satnav GPS... is it worth it? (1 Viewer)

Tom Lurk

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The family and I are off on a 4 week euro road trip through france, spain and portugal in a couple of months. We have (a fairly old) car satnav, but i was wondering if it was worth the expense upgrading to a specialist 'large vehicle' model?

Our route is mostly planned out already, in terms of being booked into sites, so we are not going to be doing too much off-piste exploring.
 
Dec 11, 2011
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Satnavs have saved many a marriage! I wouldn't want to be without either!

P.S. If you're going to buy one then get one with height/weight facilities - and make sure it has free map updates for life!

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Mar 23, 2012
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If you are happ with what you've got when driving your car and are in no rush stick with it. I have biught one of the chinese ones off ebay but can't honestly say it makes that much difference.
 

two

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If you need to ask “is it worth it”, I’d suggest you don’t bother. SatNavs are extra toys that can make life easier.

I’ve owned several, from £200 to £2000. They are great for guiding you through unfamiliar territory but, if map reading and navigation is part of your ‘fun’, you may not want that. My latest has taken me along roads I’d rather not go and to a camp site that had moved, so even expensive ones are not perfect. I’m getting another in my next van because I can afford it and I feel that they can be useful but they are equally something I could manage without.

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Scattycat

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We've had many different satnvs over the years and to be quite honest the cheap 7" screen chinese ones bought via e-bay are pretty good.
We used ours while travelling around France, Spain and Portugal.
Like all sat navs they are not infalable but we were travelling with folks who had much more expensive ones and I can't say their's were much better.
 
Apr 22, 2013
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My opinion is that you need a satnav with up to date maps.
If you can't update the maps buy new with life time maps.
Beware all the satnavs I have had seem to want to use narrow single track lanes to cut off a corner that in practice save sod all.
 

GJH

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If you need to ask “is it worth it”, I’d suggest you don’t bother. SatNavs are extra toys that can make life easier.

I’ve owned several, from £200 to £2000. They are great for guiding you through unfamiliar territory but, if map reading and navigation is part of your ‘fun’, you may not want that. My latest has taken me along roads I’d rather not go and to a camp site that had moved, so even expensive ones are not perfect. I’m getting another in my next van because I can afford it and I feel that they can be useful but they are equally something I could manage without.
Interesting that you say the sat nav took you to a camp site that had moved. Presumably that means that the POI set was out of date.

I had a discussion elsewhere with someone yesterday who said he didn't require user-updatable custom POIs as he was happy with what the company supplied. My reply to him pointed out that you can't trust the companies to keep up to date :)

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Feb 9, 2008
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Even an old, car, sat-nav can do something a map can never do, show you exactly where you are. Can be very handy sometimes.
 

GeriatricWanderer

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If you already have a sat nav that you are used to and happy with then I'd suggest you go with what you know. "Old" doesn't mean no good and "car" doesn't mean not for motorhome.
You don't plan to do a lot of wandering. If your avatar pic is up to date, it seems you won't be driving a huge outfit so spending money on a height/width new sat nav that probably won't calculate a different route to your car one, would be a waste.
Rather spend your time checking your chosen campsite GPS co-ords on Google Earth and then loading the accurate co ords onto your existing sat nav (assuming it accepts co ord input).
If all else fails - use a map - you know where you're going.
 
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Tom Lurk

Tom Lurk

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good mix of views here, thank you all for your input.

i think that geriatric wanderer is probably closest to what i was thinking.

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teensvan99

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Gps is the best friend you can have outside the UK. 99% of all campsites stellplatz and aires have there positions shown in co-ordernates hard to find without gps. We fulltimed for over 7 years in Europe and got fantastic positions from it. Silly to not buy one
 
D

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I would buy a truck or camper specific one.

It's not the motorway bit, you don't need a satnav for that. It's the bit from each motorway to the campsite that it will save you on.

A car one won't take height, width or weight into consideration and believe me, unless you're in a little PVC you need to be thinking about those things.
 
Oct 18, 2014
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If......you get a new one, suggest one that can update maps and load on poi's.
But you can't beat a good old map book, utilise that with your sat nav and you'll be fine.

