggest that anyone thinking of buying one to see if they can try before they buy.

Since then I was in Comet and picked up a display Garmin sat nav & found the touch screen, although a lot smaller, to work perfectly accurately and stated to the wife that this is how the Snooper should have operated!

Still undecided as to what to buy at present as whatever models you check out there are always some bad experiences

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[TheBig1]

probably a bit late now as the original post was over 2 years ago


dont you just love it when somebody goes through the archives and wakes up such an old thread lol

 

[hawkmoon]

probably a bit late now as the original post was over 2 years ago


dont you just love it when somebody goes through the archives and wakes up such an old thread lol

Still relevent as the S7000 is still on sale, the one I purchased within the last couple of months was advertised as new for 2012!

Just giving an heads up on my experience which must have been a one off as so many people are happy with them!

 

[slobadoberbob]

I use a pointer on the screen

I have found the touch screen works better if tapped with your nail.... I also keep a pointer to hand or use a pent... That gets over the touch screen issues...

Yes old post.. But sill relevant as they are still for sale

Bob

 

[hawkmoon]

I have found the touch screen works better if tapped with your nail.... I also keep a pointer to hand or use a pent... That gets over the touch screen issues...

Yes old post.. But sill relevant as they are still for sale

Bob

I tried using my nail and a stylus to select a letter mid key but the adjacent letter highlighted and was selected. If you used the sylus on the right hand side of a character then it would select ok.

With keyboard characters that must be approaching 10mm square mis-selecting a particular key input just should not happen on a £300+ bit of kit.

I also own a TomTom RiderV2 for my motorcycle which has a very small screen by comparison and with that & my fat fingers I have an occasional mis-selection which, I've no doubt, is down to me not taking enough care but my experience with that particular m/c really was dire, so much so that I never actually got to try it on the road.

I will be looking forward to having one displayed to me at a show as I cannot beleive mine was the norm.

 

[Dreamchaserrv]

This months Practical Motorhome (out today) has an item on different sat nav systems,

They test the following:

Snooper Ventura S7000
Tom Tom GO 7000 Truck
Garmin nuvi 465T
Clarion MAP690TRK
Navevo ProNav
Navigon 6310 (Editors choice)

All are supposed to be aimed for the larger vehicles.

You might find this info useful

What conclusions did the magazine come to?

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[bobh]

sat Nav

Are people aware that Tom Tom are about to launch a new model specific to Caravans and campers:Blush: so more confusion

 

[Touran]

Snooper S6000 Acsi version

I Purchased a Snooper S6000 in September 2012. On visiting Portugal March 2013 with my Motorhome I found that the main A22 Motorway which has been a Toll Road since 2011 was not shown as a Toll. I contacted Snooper and was told that the Mapping was oudated and needed updating. This I did at a further cost of £159.00 and a 37hour download process only to find that it still does not show the A22 as a Toll Road. I contacted customer service and was told that it was Navteq Mapping and they could do nothing about it. I then requested a full refund of my £159.00 as it was not an up to date map. I was told by a Mr Ed O'Sullivan that they could not reimburse the £159.00 as I now had downloaded it. How would I know that it wasn't up to date without downloading it, it was Snooper who told me originally that I needed the latest update. They now are telling me that they will send a new SD card out to me with the old version of the map on and I have to return at my own expense the SD card with the new useless out of date mapping on before they will reimburse me the £159.00 I paid in goodwill for up to date mapping. Surely when you pay £399.00 for a Sat Nav it should have a guarantee of 12 months of free map updates. DON'T BUY A SNOOPER.