I Wish To Choose My Own Route.... Which Product?
I Wish To Choose My Own Route.... Which Product?
Author
Discussion

jwb

Original Poster:

332 posts

260 months

Saturday 17th March 2007
quotequote all
My main criteria for buying a Sat nav is to be able to choose my own route. I enjoy cross country drives but get fed up of stopping at each junction to check the map.

I know what route I want to take so I wish to be able to program the sat nav to tell me where to go at each road junction.

Ideally the route choice would be done on a map rarther than just putting in place names because often I want to avoid villages.

Is this possible?

Thanks

John

randlemarcus

13,644 posts

253 months

Saturday 17th March 2007
quotequote all
Or, just buy any old Sat Nav, enter destination, and drive the way you feel like driving. They'll all re-route automatically, and if you switch off the sound, they cant whine "turn around when possible".
Best of all worlds, really. The majority are coded for the lowest common denominator, by people who are intelligent enough to realise that if you can be bothered to look at a map, you're more than capable of actually reading your own route...

cs174

1,271 posts

242 months

Saturday 17th March 2007
quotequote all
ONLY A TOMTOM CAN DO THIS!!

I would suggest the TomTom One which is currently around £180.

I just bought a Garmin Nuvi 310 Deluxe....all whistles and bells EXCEPT planning a route!

cs174

steve_d

13,801 posts

280 months

Saturday 17th March 2007
quotequote all
If you plan a run in TT you can copy the file for others to use.
A number of PH runs are done like this.

On a recent run I came upon a log jam of cars all stopped because their navigation was iffy. I was only able to take over the lead because of TT. Without it I am worse at navigation than the whole of that group put together.

Steve

Scraggles

7,619 posts

246 months

Tuesday 20th March 2007
quotequote all
going to be saving up some money for a satnav, i drive across countyr and have a list of villages that might / hope to run across on a bit of paper on the seat in big letters, so far worked ok. except recently when the vilages could not be found on the map, but as it was a bright sunny day, took a guess of the direction from the sun

doc3

483 posts

237 months

Tuesday 20th March 2007
quotequote all
I had a tomtom one, but now have a garmin quest. The benefit is that i plan the routes on mappoint (included with garmin) on my laptop, which is easier then pissing around on the satnav itself, then transfer to the unit. Having said that, tomtom was good, i just find the garmin a bit easier for fiddly route planning. Graphic interface isn't as nice though.

FUBAR

17,065 posts

260 months

Wednesday 21st March 2007
quotequote all
cs174 said:
ONLY A TOMTOM CAN DO THIS!!

I would suggest the TomTom One which is currently around £180.

I just bought a Garmin Nuvi 310 Deluxe....all whistles and bells EXCEPT planning a route!

cs174


confused

nono

You can set waypoints on the RA Nav, so you just put a couple of them along your preferred route and Robert's your mum's brother etc

Philbes

4,773 posts

256 months

Thursday 22nd March 2007
quotequote all
I have a Mio-Tech 269 and that allows waypoints to be put on a map and the resulting route calculated. I had assumed that all sat-nav units could do this!

Philbes

4,773 posts

256 months

Thursday 22nd March 2007
quotequote all
randlemarcus said:
Or, just buy any old Sat Nav, enter destination, and drive the way you feel like driving. They'll all re-route automatically, and if you switch off the sound, they cant whine "turn around when possible".
Best of all worlds, really. The majority are coded for the lowest common denominator, by people who are intelligent enough to realise that if you can be bothered to look at a map, you're more than capable of actually reading your own route...


"Switch off the sound"? So you are going to be continually looking at the sat-nav screen when driving? Safer to stop and use a map. I have my sat-nav mounted low down so that I can't see the display and find the voice directions to be excellant. If my wife is with me the unit is mounted on her side of the car so that she can see it but I can still hear the voice directions. She still likes to use a map as well!

nubbin.

9,067 posts

300 months

Friday 23rd March 2007
quotequote all
I quite often use the "Avoid motorways" planning option on TomTom - it usually takes you through all the little villages (and sometimes all the town centres!) and if time isn't a problem, it's just right.

randlemarcus

13,644 posts

253 months

Saturday 24th March 2007
quotequote all
Philbes said:
randlemarcus said:
Or, just buy any old Sat Nav, enter destination, and drive the way you feel like driving. They'll all re-route automatically, and if you switch off the sound, they cant whine "turn around when possible".
Best of all worlds, really. The majority are coded for the lowest common denominator, by people who are intelligent enough to realise that if you can be bothered to look at a map, you're more than capable of actually reading your own route...


