Would you consider Sat Nav as an option?
Discussion
Last year a purchased at portable Sat Nav system drom the GPS Waregouse. It is a Garmin Street Pilot 3. I have used Sat Nav in other cars and this is better than most!
It is very small, has a reasonably-sized screen and a nice lady giving you polite instructions. You load what maps you want to use onto a memory stick (I got a larger one as an optional extra and loaded virtually the whole country) via your PC. This also gives you the opportunity to add waypoints etc.
THIS SYSTEM IS FANTASTIC!!! I use it all the time (except when I know where i am going) and it has shown me some better routes to journies that I have made many times before.
The best bit is, where is used to sit on a 'pod' on the dash of my BMW M Roadster, it now fits neatly between the radio Pod and the instrument pod of my Tuscan, with the wire running under the radio pod itself (it powers of the cigarette lighter).
I can also jusr pick it up and take it into any car I want with Garmin supplying you with a mobile mount that doesn't move at all. Plus, no holes in your beloved motor!
In my experience, because it is solid state technology (with a fast processor) it is much quicker than the CD ROM and DVD based systems an NEVER tell you to do a "u-turn" if you miss a junction or turning which is what many of the lesser systems do.
I think you can get them for about £650 now. Try it!!!
It is very small, has a reasonably-sized screen and a nice lady giving you polite instructions. You load what maps you want to use onto a memory stick (I got a larger one as an optional extra and loaded virtually the whole country) via your PC. This also gives you the opportunity to add waypoints etc.
THIS SYSTEM IS FANTASTIC!!! I use it all the time (except when I know where i am going) and it has shown me some better routes to journies that I have made many times before.
The best bit is, where is used to sit on a 'pod' on the dash of my BMW M Roadster, it now fits neatly between the radio Pod and the instrument pod of my Tuscan, with the wire running under the radio pod itself (it powers of the cigarette lighter).
I can also jusr pick it up and take it into any car I want with Garmin supplying you with a mobile mount that doesn't move at all. Plus, no holes in your beloved motor!
In my experience, because it is solid state technology (with a fast processor) it is much quicker than the CD ROM and DVD based systems an NEVER tell you to do a "u-turn" if you miss a junction or turning which is what many of the lesser systems do.
I think you can get them for about £650 now. Try it!!!
MY dissertation was on Sat Nav, and having worked on the design of some systems... have probably experience them more than most.
My overal conclusions are that on motorways and A roads, they are a pain in the arse... however, in towns and in finding locations you don't know, they are invaluable... but are still falable... especially when you get "urban canyon" syndrome!
If you can afford it, then I'd get an aftermarket system, rather than an OEM, as you can truely pick what you want... top of my list would be postcode recognition to locate places.
Something else to consider are the way instructions are offered, so I'd trial any system for a good hour or so, before parting with my cash. Some I've liked, others are intrusive, and some you NEED to look at the screen to see what it's going on about! Also check to ensure that the company produces REGULAR updates of the available roads...! (on a trial an old biddy headed down a pedestrianised street!)
My overal conclusions are that on motorways and A roads, they are a pain in the arse... however, in towns and in finding locations you don't know, they are invaluable... but are still falable... especially when you get "urban canyon" syndrome!
If you can afford it, then I'd get an aftermarket system, rather than an OEM, as you can truely pick what you want... top of my list would be postcode recognition to locate places.
Something else to consider are the way instructions are offered, so I'd trial any system for a good hour or so, before parting with my cash. Some I've liked, others are intrusive, and some you NEED to look at the screen to see what it's going on about! Also check to ensure that the company produces REGULAR updates of the available roads...! (on a trial an old biddy headed down a pedestrianised street!)
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