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Which sat nav should i use? my iphone or my outdated tomtom satnav?
Lidtop2013
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As title could do with a satnav at the weekend, ive got a choice of either using my dedicated tomtom satnav which has maps that are probably 4-5 years old(i dont want to pay to update the maps) or i could use my iphone on Apple maps or Google maps(if so, which is best out of Apple/google?
Which one guys? ideally id use the proper tomtom satnav as it sticks to the windscreen, and i havent got to buy an in car adaptor to power it, downside to it is that the maps are outdated, would things have changed THAT much in 4-5 years?
Hmmm what to do
Which one guys? ideally id use the proper tomtom satnav as it sticks to the windscreen, and i havent got to buy an in car adaptor to power it, downside to it is that the maps are outdated, would things have changed THAT much in 4-5 years?
Hmmm what to do
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And yeah i know the holders and chargers are pretty inexpensive now.
Cheers
Why not have the best of both worlds and stick the TomTom app on your phone.. I have a TomTom 940 Which a couple of years ago was the bees knees. completely stopped using it now in favour of my iPhone. The phone is I finitely faster, it's clearer, and map updates happen automatically.
Isnt the app something like £50? i wouldnt want to spend anything if ive already got a Tomtom satnav and theres free alternatives on the iphone (apple maps and google maps and a host of other free good ones).
Thanks for the suggestion though, i might have done just that had i not spent £100+ on the satnav a few years back
It's £39.99. You'd spend that updating the map for a dedicated device. Also, don't forget that with the likes of Apple and Google maps you need an online connection to use them. TomTom stores its maps on the phone (hence its large size).
Don't know about apple version of google maps but on android you can pre-load the maps while at home on wifi. Then the only data used is for live traffic which is pretty small.
I also use the Nav Free app and I love it. I do have a dedicated sat nav as well which I'm actually going to see as I never use it. Nav Free is excellent.
Bought from amazon uk - I made a unboxing video for it - http://youtu.be/l5aftYHlpYc
I left a review in the video description - pretty decent bar you really do need the exact street name as the search is a bit crap - though may be a trick I'm missing here.
Its not a bad product, but not perfect. My view of it is,
Small screens wont be big enough to be easily seen while your driving. TomTom XL is just about right for me. My HTC smart phone has a small screen, i couldn't live with that as a SatNav on screen size alone.
Sat Nav machine or Sat Nav on a phone - you need a car charger. The proper Sat Nav may last a bit longer on built in battery but i wouldn't recommend taking the risk.
Despite having menu settings for Shortest and Fastest route options, it always tells me to go into town and round the houses rather than use the bypass, strange!
One glitch appears to be around the sound output. As soon as I switch it on or modify a setting it reverts back to silent mode, and have to manually "un-mute" it in the settings screen. It really should have a simple volume wheel on the side of the unit, it would be a lot more easy.
I never updated my TomTom. £39.99 seems a right waste. I just use GoogleNav now though. It already knows where i'm going, so i just bring up google now and hit navigate! No entering postcodes of choosing from recent locations.
Yep Google maps will nav without a signal. Has the most up to date maps too...
Your tomtom will be fine for a long while yet. The main thing that gets out of date is the points of interest. As long as you can find out postcodes using your phone and google, you will always be able to enter the postcodes into your Tomtom.
Apple maps is nice looking but the mapping and POI data is the best on Google - it beats others like Here maps too.
Waze is free, but requires a data connection whilst driving. Runs on Apple and Android phones and tablets.
I disagree, although for an occasional user then yes a 4 to 5 year old Tomtom is adequate.
The newer units with hd traffic are worth their weight in gold for high miles drivers.
I left south London last week with my mate behind me. At a particular junction his older tomtom took him left towards the m25 (that was also sign posted left). Mine took me through central London (outside congestion zone) yet I arrived onto the m40 about an hour before he did as he got stuck in traffic on the m25. The HD traffic on my unit steered me away from that.
Also, roads change....especially town centres. Streets become one way and even closed to cars. Not sure how google nav reacts to that nor navfree but its one thing to consider.
I've used navfree before when we went to the states and for what it is,it was ok.nwouldnt want to use it as my main navigation programme though.
google's road data can easily be amended, and then changes are instantly available everytime you or anyone else plans a new route. Roads can be marked as temporarily closed, one way, etc, and likewise junctions can be edited to show turnings not allowed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zwoKR63aluU
It's just been bought by Google too I believe.