GPS in car navigation system

[kinga4610]

Like Brenda Irwin, I too have to venture to BrisVegas this coming week. Being a country gal too, I try to avoid the city unless someone else is driving and I have my head in the Refidex.

I thought I would take the stress out of my trip by buying a GPS car navigation system. Any thoughts on brands, screen size etc. Probably a model which could be upgraded to the latest version each year would be good. Maybe this is standard anyway. I have used one once in a hire car in Melbourne and Sydney, but do not recall what brand these were. So I throw my question out there to the forumites who currently own one.

 

[wylie]

Having spent every week of the 17 week or so week soccer season getting hopelessly lost or impatiently driving while hubby or son navigated, I finally bought a Navman about two months ago.

It was a Dick Smith special, and my man in the electrical business said he was selling this model for around $1K. He gives us good prices, but said he could not possibly get anywhere near $394 and suggested we grab it. Dick Smith had them for $394 for the reason (as I understand it) that they were old stock and the trade off for us was that unlike a Tom Tom this one cannot be updated.

It didn't matter for us because we very rarely go to any new estates, which is really all that would update anyway, so it was a decision we happily made to get a high quality model for such a good price. It also has plenty of overseas destinations, so if we ever travel, we could take it and use it to navigate there.

There was a Tom Tom brand for $499 which could be updated but we chose to go with the Navman. I LOVE Navman.

Wylie

PS. Give Dick Smith a call as they may have some left. Or, give ebay a look.

 

[chrispy]

I bought one of those Special ones, from the one thing a day website, a brand I have never heard of, I won't name it, which has turned out to be a real lemon. I have had the battery replaced, the unit replaced, the software replaced and now I have asked for a refund and the manufacturers have agreed, so I am returning it again to get my money back.

I did laugh the manufacturers offered me a 30% discount on map upgrades, which was very funny as I could not get the unit to work.

I would have been better off going to Harvey Norman or Dick smith and at least trying it out before I bought.

A friend has a Tom Tom which works fantastically well both here and in the UK which was why I thought I would buy one, as with the new job I have to go to all sorts of places, some new commercial estates and I thought it would save me time!!!

I think I will stick to brand names in the future

Chris

 

[kinga4610]

Thanks Crispy & Wylie

I was thinking something upgradable as I only get to the city and few times a year and there always seem to be changes to roads, which just aren't on our refidex. I know we seem to buy a new book every year just to keep up with changes, so I would think upgrading street info would be the same.

The main brands advertised are Garmin, Tom Tom and Navman. Any of these I should steer clear of?

 

[Simon]

All good names - esp Garmin and Tomtom. I personally like the Garmin model.

Am buying one shortly as my nav is hopeless

 

[Petal]

I have a Tom Tom GO710 which cost about 1K about 17 months ago (I believe they are much cheaper now). You need to spend enough on one so that they tune in to at least 6 satellites. The really cheap ones only have the capacity to tune in to a couple of satellites and aren't much good.

I can't even imagine life without my GPS. It has revolutionsed the way I drive places. It is so relaxing to just be a be able to put in a destination and zip and zap, there you are !!

I took my mum interstate for a couple of days recently and took my tom tom with me and used it in the rental car.

It basically meant we could drive wherever we fancied safe in the knowledge that when we were ready to go back to our hotel we just tuned it in and it took us back.

I think within 5 years they will just about be as standard as a mobile phone.

love it love it love it

 

[kinga4610]

Simon & Petal thanks for your posts.

Petal you mentioned the no. of satellites. High sensitivity GPS receiver is advertised on some models. Does this mean they reach more satellites??

 

[redwing]

The Management cars have Tom-Toms in them, love them when i get a chance to drive; very easy to use from first go (prefer the english lady to the yank giving me directions)

 

[Petal]

Simon & Petal thanks for your posts.

Petal you mentioned the no. of satellites. High sensitivity GPS receiver is advertised on some models. Does this mean they reach more satellites??

Hi Kinga,

I am no expert on this. All I know is the better ones pick up more satellites so the car always knows where it is so yes I guess it means they reach more satellites.

I know people who have purchased cheapies and they ended up taking them back as the GPS never knew where it was!!

 

[Petal]

The Management cars have Tom-Toms in them, love them when i get a chance to drive; very easy to use from first go (prefer the english lady to the yank giving me directions)

Yes the english lady is the nicest. She is called "English Jane" so we call our GPS Jane and the nickname has stuck.

