Sat Nav, Garmin or Tomtom???

[warkman]

As I have now chosen my Titanium S-Max and decided (lol) to forgo the addition of a ford sat nav at a cost of £1,300!

Looking at sat navs, (I want a seperate one as my Blackberry inbuilt is pants)
I am totally confused. There are so many from each company!
Both Garmin and Tomtom look good garmin slightly cheaper, but which is best?
Do i need anyting apart from the maps as standard? TMC traffic reports? etc etc

Due to my crappy eyesight, i ahve decided that i need the 5" and above LOL

many thanks for any replies :-)

[Lighttouch]

Tomtom

I'll be using my portable Tomtom to guide me to Newbury on Sunday. I spent about £170 on it from Halfords. You can voice activate it and there are verbal instructions to guide you to your destination. Even tells you which lane to get into and where the speed cameras are!!
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...0151&langId=-1

[Paul]

The basic distinction - and I have also been looking into this is

Tomtom - if you want ease of use
Garmin - If you want better maps

I've personally been a Garmin fan for the last 10 years or so, but will be moving to Tomtom as it just has the edge on interface and the iPhone app is meant to be brilliant - and significantly cheaper than a standalone.

If you choose Garmin you will need the TMC if you want traffic updates, but they aren't that reliable as they use the "old" radio message system.

Tomtom have something called HD traffic which updates using a sim card inside the satnav and a monthly subscription.


I'd suggest going to your local Halfords and having a play - see which one you prefer.

[warkman]

Thanks for your replies.
In the end I went for a Garmin Nuvi2545LMT (Lifetime map updates) and TMC.
I needed a 5" screen (eyes are crap) and the Garmin just looed a better unit than TomTom, plus tomtom did not do a lifetime map updates version.
I have already added onto an SD card the North American maps, so am very happy with it. :-)

Now, anyone know where I can get the POI's of Ble badge parkeing and disanbled toilets?

Cheers :-)

[Paul]

Can't find a definitive POI list for disabled toilets, but there is a book http://www.radar-shop.org.uk/Detail.aspx?id=45

There is a collaboration page which looks like it is kept up to date with Blue Badge Bays, Disabled Toilets and Accessible Pubs/Clubs.
http://www.gonmad.co.uk/satnav_poi.php

Blue Badge Bays (same site as above, different name)
http://www.bluebadgeparking.com/

It seems that the people who hold all the information are the Public Information Exchange (PIE - commissioned by DirectGov) but they have sold the licence to a 3rd party (Navevo) and brought out their own satnav http://www.bbnav.co.uk/product.html which holds all the info you require.

However PIE will let you download Blue Badge Parking POIs http://www.thepieguide.com/services/satnavpoi for £29.99


Had some fun finding that info for you, I do love Google.

[Paul]

I did write a reply with everything you needed, but the moderators are holding onto it for some reason!!

Quickly (so I don't have to write it all out again)...

Disabled Toilets, Blue Badge Bays, Accessible Pubs http://www.gonmad.co.uk/satnav_poi.php
These are user generated though.

Blue Badge Bays http://www.thepieguide.com/services/satnavpoi £30
This Info has come from a DirectGov commission

[warkman]

I did write a reply with everything you needed, but the moderators are holding onto it for some reason!!

Quickly (so I don't have to write it all out again)...

Disabled Toilets, Blue Badge Bays, Accessible Pubs http://www.gonmad.co.uk/satnav_poi.php
These are user generated though.

Blue Badge Bays http://www.thepieguide.com/services/satnavpoi £30
This Info has come from a DirectGov commission

LOl! Thanks for that :-)

[Lighttouch]

Thanks for your replies.
In the end I went for a Garmin Nuvi2545LMT (Lifetime map updates) and TMC.
I needed a 5" screen (eyes are crap) and the Garmin just looed a better unit than TomTom, plus tomtom did not do a lifetime map updates version.
I have already added onto an SD card the North American maps, so am very happy with it. :-)

Now, anyone know where I can get the POI's of Ble badge parkeing and disanbled toilets?

Cheers :-)

Glad you're sorted. I made full use of my Tomtom over the last fhree days travelling to and around Newbury. I don't actually view the screen I just listen to the lady's voice! And once you've found a location it's easy to bookmark it for next time. I didn't need to buy any maps of the area either.

I have only updated the map once in three years on the UK and Ireland map.

Couldn't do without it these days. Funny how this technology was first used by the army and navy for guiding cruise missiles!!

[tinker]

With the TomTom there are a lot of user generated poi's on the update site. I got both the RADAR & Disabled parking/restroom poi's for UK & Western Europe from there.
My In-laws have a Garmin and they have similar downloads available as well.