My Dad wants a Sat Nav for Christmas. There are several points to consider here:

1. He's quite hard of hearing, so it needs a voice option that is loud and clear (he has a hearing aid, but linking the Sat Nav to a loop system is a bad idea as it cuts out all background noise)

2. He thinks he's good at technology, but somehow it always seems to go wrong as soon as he looks at it.

3. He will find small, fiddly controls hard to operate.

4. He tends to change his car quite frequently, so it needs to be easy to install/re-install

I have never used a sat nav (I'm quite happy with a map, but then, unlike my Dad, I have a sense of direction!) so I'm looking for pointers for one that's relatively easy to use and idiot proof. Getting you to the right place not via France or over a cliff would also be a good thing!

I'm told there is a very good voice option for Garmin called Dr Nightmare. Anyone got any experience of that one?

Thanks

The standard voices that come with my Garmin are very clear and easy to understand and the volume goes up quite loud. The built-in speaker is quite impressive. Make sure to get a model that announces actual street names.

As for the controls, there are few physical ones but those are large and easy to operate. The rest are on the touch screen and again are large and easy to operate.

Sat Navs are truly designed to be very easy to use. Next to my iPod it is the most useful small electronic device that I have ever owned. It is also the most amazing.

I highly recommend Garmin as they are likely the biggest and most experienced of the Sat Nav companies and consistently rank the highest in satisfaction, reliability, and capability.

Ditto the TomTom. Though use one of the "natural" voices rather than the computer genrated ones. The former are much clearer, and you can get alternative voices (I've got John Cleese telling me where to go!)

As for controls they only have one physical button. The on/off switch. Everything else is on the touch screen. On the widescreen models this makes the screen buttons more than big enough for even the fattest fingers Even the onscreen keyboard you use to enter address data is pretty good. And some high end models have voice recognition so you really can tell the thing where to go! (Though have to say I haven't really got my GO730 fully trained yet)

Oh and there are other nice touches like the Sat Nav can connect via Bluetooth to your mobile and become a handsfree car kit if you want it to. And some even have built in FM Transmitters and let you play mp3 music files through your car radio.

Or is all that about to make your head explode (or perhaps your Dad's)

Oh and without getting into a "my dangly bit's bigger than your dangly bit" contest i rather suspect TomTom shift more units than Garmin And they can probably lay claim to have invented the format, can't recall there being any serious rivals when I bought the very first generation TomTom Go several years ago.

Having said that i wouldn't kick a Garmin out the car if someone gave me one as a pressie and I didn't have a relatively new TomTom already.

I would suggest having a lurk at somewhere like PocketGPSWorld.com (just stick three w's and a dot in front ). They are one of the better specialist GPS sites and have a load of reviews and forums where you can get a feel for the pros and cons of nearly all the makes and models.

Thank you both.

I've been trawling Amazon's reviews, as they're mostly from ordinary people (not techies!) and I think I'm leaning towards the TomTom One XL. I understand the mapping is a little better on TomTom and the GPS responds a little quicker than Garmin. NavMan seem to have too many negatives.

The extra features really don't matter. Dad is nearly 81 and, although he loves gadgets & new technology, he never manages to get anything to do more than the basics! Bluetooth & MP3 players would just get in the way.

The FM transmitter might come in handy, although the speakers I had demoed in Halfords seemed loud enough to me.

Does anyone know if there's a significant difference between V2/V3/V4? If the maps etc are updatable, does it matter which one I get? Or do they have different/improved features?

Go for the V4 if you have the choice. That is the most recent version and is likely to have the latest software and maps pre-loaded. Or at least you will be more likely to be able to upgrade to the latest versions.

TomTom do a Latest Map Guarantee which lets you upgrade once only for free to the latest maps. Software updates are always free. However after your initial free map upgrade (assuming it works) all map upgrades have to be paid for!

