Hi Guys and Gals

I have a job which involves visiting propertys. About 20 a day. I know my 
area quite well , but 60% of address`s are in areas I am not 100% on.

So , I am investing in a Sat Nav system to help me around. As I am using one 
of 4 vehicles it needs to be transportable from car to car. I have so far 
looked at a few , but seem attracted to the Tom Tom 500.

Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I cant 
seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it work.

How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel and 
weather issues

Thanks in advance

Brian

> Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I cant 
> seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it work.


http://www.garminsuck.com (my site) - they screw their hardware owning 
customers to subsidise more difficult markets (like PDA owners)

Have you got a laptop by any chance ?


> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel and 
> weather issues


AFAIK they don`t do either.

"Colin Wilson"  wrote in message 
news:MPG.1d51e983fba3cb6998b294@news.individual.net...

>> Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I 
>> cant
>> seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it 
>> work.
>
> http://www.garminsuck.com (my site) - they screw their hardware owning
> customers to subsidise more difficult markets (like PDA owners)
>
> Have you got a laptop by any chance ?
>
>> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel and
>> weather issues
>
> AFAIK they don`t do either.


Yes I do have a laptop. Is their a solution I have missed

"Big Brian"  wrote in
news:5CQFe.40819$Pf3.6401@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk: 


> 
> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel
> and weather issues
> 

I think you have to get a CD with the latest map to update them. Don't 
about weather but I believe that the best models have the ability to divert 
your journey around snarl-ups, so there must be some kind of traffic 
information  feature built in.


-- 
Stuart Sharp

> > Have you got a laptop by any chance ?
> Yes I do have a laptop. Is their a solution I have missed 


Possibly - check out the GPS18 with nRoute here - £129.48  delivery

https://www.aspidshop.com/export/store/product_info.php?cPath=3_7_9
&products_id=278

(watch the wrap)

I ended up buying the GPS18 because it was the cheapest (only ?) way to 
get the maps for my fricken` £700 unit (a 2620) - doing it this way 
worked out £50 cheaper than buying the maps alone !

Delivery wasn`t the "next day" in my case - expect 3 days under normal 
circumstances, but in my case the "not" next day delivery caused 
problems with the courier and I ended up having to redirect to a 
different address - took me about a week in the end to get it :-}

Mine came with City Select v6, but I got a free upgrade to v7 as that 
had already been released when I registered it.

I might even be open to offers, as I have no sodding use for it - I only 
needed the second "free" unlock so I could get UK maps on my unit !

If you`re anywhere near Liverpool you`re welcome to have a look at it to 
see how it works in real life.

Just as an added bonus, there`s a free "transparent" speed camera map 
that can be overlaid :-p

For those of you with a Garmin unit, the speed camera maps are here:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/walterwright/

If you have a stand-alone mapping unit, when you transfer maps for the 
area you want covered, simply add the speed camera map to the list of 
maps to be transferred - it`ll show up automatically as you drive.

> I think you have to get a CD with the latest map to update them. Don't 
> about weather but I believe that the best models have the ability to divert 
> your journey around snarl-ups, so there must be some kind of traffic 
> information  feature built in.


I think there may be a traffic information system built in to some of 
the kit sponsored by the AA or RAC, but afaik that`s about it.

sci.geo.satellite-nav might be a better place to ask techical details

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 19:57:46 +0100, Colin Wilson   
wrote:


>> Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I  
>> cant
>> seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it  
>> work.
>
> http://www.garminsuck.com (my site) - they screw their hardware owning
> customers to subsidise more difficult markets (like PDA owners)
>
> Have you got a laptop by any chance ?
>
>> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel  
>> and
>> weather issues
>
> AFAIK they don`t do either.



THe Tomtom5 software om my PDA does both, about 330 from the likes of  
totalpda.co.uk. The data charges come to about 3 a month, the traffic  
informations about as the DOT.

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 20:42:55 +0100, Stu  wrote:


> "Big Brian"  wrote in
> news:5CQFe.40819$Pf3.6401@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:
>
>>
>> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel
>> and weather issues
>>
> I think you have to get a CD with the latest map to update them. Don't
> about weather but I believe that the best models have the ability to  
> divert
> your journey around snarl-ups, so there must be some kind of traffic
> information  feature built in.
>
>


In car ones can do it from the radio, PDA based ones need a GPRS  
connection, AFAIK both charge you for map updates.

> >> ...travel and weather issues...
> > AFAIK they don`t do either.
> THe Tomtom5 software om my PDA does both, about £330 from the likes of  
> totalpda.co.uk. The data charges come to about £3 a month, the traffic  
> informations about as the DOT.


Sounds good, thanks for clarifying.

As I (already) say on my site, a PDA is probably the most versatile way 
of doing things :-)

"Big Brian"  wrote in message 
news:5CQFe.40819$Pf3.6401@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

> Hi Guys and Gals
>
> I have a job which involves visiting propertys. About 20 a day. I know my 
> area quite well , but 60% of address`s are in areas I am not 100% on.
>
> So , I am investing in a Sat Nav system to help me around. As I am using 
> one of 4 vehicles it needs to be transportable from car to car. I have so 
> far looked at a few , but seem attracted to the Tom Tom 500.
>
> Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I 
> cant seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it 
> work.
>
> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel and 
> weather issues


Hi!
The devices, especially teh TomTom GO 500 are quite good at what they do, 
they get you to your destination by a reasonable route. And are very useful 
in navigating in an area you are not familiar with.

However you have to be aware of their limitations, this newsgroup and other 
forums are full of people who belived all the hype and are disappointed.

Firstly is the mapping, I think it can best be described as 99%, i.e. for 
the majority of the time you will be fine, but maybe one time out of a 
hundred there will be a new road which isn't yet on the map, a street name 
it doesn't recognise or a junction which has changed layout.

Map updates are infrequent, maybe once a year, and they are not free. As a 
guide maps are currently running about 3 years behind the reality on the 
ground, major roads get updated faster than that.

Travel issues, you can be notified of major incidents along your planned 
route, (you need a GPRS and bluetooth enabled phone), however it won't take 
into account things like taking you on the best route through rush hour 
traffic. e.g. You may know that a particular roundabout is always congested 
at 5pm, but it won't know that.

As for weather, TomTom does have a weather service however it's limited to 
temperature and rain and a few other things, not terribly useful.

You should also be aware of other ways to get SatNav, you can get the same 
TomTom software for PocketPC's and also for Smartphones.

They do have their limitations but as long as you are aware of these I 
promise you won't be disappointed!

In article <5CQFe.40819$Pf3.6401@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, Big Brian 
says...

> Hi Guys and Gals
> 
> I have a job which involves visiting propertys. About 20 a day. I know my 
> area quite well , but 60% of address`s are in areas I am not 100% on.
> 
> So , I am investing in a Sat Nav system to help me around. As I am using one 
> of 4 vehicles it needs to be transportable from car to car. I have so far 
> looked at a few , but seem attracted to the Tom Tom 500.
> 
> Do these devices work as well as they say they do or is it all hype. I cant 
> seem to get a demo unit to drive round for an hour or so to see if it work.
> 
> How do they update , and finally , do they keep you abreats of travel and 
> weather issues


TomTom updates are downloads which you can apply to a removable SD 
Card.
 

-- 
Conor

-You wanted an argument? Oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse. You want room 
K5, just along the corridor. Stupid git. (Monty Python)