Best Cheap Sat Nav

Fr0dders · 11 Jul 2006 at 18:37

im looking around at Sat Navs

ive got around £300 to spend

but buying the software and PDA separately looks too expensive. Tom Tom 5 is about £120, leaves £180 for the PDA

or i was looking at the Tom Tom One. But european maps are £125 on top of the £190 purchase price or just £75 for a france SD card. what a rip when they can do the whole thing for £50 more to charge £75 for one country.

any other alternatives worth looking at ?

John_V85 · 11 Jul 2006 at 18:57

I'm looking at the same things at the moment. The Tom Tom Go 510 can be had for around £300, and looks like a reasonable model.

Jez · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:10

£100 buys a brand new ipaq more than good enough to run TT5, £50 buys a decent GPS receiver.

My solution cost around £100 in total, the PDA was brand new but a last season model. Still 400mhz with 128mb ram though, so more than ample.

Whoop · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:21

I currently have someones tomtom one here as he wants a low bridge update. Is it worth searching the internet or all the good ones illegal and I wont find any free alternatives?

Whoop

UFX · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:59

Have used the following

PDA+Tom Tomtom nav 5+Receiver
GARMIN StreetPilot c320
Tomtom 500
TomTom one.

I really liked the PDA combo (Had a XD2i + Tomtom 5 + GlobalSat bt33 receiver) but it wasn't the most practical, having to remember to turn the GPS reciever on & attaching/removing the PDA & window mount between journeys & then starting tomtom nav5 each time waisted a bit time.

The all in one's are the easiest to use, currently using the TTOne & cant fault it, The Garmin was the cheapest £140 iirc & done its job but slightly slower calculating journeys & locking on Satellites.

If I was just using it for the occasional journey I'd go the PDA route again just for the extra benifits of the PDA but as I use it for work the TTOne is the best option imo its only worth getting the more expensive TT if you need more maps.

Fr0dders · 12 Jul 2006 at 19:24

thats the thing

i travel to europe

once/twice a year

and the other half cant map read AT ALL

so im constantly getting lost and pulling into lay bys to read myself. I really do need one with european mapping

last time we went france, we tryed to find dieppe. We got so lost we just backtracked and went back to calais. we were only on a day trip so it wasnt worth getting lost

next time id like some1 to tell me with GPS accuracy where to turn !

whats the best way to add european mapping to the Tom Tom One ? is there only that £120 or so upgrade that gives you the whole of europe

triggerthat · 12 Jul 2006 at 20:29

I would suggest the tomtom ONE. Although, wow at the price of maps and cards. Am sure they can be had elsewhere for much cheaper.

MagicBoy · 12 Jul 2006 at 21:18

You don't need a mega powerful PDA for Sat Nav. I'm quite happily using a five year old iPAQ 3630 with TomTom 5.

The TomTom One is good unit as well - my Dad is very happy with his.

Sagalout · 12 Jul 2006 at 21:29

triggerthat said:
I would suggest the tomtom ONE. Although, wow at the price of maps and cards. Am sure they can be had elsewhere for much cheaper.

Dont think they can. I've just bought Iberia for our holiday next week and it cost me £70. You can buy the whole of europe for £150 though, which includes the SD card.

The hardware tomtoms, as far as I know, are unhackable - whereas the PDA versions are all hacked so you can, if inclined, download the maps or buy dodgy versions from ebay.

triggerthat · 12 Jul 2006 at 21:45

Check this

Ollie's Gadgets · 12 Jul 2006 at 23:22

What size sd card do you need for:

1. Just Uk
2. UK and Europe

I want to build my own gps device using an old IPAQ as some have suggested. Any advice on gps receivers? Cheapest IPAQ model with bluetooth?

Jez · 12 Jul 2006 at 23:46

Receiver wise just get anything sirfstar3. I got a nice compact flash one for £50 (much less hassle than bluetooth)

SD card wise, UK only is 100mb, UK+ is 180mb

Whole of europe proper maps you'd need a couple of GB.

Ollie's Gadgets · 12 Jul 2006 at 23:54

Thanks for info. I will go for a 512mb card.

How do you mean a compact flash receiver? Also have you used any speed camera poi databases?

Jez · 12 Jul 2006 at 23:57

Compact flash as in it goes into a compact flash slot.

Just means it all slots into the PDA nice and neatly as a single unit, no messing about with separate charging and bluetooth etc. Can also use it nicely on foot too which can be handy in cities if you have just got off the train and dont have a clue where the office you are going to is.

csd · 12 Jul 2006 at 23:59

Ollie's Gadgets · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:05

I see what you mean. Thats looks far better and I hadn't even though about using it on foot

Was the Garmin second hand? Also do you subscribe to the pocketgps service or did you just do it as a one off?

Any advice on holders?

Jez · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:11

Holder wise i dont bother as mine sits on its side nicely on my dash.

Thats pretty much what it looks like put together, personally i think the CF route is more convinient, and it also means you dont need to bother spending the extra on a bluetooth enabled pda. If you look on ebay there are a fair few brand new PDA's perfect for tomtom at around £60-£70.

Tesla · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:18

Do any of the current Tom Tom range have full postcodes on them?

I have a SE P910i and Bluetooth receiver, tomtom mobile 5. Works wonderfully well but the sat nav is in use about 12hours per day everyday, constantly changing addresses etc...

I am looking for a stand alone unit in the hope of it being more robust that the phone. If I break my business phone I'm stuffed as I get no work!

csd · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:18

Ollie's Gadgets · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:24

Jez said:
Holder wise i dont bother as mine sits on its side nicely on my dash.

I don't see how you mean sit on its side. Doesn't that mean the screen is in landscape and how do you stop it sliding off the dash. I think I have missed something here :confused: