Who's pleased with their sat-nav?

Murdy

Hi,

We don't have a built in sat-nav in our car, but were wondering what members experience was of independent devices that calculate that you are a long vehicle?

l ask because l have had a negative experience and would appreciate the opinion of others.

Regards,

Murdy.

chrisn7

I've only ever had 2 satnav devices. Wiyh both I was able to select a 'Lorry' option, being the hearest thing to a long vehicle.

I can't say I detected that in either case that such a setting made any difference at all.

jeffcc

i have in the past used all sorts of built in and handheld satnavs, but my prefered choice is sygic, you have the option of car, truck, rv/caravan software and works on your android or apple devices(although they naughtily require seperate contracts for
Apple/android!!) As a car sat nav it has not let me down and has head up display, speed cameras, traffic etc.I have not bought the caravan software as again seperate contract but if it was your only purchase i cannot see it being an issue.  However as with
any sat nav i don not trust 100% and if going somewhere i dont know i always check the sat navs proposed route for low bridges narrow roads etc(better to be safe that sorry.

mhparking

Having been sent down a couple of narrow roads I tried one of the Chinese Noza Tec devices. It worked but was prone to crashing and we found last year that most (if not all) of the (now much cheaper) Chinese devices sold on eBay and elsewhere use pirated
software/maps. Worse still, many are sold without the truck specific map files so are unable to operate as large vehicle devices at all.

We've had a Garmin Camper 760 LMT-D for just over a year and are pleased with it. It isn't perfect (none of them are) but gives better routes than the equivalent car sat nav. Often there doesn't appear to be a difference because the software takes you away
from hazards rather than waerning of hazards.

Some Aldi stores still have stocks of the Garmin Camper 660 LMT-D (same as the 760 but a 6 inch rather than 7 inche screen) at £199.99 or even less so they are a good buy.

DavidKlyne

I have owned four sat navs over the years. The original Garmin was very basic and only had UK maps. That was replaced by  a Tom Tom 710 which took us successfully all over Europe using the standard maps. Thinking I would like a more modern sat nav I went
for a Tom Tom Start 60 which again was fine until I upset the software and it had to be replace but we were in the middle of France so I made an emergency purchase of a basic Garmin which I never got on with so when I got back to the UK JL swapped the Strart
60 for a new one which I have now had for several yeras. I did add the camper maps which tend to keep you out trouble. On this trip we have navigated successfully from Milton Keynes to Southern Austria without any difficulty. I would add that I think it pretty
essential to download Archies campsite POI's .

David

Murdy

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

l currently own a Garmin dezi 560.

We are not happy with its reliability.  We always carry a good map which is fortunate as we could have been in big trouble in France last year if we hadn't challenged its sense of direction.

l like to have one for those last few miles finding our destination and have considered the tom tom.

Thankyou l will pop into JL and discuss our needs.

Once again thankyou to everyone who takes the time to offer advise. 

Murdy.

EmilysDad

I don't think you can do any better than what you're doing already ie AN Other sat-nav, a map and generous helping of common sense .... and if the road 'she' wants to send you down looks iffy, don't go down it.

I've had  Tom Tom XL for a number of years which has successfully got us through French France and back

black caviar

I have a "maps" app on my phone and its better than my tomtom

Kennine

My Garmin has worked perfectly for years. If I have to replace it I will definitly choose another Garmin. 

I use the sat nav as a backup to using a good map and compass.  But the Garmin has always agreed with the map navigation right up to the entrance gate of the Site or CL. 

Really satisfied with the Garmin, I consider it £220 well spent. 

K 

DSB

I have a Satnav but haven't used it for ages.  I find if far easier to use the built in Satnav to Google maps which we use on our phones.  This, together with pre-planning when we take the caravan out, is as much as we need.

