Sat Nav's (1 Viewer)

Jul 8, 2018
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Hi All,

I apologise if this has been asked a thousand times already, but when I tried looking the answers seemed a few years old.

Anyway, we have just bought our first Motorhome and now looking at getting out and about, but are worried about going down some single tracks roads and getting stuck, so wondered if anyone can recommend a good sat nav for motorhomes, as I keep seeing mixed reviews of various models! I was looking at one of the Tom Tom Pro models (I have Tom Tom in my car so familiar with it) but again, I have seen mixed reviews from people saying it still sends then down narrow roads?

Any advice would be most welcome.
 
Jan 19, 2014
9,322
24,577
Derbyshire
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29,757
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Elddis Accordo 105
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since 2014
All dedicated units are years behind Google Maps Navigation. You can zoom down and see the size of the road, switch to satellite View or even street view if you want.


Our Tom Tom route planning is infuriatingly useless. One of it's favourite stunts is to send you through a housing estate with speed bumps to knock 100 metres off the route :mad:

Oh and the processor is straight out of a ZX81 :ROFLMAO:
 
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May 7, 2011
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motorhoming since 1979
I've got a Tomtom caravan / motorhome one, been too France several times & a lot of UK , it's not put a foot wrong , might take us a slightly longer journey but sticks to good roads , but having said that I always look at any road ,lane or what ever & if I don't think it looks right for me or my motorhome ,I carry on the main road until it reset it self.
The new Tom Tom Go Camper will also update via WiFi.

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scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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15
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Garmin Camper.. very good..

but bear in mind if the only road to a destination is down a single track road .. . then it will take that road.. unless you sprout wings

lots of posts on sat navs
 
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Jands

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Oct 12, 2016
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Both Tomtom and Garmin do motorhome satnavs, interesting to see what people think of them.
Need to set the type/size of your vehicle but are only as good as the software and mapping put in.
Have a car Garmin and motorcycle Tomtom, The Garmin does go some strange routes, possible needs an initial update.
If they do start to go somewhere unsuitable you don't need to follow it.
 
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Dec 24, 2014
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Ever since lighting was by Calor gas.
Our Tom Tom route planning is infuriatingly useless. One of it's favourite stunts is to send you through a housing estate with speed bumps to knock 100 metres off the route :mad:
I had the same early experience with my TomTom and found it only happened when I had selected 'Shortest route' on the 'Route planning' set-up page. If I want a quick route (very rare) I now deselect 'Shortest route' and select 'Fastest route' coupled with 'Avoid motorways' which works well.
I always familiarise myself first with my preferred route on a road atlas so that I have a mental picture in mind. If one doesn't do that it's a bit like blindly using a calculator when any answer can be hopelessly wrong unless one has a feel for what it should be.

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Dor On Tour
Jul 8, 2018
19
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Staffordshire
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coachbuilt
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Since Jul 2018
Garmin Camper.. very good..

but bear in mind if the only road to a destination is down a single track road .. . then it will take that road.. unless you sprout wings

lots of posts on sat navs

Yeah, I appreciate there are many single track roads that can't be avoided, it was more trying to limit them.:D

Some great advice so far; thanks. Now just a case of deciding which to plump for!!!! :thanks3:
 
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Jan 19, 2014
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I had the same early experience with my TomTom and found it only happened when I had selected 'Shortest route' on the 'Route planning' set-up page. If I want a quick route (very rare) I now deselect 'Shortest route' and select 'Fastest route' coupled with 'Avoid motorways' which works well.
I always familiarise myself first with my preferred route on a road atlas so that I have a mental picture in mind. If one doesn't do that it's a bit like blindly using a calculator when any answer can be hopelessly wrong unless one has a feel for what it should be.
Mine's on fastest route but avoid tolls, another one of it's stunts is to take you MILES out of the way to get you on a motorway o_O I don't use it any more, it's switched on and 'navigating' but I mostly ignore it and follow my phones Google Maps. The speed limit warning is ok, and the speedo changes to km when we get on French roads so that's useful.

We've found the best way to navigate is have a map on hand and follow signs to the next town or city, sign posts are always right (y) and Google maps will always tell you exactly where you are :love:

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Eenansue

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Blindly following satnav without a (good) hard copy map/road atlas is a recipe for disaster. When (not if) the satnav packs up you need to know 1, where you are and 2 how to get to where you're going. Without a decent map/road atlas that can be a tad difficult. I prefer to have an navigatorix whom one can blame anyway (y):rolleyes: TAXI! :imoutahere:
 
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Feb 21, 2016
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Garmin camper. But use a good map as well,which in the UK is Phillips Moho/caravan.
Oh,and if your other half can’t navigate,get shot of her/him first.;).
 
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138go

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Feb 26, 2016
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Anyone who just Follows the Sat Nav is asking for trouble. The Sat Nav is just a tool. It works out a route for you BUT it is not always the best one and they don’t know everything.

We have IGO Primo Truck and also Co-Pilot Truck. Even with heights / widths and weight you can still be told to turn left down a farm track with grass and weeds growing down the middle.

