What are the major differences between brands?
Discussion
Can anyone educate me on the major differences between the different brands of sat nav? Is there any significant difference on the functionality or is it just down to interface design?
I am presently liking the idea of a TomTom xl europe, but I have a half remembered drunken conversation with a taxi driver about the differences and why he preferred some other brand...
Anyway, beer please.
I am presently liking the idea of a TomTom xl europe, but I have a half remembered drunken conversation with a taxi driver about the differences and why he preferred some other brand...
Anyway, beer please.
I have a Tom Tom Go 500, a Road Angel Navigator 6000 and recently a Garmin Nuvi 310T. My views on the three products I have are as follows :
The Tom Tom is excellent - fast processing, good routes and a good clear display with most of what you need available to see; i.e. speed, time to destination, next turn, etc. My unit is an older one so is bulky. Newer ones whilst not as small as the competition are still much better than they were. No traffic data without paying for it - unlike Garmin. The unit does seem to freeze every now and then, requiring a reboot .... but it doesn't seem to be a big problem. We have added Talex (?) speed camera stuff which is really good. We've had it probably three years and it has been no problem.
The Road Angel is a compact unit and has a good display with an excellent speed camera bit ... but the map is not as clear as the Tom Tom and the processor is so slow it is painful. To select Sat Nav as opposed to speed cameras only can take 3-5 minutes !!! The routes you are sent on can be horrendously wrong and take you in completely the opposite direction. Often the spoken word tells you to go a different direction to the direction the map is actually showing. Basically as a result of owning this I will never buy another RA sat nav. I do not trust it's directions at all ! Battery life was supposed to be excellent but I have found it worse than the Tom Tom. I took it back and exchanged it for another unit but that is only marginally better.
The Garmin is small, very light with a clear screen and seems to work just as well as the Tom Tom. The antenna flips up which makes it more difficult than the other two to mount and get off the windscreen. The screen doesn't display as much as the other two and the speed camera bit seems way behind the others. Directions are clear and accurate but definitely a bit later than I would like. The map tells you how far to the next turn but not what that it is going to be whereas the other two show you what you will be doing next as well as telling you when near to it. When on a route it doesn't tell you your speed - you need to touch a buton to get that info. When merely using it as a map though it will tell you the speed instead of a time you will reach your destination. It has free traffic data 'for life' (which is extra on the Tom Tom) and this is the main reason I bought the unit. The FM aerial for this does sit along the dash though which whilst not ideal is not too bad. The traffic stuff will also not work unless the unit is plugged into the car charger - it won't work off only the battery .
Just my personal views of 3 makers sat navs FWIW.
The Tom Tom is excellent - fast processing, good routes and a good clear display with most of what you need available to see; i.e. speed, time to destination, next turn, etc. My unit is an older one so is bulky. Newer ones whilst not as small as the competition are still much better than they were. No traffic data without paying for it - unlike Garmin. The unit does seem to freeze every now and then, requiring a reboot .... but it doesn't seem to be a big problem. We have added Talex (?) speed camera stuff which is really good. We've had it probably three years and it has been no problem.
The Road Angel is a compact unit and has a good display with an excellent speed camera bit ... but the map is not as clear as the Tom Tom and the processor is so slow it is painful. To select Sat Nav as opposed to speed cameras only can take 3-5 minutes !!! The routes you are sent on can be horrendously wrong and take you in completely the opposite direction. Often the spoken word tells you to go a different direction to the direction the map is actually showing. Basically as a result of owning this I will never buy another RA sat nav. I do not trust it's directions at all ! Battery life was supposed to be excellent but I have found it worse than the Tom Tom. I took it back and exchanged it for another unit but that is only marginally better.
The Garmin is small, very light with a clear screen and seems to work just as well as the Tom Tom. The antenna flips up which makes it more difficult than the other two to mount and get off the windscreen. The screen doesn't display as much as the other two and the speed camera bit seems way behind the others. Directions are clear and accurate but definitely a bit later than I would like. The map tells you how far to the next turn but not what that it is going to be whereas the other two show you what you will be doing next as well as telling you when near to it. When on a route it doesn't tell you your speed - you need to touch a buton to get that info. When merely using it as a map though it will tell you the speed instead of a time you will reach your destination. It has free traffic data 'for life' (which is extra on the Tom Tom) and this is the main reason I bought the unit. The FM aerial for this does sit along the dash though which whilst not ideal is not too bad. The traffic stuff will also not work unless the unit is plugged into the car charger - it won't work off only the battery .
Just my personal views of 3 makers sat navs FWIW.
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