Sat Nav Advice
Hi, we have returned to touring after some years and I'm now looking at buying a new sat nav. Had the Garmin Drivesmart Lmt car sat nav, but to be honest was not that impressed with it, several journeys on the motorways approaching junctions/exits, either no warning or I was on it before it told me to move. Have been looking on the internet at named which all have varying reviews, some good and some bad. Found a company called C&M Nav, which appear to offer several models at a very good price. Not sure if this is a too good to be true. I would appreciate any feedback if anyone has one and how it performs, or if I should avoid.
Comments
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My suggestion, for what's worth, would be to look at a TomTom caravan/motorhome specific sat nav with the camper maps. No sat nav is completely foolproof but over the years I was pleased with the camper maps installed on my TomTom Smart 60. Rarely took me off course. I now have a built in TomTom sat nav in my motorhome which is not as good so I have to keep an eye where it is taking me!!!
David
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Hi David, thanks for your thoughts, much appreciated. I am looking at all the named sat navs including Tomtom/Garmin/Aguri etc but these from C&M Navigation Systems appear such a bargain looking at what you get for the money against the others. Having said that, I appreciate this may not be the case and thought I'd ask if anyone had one. But any suggestions on the best one that works and doesn't send you down cart tracks is very welcome.
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My experience of caravan specific sat navs is that they're no better than the 'normal' ones. Since there is no data source, that I am aware of, that gives road width etc, there's no guarantee that they won't take you down an unsuitable route. One I tested - and soon sent back - even sent me down routes on which there was a weight restriction even though I thought I had fooled it into thinking I was an HGV!
The only reliable way I have found of sticking to a preferred route is by using a standard TomTom (6200, in my case) - researching in detail the route I require (including 'driving' it on Google Street View where necessary) and then transferring that route to the sat nav using the 'My Drive' App.
I've been using this method for the last three years and I haven't had any nasty surprises - yet!
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We had the Garmin Avtex Camper1 Sat Nav with the club apps in it in our last MH. It was a standard fitting and doubled up as the screen for the reversing camera so had to stay with the van when we p/ex’d it.
The new van has the built in Fiat TomTom but I can’t say if it's any good as the screen is too flaming small to see!
We have now bought another Garmin, a DriveSmart 65 which seems very like our previous model but without the camper dimension stuff or apps for sites. I honestly don't think the club version is worth the extra money and the add ons are no replacement for using your eyes and common sense.
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We have the Garmin camper 60? and have installed our outfit dimensions and now use it in place of our inbuilt,sat nav as it igives much more appropriate information when towing,
It was the same as the club version,(without the club sites )when we purchased it, but far cheaper, from Aldi and free updates (just got latest) it gives plenty of advance warnings about junctions and hazards also with lane advise when on the move
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In my experience, a satnav Is only as good as it’s last update. I updated the hard drive in my Outlaw last year (2019) and yesterday I got a surprise when the screen showed I was driving in a field instead of the A14 /A1M. I know that they didn’t just moved this road overnight, but some of the maps are not instantly added to the upgrades until the whole of the road is upgraded.
The update cost £150 and I hoped that I’d get more use out of it. Could be cheaper in the long run to just by a cheaper stand alone.
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That’s a point. Whether the price of buying the sat nav includes future updates or not can make a big difference to the overall outlay.
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If you have a tablet or ipad, you may want to look at CoPilot. We've been using it for several years and still getting regular updates for our maps. We also download poi from both CC and C&CC, and Archie's for Europe. Currently touring Norfolk and Suffolk and depending on 'Emily' to get us to our next stop!
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