If you choose to go down it then it’s your call. You cannot blame the Sat Nav when you get stuck.

Common sense prevails and you miss the turn. Sat Nav then recalculated route and keeps you on the same wide road until it finds another farm track :) ..
 
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138go

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I have both. Think it’s the way they have started charging a yearly fee for the use of the software. Got mine before the change.

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mikebeaches

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We use a standard TomTom, but treat it's instructions as 'advisory' only.

Need to make own judgement, using maps and eyes carefully.

Find standard satnav fine, as far as it goes. And haven't bothered with a van-specific one.
 
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Two on Tour

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You can zoom down and see the size of the road, switch to satellite View or even street view if you want.

So do you do that along say a 300 mile route to see if a road is to narrow ? or can you set your vehicle dimensions in Google maps as you can in the antiquated TomTom Camper and Caravan, Garmin Camper and Copilot Caravan, plus how does the map of the route update without a constant internet connection in Google maps ?
 
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Puddleduck

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On and off for many years.
I have a cheap tablet (from Aldi when it was on special offer but other brands are available) and tried a number of free apps or free trials until I found one I liked.

Not better or worse than a dedicated satnav just another alternative. I can also use it for walking or when cycling so better than a built in satnav for us.

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Jan 19, 2014
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So do you do that along say a 300 mile route to see if a road is to narrow ? or can you set your vehicle dimensions in Google maps as you can in the antiquated TomTom Camper and Caravan, Garmin Camper and Copilot Caravan, plus how does the map of the route update without a constant internet connection in Google maps ?
Google maps navigation usually sticks to the main roads, there's no option for entering dimensions as far as I know. It is better than Tomtom but as I said the best way is to use an atlas to plan the route you want to use, then follow the sign posts for towns/cities and Google maps will tell you exactly where you are. Any doubt about the roads and you can always zoom down and take a look. Destinations are all in there too, there's no faffing about with loading POIs (lol remember them) Requires data of course but after all this is 2018 (y)
 
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Bailey58

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We just did 4000 miles to Norway and back using Google maps on the phone. Tell a lie, we did start with the Chinese satnav but found it awkward to programme and it kept falling off the base and disappearing into the footwell once too often. :LOL:
 
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Two on Tour

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Destinations are all in there too, there's no faffing about with loading POIs (lol remember them)

Yes, love them, click on the aire I want stay on in say Camper Contact or a LPG or fuel station or a super market and hay presto it gives my driving instructions as I drive there. No faffing around as the POI's are all ready loaded on and waiting to be picked.

Requires data of course but after all this is 2018 (y)

No need to be frivolous with your data package with a satnav device and Google maps would have of no bloody use with no signal when we were in the Picos mountains last year.

And yes I have tried using Google maps, hence the reason I'll stick to using my trusted Copilot Caravan.

Sorry I'm that I'm an old stick in the mud. :(

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May 10, 2016
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No ones mentioned Co Pilot - has it fallen out if favour for some reason??
Hi

Our recent experience with CoPilot was enough to put us off. We paid for (£49) and downloaded the app following lots of favourable reviews and tested it out last weekend for the first time in our new (to us) moho:

Travelling from Norfolk to Taunton it took us onto the M25, no problem with that as it was the obvious route. All of the overhead signs told us there were major delays on the M4 but CoPilot insisted that this was still the fastest route. We decided to ignore it and carried on to the M3 with a view to picking up the A303. Lo and behold as soon as the bloody thing accepted that we weren't taking its advice our expected arrival time dropped by well over an hour. I can accept technology isn't faultless but to have a device telling me that it has recognised delays, taken them into account and still tried to dogmatically send us on an appalling route is poor at best. It ultimately delivered us to our final destination by informing us we had arrived, unfortunately we were travelling under the road bridge of the actual road we needed whilst travelling at speed down the M5. 20 miles later we finally found the address.

In total it would have cost us nearly 2 hours onto our journey if we hadn't ignored it. I'm not sure how you go about getting a refund on an app but I'm going to find out as I wouldn't trust this piece of junk to take us anywhere again.

Mike
 
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RichardandKaren

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Oct 4, 2017
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I use WAZE free app on my iPhone. Perfect for car and works fine in MoHo. It spots traffic jams etc almost instantly and it's re-routing is spot on. Apparently, is the most popular nav app in the world now. It even alerts you to large potholes!

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Gellyneck

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More than toes wet now!
Garmin 760LMT-D Camper and pre-plan with Garmin BaseCamp on pc (if required).
 
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MisterB

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enough to know i shouldnt touch things i know nothing about ....
I fitted an xtrons single din touch screen (motorised) unit that plays dvds, radio etc AND sat nav , Bluetooth for around £120 from ebay, works perfect. I set the GPS up as 'vehicle type - bus' - and though I might not have picked the route given, I haven't had any problems with access, road width etc.
 
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two

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I have used many different types of SatNav and all have taken me on an unsuitable road at some time or other. In spite of that, I've seen others recommend them. Maybe I'm just unlucky, or too particular. They all have a long way to go in terms of improvement.
Do any show traffic lights, for example?

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