BBC Breakfast this morning

[lowdrag]

Any one see it? Tom Tom versus the cabbie in London? The cabbie won hands down. I've only had my Tom Tom one week and already it has tried to send me down the wrong side of a dual carriageway twice, tried to add 15 miles to my route, and so on. I guess it will be useful sometimes but using it locally, just to get accustomed to it, it is comic. Yet it is the highly recommended 1 XL Europe too. God knows what lesser makes do to you!

[black1]

i will stick to my map

[DIW35]

Ultimately, any sat nav is a tool to be used or ignored as the driver sees fit. What it will do is get you to your destination, although that may not necessarily be by the best route possible. I think it is generally accepted that anyone with local knowledge of an area will often know of a better route than one suggested by a sat nav unit.

Where they really come into their own is when you are driving somewhere and you have absolutely no idea where you are or what road you should be driving on.

Edited by DIW35 on Sunday 16th December 20:16

[atom111]

My built in satnav wanted me to turn right onto a footpath which was quite amusing!! Normally thought it's pretty accurate.

[casbar]

An idiot with a satnav is an idiot with a map

[semitone]

"Any one see it? Tom Tom versus the cabbie in London? The cabbie won hands down"

Put the London cabbie in the middle of Manchester (or any other larger town) and try the same experiment. Of course the London cabbie knows his way round London - that's what "The Knowledge" is all about...

[stumpage]

semitone said:

"Any one see it? Tom Tom versus the cabbie in London? The cabbie won hands down"

Put the London cabbie in the middle of Manchester (or any other larger town) and try the same experiment. Of course the London cabbie knows his way round London - that's what "The Knowledge" is all about...

The cabbie was beaten by the sat nav to the first destination. I was only when they got into the centre that the cabbie came into his own.

[kiwisr]

A driver who knows an area will always have the advantage of knowing the backstreets, shorcuts and be able to make on the spot judgements based on where the traffic is busy given the time of day, the roadworks etc

[audidoody]

Doh! Let's see how smart the London cabby is at finding his way around when he's plunked down in the middle of downtown Blaenau Ffestiniog

[eddo]

I know a Welsh cabbie.
Ed

[caduceus]

casbar said:

An idiot with a satnav is an idiot with a map

Beautifully put, and so so true.

[off_again]

This type of thing really gets my goat.

At no point do any of the manufacturers say that its perfect. At no point do any of the manufacturers say that its better than someone with local knowledge. Blah blah...

In fact, they all request you to acknowledge that you shouldn't actually use it while moving anyway! So what is the point? Its a tool for those who are unfamiliar with a particular area and want some assistance with navigating. Nothing more and nothing less.

Glad to see that the BBC has resorted to scraping the bottom of the barrel for news stories then.