David 

Pippah45

Interesting to see someone else using the built in one as backup! (Mine is difficult to programme without a full address?) I invested in the cheaper Garmin with caravan (and MH) option and so far it hasn't let me down although I do generally check with a
good paper map as well.   I am in very rural France currently and the Garmin will take me quite a long way round to get back to Roscoff with the van but having used local roads regularly with the car I will use the car routes I think, almost never meet traffic
here!  But I wouldn't do that without practice 

Greygit

We have the had various Tomtoms and are now at the 6000model , have used it twice to drive up and down to Spain and it's been very good but like all sat navs you need to use a little common sense.  I have just purchased the Co-Pilot Caravan, as we are now
tuggers and not motorhomers, as I thought I could compare routes just to be on the safe side as our reversing skills are not too good as yet.

peedee

Another vote for Co-Pilot although I have the truck version running on a Samsung 7 inch tablet. I have in the past had several early versions of TomTom and three versions of "Navigator" from Mapfactor, one of them their truck version. I have been satisfied with all versions at the time but with developments and improvements in data accuracy it has been necessary to upgrade to obtain better performance. My advice is to try before you buy. One way of doing this is to download the free Apps available for tablets and smart phones and if you like what you try,  buy the more advanced version.

peedee

DJG

Best for me so far is the Nav 900 in my Vauxhall/Opel. It covers Europe down to street leval and has caravan sites in the POI's. If you want to phone ahead just press contact and it will auto phone the site. As the car comes with wifi you can also conect
to the site's  homepage. (but not in France as French still blocking use)

Olivegrower

Tomtom start 25 with camper maps for me. It has got us round most of Europe without problems, until we got down to southern Italy. The Lat and long of some of the sites seems to be slightly off, as do some of the road directions.

Apperley

I use a Garmin Camper 760. WHen I bought it through the club I got a hefty discount. I like; large screen, shows the speed limit and gives audible warning when I am speeding and to alert to speed camera. I also like that it has come preloaded with ASCI sites.
I have added CC & CCC sites via the point of interest database. It also links to my phone through an app for live traffic updates, weather, and allows phone calls.

I don't like: it still occasionally tries to send me down unsuitable roads despite knowing the size of my MH.

I would however recommend it. I get lifetime map updates (4 times a year).

Peter749

I have a CC Snooper Venturer or is it Venturer Snooper. It wasn't cheap but it is great.  When it starts up it asks if we have the caravan or just car then routes apropriatly.  In Cornwall last year on one trip the car option felt like it took me down every little lane it could find.  On the way back I said I was towing and it used only major roads.  It has only let me down once when it got me to the right road, just a bit further on than I needed.  I just had to reverse about 50 yards with the caravan on the back.  Going to CC sites and CLs it is accurate to within a few yards, normally saying "you have reached your destination" just as I draw level with reception.  It re-routes automatically in a few seconds if you miss a turning to get you back on course and free regular map updates are easily available to keep everything current. It gets my vote every time.

young thomas

I have owned four sat navs over the years. The original Garmin was very basic and only had UK maps. That was replaced by  a Tom Tom 710 which took us successfully all over Europe using the standard maps. Thinking I would like a more modern sat nav I went
for a Tom Tom Start 60 which again was fine until I upset the software and it had to be replace but we were in the middle of France so I made an emergency purchase of a basic Garmin which I never got on with so when I got back to the UK JL swapped the Strart
60 for a new one which I have now had for several yeras. I did add the camper maps which tend to keep you out trouble. On this trip we have navigated successfully from Milton Keynes to Southern Austria without any difficulty. I would add that I think it pretty
essential to download Archies campsite POI's .

David

agree with David.....

i have an old (very old...) TOMTOM one V3 which i use in the car....still does a great job....and is the backup device for our long euro trips....

i also have a more modern (3 yrs old?) Tomtom XL Europe, which is large enough to see clearly in our van....this one has had its maps fully updated and is the prime unit for van trips....

again (when used sensibly in conjunction with decent maps and/or google maps) has rearely put a wheel wrong.

i have a stack of upto date POI files (sites, aires, cl/cs etc.....) and these are loaded (easily) onto both units.

Pals have had three other non-Tomtom devices and have visited some wonderful parts of the UK......that they didnt intent to

Tirril

I am currently using the CC Snooper and like the sites and CLs information. However the build quality seems poor, the screen too highly reflective and it is slow to amend a route if you decide to ignore a turn. On balance I will go back to a main brand name
if my next car does not have a sat nav fitted.