Which Sat Nav ????????

[RS SPIKE]

I know it's been asked hundreds of times on here,but whats the best for europe ?
Tom Tom,Garmin,Chinese ??????
I'm not to worried about weight or length as i'm only 6.1 mts
Thanks

 

[Khizzie]

Snooper great bit of kit,also got Garmin which only use in car,also great.and now a 7"Chinese one ,they all do the same job I.e A to B etc.some have more frills than others..Garmin £199 when I bought it ..snooper £399 two years ago and xcody 704 Chinese. £32 .. !!! Used for last six months cant fault it at moment although a bit more difficult to come to terms with the operation it still gets me from A to B without too much problem..

Chinese mentioned by me here Spike.

 

[Khizzie]

Snooper great bit of kit,also got Garmin which only use in car,also great.and now a 7"Chinese one ,they all do the same job I.e A to B etc.some have more frills than others..Garmin £199 when I bought it ..snooper £399 two years ago and xcody 704 Chinese. £32 .. !!! Used for last six months cant fault it at moment although a bit more difficult to come to terms with the operation it still gets me from A to B without too much problem..

RS spike, Chinese xcody mentioned in my post..

 

[Khizzie]

Nobody seems to have mentioned the Chinese ones. These are at least as good (I find better) as the Garmin/Tom Tom. The truck versions allow you to input your vehicle dimensions (not only weight and length but, more crucially height! so avoiding bridges tyat you cannot fit under-e.g. Rouen). They do all this at a fraction of the cost and with free maps. Excellent

Wyn

See my post ...ref Chinese.

 

[DanielFord]

I'm going to be controversial (ooh! surprise! )
There is no correct answer, and everyone before has given you their personal preference. I myself use TomTom camper, which I think is brilliant. However that doesn't mean everyone will.
Your best bet, get down to somewhere like Halfords, where you can get a free demonstration of many units, and see which one you could live with! The best bit, they shouldn't pressure you to buy, so you can decide what you like, and then buy online later

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[MJG1959]

I'm going to be controversial (ooh! surprise! )
There is no correct answer, and everyone before has given you their personal preference. I myself use TomTom camper, which I think is brilliant. However that doesn't mean everyone will.
Your best bet, get down to somewhere like Halfords, where you can get a free demonstration of many units, and see which one you could live with! The best bit, they shouldn't pressure you to buy, so you can decide what you like, and then buy online later

Is it really controversial though?

I think I said much the same in post number four. That is all people can really do in answering such a question, it's no good saying any particular type is 'the best', all you can really hope for is people is say which one they prefer and why, and then leave it to the person asking to decide if these factors matter.

Your suggestion about trying them hands on is spot on though.

 

[HymerB544]

ACSI ??

Yes mine has the ACSI database; Snooper Ventura S7000.

 

[Dave and Ginny]

I've had both tom tom and Garmin but much prefer the Garmin because I can plan my own routes on it using the Basecamp software on the laptop. Using Basecamp means YOU choose exactly what route you want to take. You can add your waypoints such as aires or fuel stops, you can even display your entire route or parts of it on Google Earth to check out those narrow roads or bridges etc.

I used it for our recent trip to Spain and it didn't put a foot (or wheel) wrong once.

It does take a bit of time and patience getting used to using the Basecamp software but once mastered you would never go back to letting any GPS system deciding which way you go.

 

[DJA]

Hi Daveandginny

You can now add .gpx file routes to some of the Tomtom GPS units thus enabling you to create routes in Basecamp type software as you can on the Garmin.

Someone recently loaded on a forum some .itn route files covering recommended scenic routes in Germany. I have converted them to .gps and loaded them onto my Tomtom GO5000. If I want to follow the route I just open it on the unit and then the TT sorts out a route from where I am to the Start.

Doug

 

[funflair]

I have TomTom and Co-pilot both as apps on the iPhone and iPad, I use Co-pilot more now as it has a motorhome setting and it uses more main roads than TomTom will given the same start and finish, I like having them on the phone as I can use it walking in town to find the post office or even the way back to the van or bus stop.

As Michael said no data required as all the maps are on the device.

Martin

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[MJG1959]

I've had both tom tom and Garmin but much prefer the Garmin because I can plan my own routes on it using the Basecamp software on the laptop. Using Basecamp means YOU choose exactly what route you want to take. You can add your waypoints such as aires or fuel stops, you can even display your entire route or parts of it on Google Earth to check out those narrow roads or bridges etc.

I used it for our recent trip to Spain and it didn't put a foot (or wheel) wrong once.

It does take a bit of time and patience getting used to using the Basecamp software but once mastered you would never go back to letting any GPS system deciding which way you go.

I hadn't tried Base Camp much if at all with my Garmin Camper so appreciated this tip. Just to add though I did find it a bit 'flakey' at first with it crashing as soon as I connected my Garmin Camper to my PC (Windows 10)

Googling wasn't much help as it referred to earlier versions of Base Camp crashing with older Garmin devices and referred to renaming a POI file that wasn't even on my device to stop this happening.

So after a bit of experimentation I found the following allows the problem free connection of my Garmin Camper without sending Base Camp into a spin.

1 - Ensure the Garmin device is fully up to date (It is now) and that you are using a good quality USB cable that allows for data exchange.

2 - Ensure Base Camp is the latest version (Mine was - current version as at 20th Dec 2015 is ver. - 4.5.2)

3 - Ensure enough free memory on device.

4 - Open base camp on PC

5 - Switch Garmin device on, wait till it gets to 'Where to' menu BEFORE connecting the USB lead.

Garmin device is then detected by Base Camp and shows up fine and allows faultless transfer of pre-planned trips.

Hope this helps anybody who may have problems.

 

[Taff015]

If you already have a small tablet, get CoPilot Truck. Flexible with no commitment to one piece of hardware, great navigation and take your tablet anywhere, for anything and still plan a route, add a POI or whatever.

I use this on an iPad mini and its awesome.