"Switch off the sound"? So you are going to be continually looking at the sat-nav screen when driving? Safer to stop and use a map. I have my sat-nav mounted low down so that I can't see the display and find the voice directions to be excellant. If my wife is with me the unit is mounted on her side of the car so that she can see it but I can still hear the voice directions. She still likes to use a map as well!

No, sorry, you misunderstood me. If I'm enjoying driving with no compunction to be anywhere, I go wherever I fancy, getting substantially off route whilst doing so. Then, when its time to put the sensible head back on, on comes the sound again, and we obey Mrs TomTom to get to where I needed to be in the first place. No disagreement about the safety implications of a TV screen on the dashboard (still do it though...)

waremark

3,294 posts

235 months

Saturday 24th March 2007
quotequote all
[quote=Philbes"Switch off the sound"? So you are going to be continually looking at the sat-nav screen when driving? Safer to stop and use a map. I have my sat-nav mounted low down so that I can't see the display and find the voice directions to be excellant.[/quote]
I completely disagree. I find following the screen to be far less distracting than trying to make out voice directions (though I sometimes use both). I have not yet found a satnav which can give clear enough voice directions for choosing an exit from a complex junction. Scanning the satnav screen is comparable to scanning the speedo. Would you like a voice speedo?

jwb

Original Poster:

332 posts

260 months

Sunday 25th March 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for the replys. I will now go to the websites fot the products mentioned and look in more detail.

I have managed for years with maps and scense of direction but a navigator telling me my planned route would be so useful. I need to be able to see the screen as my car is noisy and agree that a quick glance at the unit is no worse than looking at a speedometer or rear view mirror.

I wish to avoid villages and towns so the following the signs to the next destination doesnt meet my requirements.

John

Philbes

4,773 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
waremark said:
[quote=Philbes"Switch off the sound"? So you are going to be continually looking at the sat-nav screen when driving? Safer to stop and use a map. I have my sat-nav mounted low down so that I can't see the display and find the voice directions to be excellant.

I completely disagree. I find following the screen to be far less distracting than trying to make out voice directions (though I sometimes use both). I have not yet found a satnav which can give clear enough voice directions for choosing an exit from a complex junction. Scanning the satnav screen is comparable to scanning the speedo. Would you like a voice speedo?
[/quote]
Looking at a speedo only requires a quick glance (the 'background picture' is always the same)to note the position of the needle. Looking at a sat-nav screen requires a more 'in-depth' look (the 'picture' is constantly changing) and hence eyes off the road for longer. I have no difficulty following the voice directions on my Mio 269 sat-nav.
No. I won't like a voice speedo as I can't see how one would work - constantly speaking the speed? Only when speed changes by 5mph? When a button is pressed? But I don't believe that you put that forward as a serious suggestion.

randlemarcus

13,644 posts

253 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Philbes said:
waremark said:
Philbes said:
"Switch off the sound"? So you are going to be continually looking at the sat-nav screen when driving? Safer to stop and use a map. I have my sat-nav mounted low down so that I can't see the display and find the voice directions to be excellant.

I completely disagree. I find following the screen to be far less distracting than trying to make out voice directions (though I sometimes use both). I have not yet found a satnav which can give clear enough voice directions for choosing an exit from a complex junction. Scanning the satnav screen is comparable to scanning the speedo. Would you like a voice speedo?

Looking at a speedo only requires a quick glance (the 'background picture' is always the same)to note the position of the needle. Looking at a sat-nav screen requires a more 'in-depth' look (the 'picture' is constantly changing) and hence eyes off the road for longer. I have no difficulty following the voice directions on my Mio 269 sat-nav.
No. I won't like a voice speedo as I can't see how one would work - constantly speaking the speed? Only when speed changes by 5mph? When a button is pressed? But I don't believe that you put that forward as a serious suggestion.

Quotes corrected.
I find the TomTom voice guidance good enough to use (infrequently) on the bike via earphones only, with the unit tucked safely in a backpack, so maybe changing brands. The occasional glimpse while driving only involves looking at the roundabout diagrams to get a feel when it says "take the third exit" as to which clock position it means, or a look ahead of the sightline for a country road, rather than a detailed look at streetnames etc, so no more dangerous than a glimpse at the speedo from that perspective. I think the voice speedo was slightly facetious, by the way. Its all down to information processing, and if the Mio doesnt work the way your brain does, then its perhaps not the right SatNav for you, especially if you keep it in the footwell, and the oral prompts dont work for you. Tis all good fun, anyway, as none of us are slaves to the things, and have the objectivity to realise they arent replacements for the grey things behind the mark One eyeball.