Which European Sat-Nav?
Discussion
A question for those that have used a few different systems.
I need a Sat-Nav for use in the UK and Mainland Europe, I don't have much experiance with them so though it best to as here of those that have used different ones.
I have up to £200 to spend (can maybe go over a little for the "right" one.
Do I go for TomTom, Garmin etc? anything specific spec wise that is appropriate for European driving?
TIA
I need a Sat-Nav for use in the UK and Mainland Europe, I don't have much experiance with them so though it best to as here of those that have used different ones.
I have up to £200 to spend (can maybe go over a little for the "right" one.
Do I go for TomTom, Garmin etc? anything specific spec wise that is appropriate for European driving?
TIA
I have an old Garmin Nuvi, spent £99 on the full european maps that are updated for life. All I needed was a cheap SD card in the Nuvi to hold the maps. I use it in the car, I've used it on boats, and I use it for the odd bit of Geocaching (mostly in Spain admittedly).
You can get a Nuvi 255 with full european maps for £85-odd off Amazon. Add £99 for lifetime map updates, and you're set.
You can get a Nuvi 255 with full european maps for £85-odd off Amazon. Add £99 for lifetime map updates, and you're set.
TomTom XL Europe, non Live version at £180 or Live version at £200 (the best traffic and other info, but for £8 per month), makes excellent use of your budget. Garmin equivalents are very similar, but my experience and others is that TT routeing, while not perfect, is a bit better than Garmin. TT XL Europe Classic at £130 from Currys seems great value - I cannot quite work out what features it is missing.
Cannot comment usefully on other brands.
Cannot comment usefully on other brands.
markmullen said:
I use a Navman S90i which after a shaky start has run superbly with updated software.
On a trip delivering a car to Eindhoven last week TMC even worked through the Netherlands which was pretty cool.
I have a TT which is pretty naf in the main, mostly routing...IQ of 1 really...needs common sense and it will keep trying to send me through Brussels and the wrong route through Rouen grrr.......On a trip delivering a car to Eindhoven last week TMC even worked through the Netherlands which was pretty cool.
Navman and Garmin are quite good....as well as Becker (if you can get one in the UK)....
I must add....TMC is better in the EU mainland than GB....But it is getting better in GB...
Any words of wisdom please?Garmins have a neat feature that TomTom's don't have without resulting to additional 3rd party software which is the automatic recording of a track log.
This means you can see where you've been, show the route in Google Earth, use it to generate routes for others, geotag photos, use it for mileage claims / trip logs etc etc
My TT 720 is dying and needs new maps - it'll be replaced by a Garmin for sure.
This means you can see where you've been, show the route in Google Earth, use it to generate routes for others, geotag photos, use it for mileage claims / trip logs etc etc
My TT 720 is dying and needs new maps - it'll be replaced by a Garmin for sure.
I agree with many others on here that Garmin are the way to go. I have just sold my Nuvi 265WT to a colleague, as am getting a Zumo bike unit. But they are great value with full Western Europe mapping and Traffic updates included. I think they are about £140 new? Wide screen as well so slightly bigger display which I found useful.
The 265WT did us proud all over Europe, even managing to find our Swedish holiday destination in the middle of no-where, but still all the minor roads were displayed!
Plus we went to the US last year and so bought the US and Canada mapping on SD card (as it has a built in SD card slot), what an easy way to get full US mapping! Cost me about £35 on e-Bay..... It never put a foot wrong either!
Easy to use and highly recommended! and as I found out when I bought the 265WT, you don't have to buy the top of the range unit to get some very useful functionality!
Scott
The 265WT did us proud all over Europe, even managing to find our Swedish holiday destination in the middle of no-where, but still all the minor roads were displayed!
Plus we went to the US last year and so bought the US and Canada mapping on SD card (as it has a built in SD card slot), what an easy way to get full US mapping! Cost me about £35 on e-Bay..... It never put a foot wrong either!
Easy to use and highly recommended! and as I found out when I bought the 265WT, you don't have to buy the top of the range unit to get some very useful functionality!
Scott
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