Also with TOM TOM you can go on to their website and buy all different kinds of voices. There is one of John Cleese giving directions (bet he was paid a motza for that!!) but we decided he might grate on our nerves a bit after a while. Would have been fun to hear him though

 

[Ausprop]

i got a blackberry from vodafone with the inbuilt gps with free usage for a year on a $79 talk cap i think it is, phone is free. it has been invaluable

 

[geoffw]

Like Brenda Irwin, I too have to venture to BrisVegas this coming week. Being a country gal too, I try to avoid the city unless someone else is driving and I have my head in the Refidex.

I thought I would take the stress out of my trip by buying a GPS car navigation system. Any thoughts on brands, screen size etc. Probably a model which could be upgraded to the latest version each year would be good. Maybe this is standard anyway. I have used one once in a hire car in Melbourne and Sydney, but do not recall what brand these were. So I throw my question out there to the forumites who currently own one.

I haven't gone this way yet, but I thought I'd try one for a rental car- flying to Melbourne, and driving to Benalla for a wedding.

So, what I found.

The GPS missed the main exit from the Hume Highway to Benalla. I decided to follow the GPS rather than the huge sign which said "Benalla".

It told me to exit another xx km. That exit was just a flyover, with no exit from the Hume Highway.

The next exit just did not exist.

I finally got into Benalla. By the exit which people driving southbound should take. An extra twenty minutes driving.Maybe not that significant. But it meant that my daughter, who had akready flown down from Brisbane late because she missed a flight, missed the wedding. We went without her- and nearly hit the bridal car as it pulled out without warning, having just dropped off the bride.

That 20 minutes delay from the GPS was absolutely crucial.

Driving back, about half of the exits were just not marked.

But, it seems that there is no difference between the brands in this respect. They are all powered by "Whereis". wHAT A SUITABLE NAME!

 

[Stella]

i got a blackberry from vodafone with the inbuilt gps with free usage for a year on a $79 talk cap i think it is, phone is free. it has been invaluable

AT least yours works - partners Nokia Navigator tells us we are in Antarctica & Nokia No Care staff tell us there is nothing wrong with the unit even when they are holding it saying they are in Antartica!!!!

Cheers
Stella

 

[Aaron Sice]

LOL.

why pay $500odd bucks for something that will be obsolete in a year, when you could spend $30 and buy a book that will also be obsolete in a year?

i just don;t get it.

 

[sue78]

Forget about Tom Tom... get the Nokia Navigator!

we've had the phone for a few weeks now and have used the navigation system to death. it's the best phone ever.

Virgin has a cap $30 plan phone for free, $130 worths of calls per mth and free virgin to virgin 24/7 calls and sms. Hubby and I got one each.

It includes free map of australia.

You can even send your position to another mobile phone..it's great.

I wouldn't pay $500 for a Tom Tom considering I'd hardly use it but the phone was free and worth $580 retail. It's a such a bargain. It's also small and mobile. Will come in handy when we go travelling.

 

[Simon]

LOL.

why pay $500odd bucks for something that will be obsolete in a year, when you could spend $30 and buy a book that will also be obsolete in a year?

i just don;t get it.

You can upgrade the maps easily enough in the reputable models.

I cannot drive along with the map on my lap anymore. I like the voice functions and it makes sure I have plenty of notice.

Once you have driven through a strange city with one you will love it!

 

[angela]

I bought a Tom Tom One Excel on Saturday, and it has guided me to several new places this week so easily. I cannot follow a road map, and get lost everytime I go somewhere new. I don't know why I didn't get one of these things sooner, my driving life will be so much more pleasureable now.

 

[Perp]

We bought a Navman S-50 a few months ago for a dear friend for whom English is a second language. He found reading the map far too time-consuming, and had a new job which required him to drive to different parts of the city each day.

It was absolutely worth every cent. I'm sure other models are good, too, but the S-50 is very straightforward to use and he just loves it.

 

[DavidMc]

You can upgrade the maps easily enough in the reputable models.

I cannot drive along with the map on my lap anymore. I like the voice functions and it makes sure I have plenty of notice.

Once you have driven through a strange city with one you will love it!

I agree. LA was a very bad place to drive around without one. It was slightly better with one!

I was also guilty of the map on the lap thing too. Very dangerous IMO.

Number one safety rule with the GPS, don't program it whilst you drive!

 

[units4me]

The wife's car has a built in sat nav system which works really well. Best thing is the huge screen makes it really easy to use on the move.

In my car I have a 5 Y.O. Melways with pages falling out.