Avtex camper sat nav
Thinking about buying a sat nav for the first time and have read a few good and a few bad reviews about the one the club promotes. Can anyone offer any advice as to how good it is and how well it works with sites in Europe. Thanks
Moderator Comment - Steve, I have moved this to Parts and Accessories as you are seeking advice.
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Hi Steve,
Have just ordered the Avtex / Garmin club unit......so fingers crossed. Have been using a Snooper 6000 for 6 years and found that ok (apart from it abandoning us in the middle of Marseilles on a Saturday lunchtime!)
I think you need to check routes with a map, as the size data does not guarantee avoidance of "silly" roads!
I too have read many reviews....what swung it for me were the reviews on Amazon for the Garmin 660 MLT - mostly positive!
Good luck!
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I have the Avtex Garmin and I have had no problems with it either at home or abroad. Yes, it is expensive, but it does the job well.
But, like any satnav check your route on a map before you leave. No satnav is perfect!
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Hi, this is really for those with The Club "Avtex Tourer One Plus" satnav.
If anyone has this model, can you tell me if it shows the correct speed for the road that you are driving on; in either mph or, when abroad, in kph? And is the correct speed adjusted for the different type of vehicle in the profile? I really would love a satnav that provided that detail.
I have the TomTom Truck 6200 which is supposed to provide that level of detail, but all roads show the speed limit for a car. So with my 4,250kg MH it says I can do 83kph on the A26 in France! Not so good...
BillC
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Hi, Kontikiboy. We have one on these satnavs which was standard in our AS PVC.
The profile of the vehicle is entered in terms of size, not the unladen weight which determines speed restrictions in the UK. Consequently, the satnav seems to decide anything bigger than a car must be a HGV or a caravan and shows the speed limit in the UK as 50mph on ordinary roads and 60mph on dual carriageways and motorways even though our PVC is within the unladen weight of 3050kg for car speed limits to apply. This is as far as we've been able to work out so far.
What happens across the Channel, I have no idea.
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Hi Tinwheeler, thanks for that. I thought as much, it must be too technical and too expensive to programme these devices to provide that level of detail for both here and abroad, covering all types and sizes of vehicle and all types of road. But I wish the makers would be up front and honest about what they can and cannot give us, the paying customer!
BillC
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I don’t think we can treat the speed limits as anything more than a guide, Bill. At least ours understates our legal limit which is erring on the right side but, you're right, they tend to mislead us with the stated technical ability of these things.
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The Avtex is essentially the Garmin and we find the speed limits extremely helpful on the continent, for example, there are speed restrictions in towns and villages in France that are not always sign posted and also it displays in mph not kph which is useful.
Our standard Garmin doesn’t allow you to configure your outfit so you will need to be aware of any restrictions e.g. Outfit size above 3500 kg etc. but I am not sure it is worth the extra for the camper versions and don’t know whether the speed limits relate to your outfit details.
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Seems to be most people are either a Garmin [Avtex] user or TomTom.
I currently run a normal car Garnin Nuvi 1390, having chosen a standard Garmin about 12 yrs ago as it offered lat-long co-ordinate searching which is invaluable abroad. The Navtex [spellling?] mapping is also used by viamichelin so you can plan on the computer, put in via points and see in detail what your options are. You can them program your satnav to suit. I also obviously carry a map.
I'm not sure about moving to a caravan/motorhome specific unit as the mapping is still not perfect and does have gaps. Having said that it is probably less likely to make a mistake than me or you.
Colin
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I found this old thread while looking to see if there was any more recent info on the Garmin 660 (aka Avtex) showing the wrong speed for MHs.
On other groups, quite a few people seem to think the problem is old map data or firmware.
But, FWIW, I don't believe that is the case. The incorrect (ie >3,500MGW) speed limit is shown with the MH symbol on the speed icon:
- If you reset the profile to car, the correct speed limits are shown,
- The problem is that the Garmin, on some roads, treats LT3,500kg MH's as >3,500kg HGVs. ie Garmin are using the wrong calculation in their firmware.
- Even if you put in an artificially low weight (eg 1,000kg), you cannot trick the firmware to show the correct speed limit. The problem is triggered as soon as the Garmin has a MH showing in the vehicle profile.
- FWIW the law in the UK is quite different to most of Europe and is defined with reference to the unladen weight and not the MGM.
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