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Apr 27, 2008
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I managed without one until they were invented. Just made a list of significant places from a map and used the road signs. Looking for a site look for the signs. I have never had a usefull navigator.
Any satnav will get you there even if the maps are years out of date, towns don't move much.
 

sdc77

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Instead of buying a new one ... if you have a smartphone you could consider using a sat nav app. Lots of info on them here. .. I've used Co pilot and it's fine ... just another angle

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Apr 27, 2008
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Best sat nav on a phone I've found is HERE+, though it may only be for Windows phone. Free, with free worldwide mapping, maps can be downloaded so no internet connection needed.
 
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****

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Best sat nav on a phone I've found is HERE+, though it may only be for Windows phone. Free, with free worldwide mapping, maps can be downloaded so no internet connection needed.

I downloaded that for the Android the other week and to be honest, all others i have tried is far better. For the free ones i would say Mapfactors Navigator wins hands down with Navmii a close 2nd. I just could not sus how to use HERE+ and it looks like you need to go online to get the dam thing to find an address. The others you can grast almost straight away making them a winner straight away before even attempting to navigate for a real test. Only downside with the free ones is lack of junction view what is sometimes needed and for you fatter campers i dont think you can get a free camper version.

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Apr 27, 2008
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I downloaded that for the Android the other week and to be honest, all others i have tried is far better. For the free ones i would say Mapfactors Navigator wins hands down with Navmii a close 2nd. I just could not sus how to use HERE+ and it looks like you need to go online to get the dam thing to find an address. The others you can grast almost straight away making them a winner straight away before even attempting to navigate for a real test. Only downside with the free ones is lack of junction view what is sometimes needed and for you fatter campers i dont think you can get a free camper version.

Funny you should say that. I also downloaded it on an Android phone and had many problems, eventually giving up on it. Thats why I particularly mentioned Windows phone as it seems to work perfectly on that.
 

vwalan

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never had one dont want one dont need one . have been with friends with them but not for me .
i drove trucks for a living in later life ,now tour in my mini artic . still dont need one . a dash board compass is handy and a map. thats it .
mapamax for spain and portugal is the best mapbook i have found .
for france i use a kummerly andfrey atlas routier . works for me .

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DBK

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never had one dont want one dont need one . have been with friends with them but not for me .
i drove trucks for a living in later life ,now tour in my mini artic . still dont need one . a dash board compass is handy and a map. thats it .
mapamax for spain and portugal is the best mapbook i have found .
for france i use a kummerly andfrey atlas routier . works for me .
You made a very good a while ago about satnavs. The danger is you just decide where you want to be that night and then enter the destination into the device and off you go. The disadvantage is because you have now decided where to go and it has told you when you are expected to arrive you can develop a tunnel visioned approach and ignore potentially interesting places on or near to your route and of course there is no chance whatsoever you might actually deviate from the route ordained by the satnav! In other words, satnavs kill off any chance of actually exploring a country.

And before anyone asks we do have one but knowing how tyrannical their rule can be I am prepared to ignore it sometimes. :)
 
Jan 3, 2008
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It is worth have decent sat nav, pay a fee quod and get a Garmin or Tomtom not some cheap rubbish. All you have to do is use the thing properly. There are some who have horror stories but they will generally be those who don't or won't use them as a guide and not the word of the Lord.

You can check the route the think suggests by viewing it on the map setting and you can check it against a mapper map and alter it as you wish. It ain't rocket science or magic, like any other tool use it incorrectly and it will get you in trouble but like many modern tools, until you try one you have no real idea of the adbvantages of it.
 

vwalan

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plus we dont like doing as we are told .
we dont use toll roads m,ways or dual carriage ways as children arent allowed to play near busy roads .

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What is wrong with plotting a route through Tyre or ITN software and installing that into your sat nav. That way you take roads you want without having to double check the map. I tend to be going to a pre booked destination so my sat nav would be used as A to B but if exploring i am happy to have it on but not set so i know if i am still driving south or whatever.
 

two

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If the impressive list of POI and map updates are free, you have to question where the revenue for maintenance will come from and that will be a measure of its quality.
 

GJH

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If the impressive list of POI and map updates are free, you have to question where the revenue for maintenance will come from and that will be a measure of its quality.
Usually the supplied POIs are ones which can be downloaded for free anyway.

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