You may find the earlier versions cheaper but just be aware that TomTom are in the habit of ceasing development of software for older versions of their kit. For example my 730 is on ver 8.3 software but my old 510 will never have that version released for it.

The latest version of software fully exploits extra features in the maps, such as Lane Guidance which displys either a full screen picture of a junction or a smaller diagram below the map view indicating which lane to take. handy if you are on unfamiliar territory and approaching a complex junction.

"Ditto?" Who mentioned Tom Tom?

No one mentioned Tom Tom so why would you say "ditto Tom Tom?"


Garmin had a hand held GPS unit in 1991. Tom Tom didn't have a portable unit until 2004.

As for market share, the last I knew was that Tom Tom led in the European market, since it is a European brand and where their efforts first began, and that Garmin dominates the American market, as they are an American company and that is where they began.


I will look for a particular website that I used as part of my research before buying my Garmin that does road tests between the top brands like Garmin, Magellan and Tom Tom but in every review that I can recall reading Tom Tom came out last out of the three brands. This was in how quickly and easily the unit got you from point a to point b.

I would suggest to the original poster that he does a good amount of research on at least those top three brands, and the specific models of interest, before purchasing.


Now that's a proper place for a "ditto."

Although, I would compare different review sites and reviews on Amazon from actual users and owners of the particular units that interest you.

Actually I said "ditto the TomTom" As in everything you wrote about the Garmin could be said about the TomTom


But were the early devices what the ordinary (wo)man in the street would recognise as a "Sat Nav" or would they see a glorified compass?

And I am 99.9999999999% certain I had my TomTom before 2004. I know for a fact I had it when my mum was in Hostpial in 2003 and I am fairly sure I had it before then.


It seems TomTom and Garmin have been swapping no1 and 2 places in the market for a while from what I can gather with a quick web search. But whatever, between them they dominate the market with around 30% share each, plus or minus a few points depending on which way the wind is blowing.


Must be reading different reviews. But then again taking a couple of seconds longer to plan a route is hardly the end of the world is it. I suspect both units are as capable as each other of planning silly routes from time to time. And equally can plan perfectly good routes.

I have to say I have not noticed any of the TomToms I've had take excessive time to plan routes nor plan completely off the wall ones either. And replotting a route if you deviate has been more than fast enough.


With a user name EileenH I rather suspect the OP is a she But I agree. Read up as much as you can. Lurk on a few speciallist forums to see what the opinions of users are and the potential problems that any device may have.

There are fans of all devices and a bit like footie fans thay can get a bit precious about their chosen device. But as I said I wouldn't dismiss a Garmin out of hand just because I lean towards TomTom. It's not for nothing that they dominate the market between them


PocketGPSWorld does seem to be the most active site I've found. There is a site yourNAV which seems to cover all the makes but appears to be much less active.

The other sites I've looked at, often customer forums for online sellers like Expansys are almost dead by comparison.

I am indeed female and I understood what was meant by the "Ditto the Tom Tom" comment.

I'm not leaning to the TomTom on just one opinion, I've looked at Amazon reviews (sorry, I couldn't find much that was helpful on PocketGPSWorld.com as I don't subscribe to Which?) and looked at a few models in shops, though, admittedly, only the TomToms were set up to demo!

The TomTom display looks a little clearer to me and hs slightly better reviews.

I have been recommended Magellen and they look good, but I'm having trouble finding any feedback about them. Amazon have the 1400 & 4200 at a good price.

The RAC 315 also looks interesting (and very cheap!)
Last edited by EileenH : 02-12-2008 at 16:29

Why do you need a Which Subscription? Can't say i have noticed that on PocketGPSWorld.

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/menu.php

And select Hardware Reviews.

Seems the old memory was playing tricks. Looks like it was 2004 I got it, must have been the second time my mum was ill then.

It's listening to Planet Rock all the time, sure it destroys the old brain cells

Thanks. I was looking in the comparison section. All the useful info there is linked to Which?!

Nothing there about the RAC ones though.