Are they any good ?

[cardiff_gareth]

My wife bought her car insurance with Tesco's and there was an offer on that you could get £100 off the price of a Navman 'S' series if you took out the insurance with them.

Our voucher is coming soon so we're probably going to get the S70 model, that one has the european maps on it I think.

I just wanted to know, like the Garmin can you download POI's to it, change the pointer, update the maps etc ?

And lastly, as we're not paying much for it we can't complain to much but are they any good ?

Don't want to offend any 'hardcore' Navman users, just that we have only used a LG (that went back!) and the Garmin so they are an unknown territory to us !

Cheers

Gareth

[cardiff_gareth]

26 views and no replies, someone must know if they are any good

[robertn]

The products are good, shame about the support - Navman has been in the game a while now and knows what it is doing. Since the sale to Brunswick, then Mitac, the company has had it's ups and downs (mostly downs - loosing market share hand over fist). The biggest concern I have with Navman is the track record of abandoning support for products within months of launch (iCN320, iCN550, F series), and lack of commitment to supporting last years models with map updates. (I am biased as I have been stung more than once, and I do have high expectations).

The S series will likely be around for a while, provided Mitac keep the Navman brand going, meaning map updates should be as well. However I would purchase on the understanding that you will not get ongoing support or map updates, so what you are buying is it, that way you will only be pleasently surprised.

Map updates from Navman typically cost £100, so the saving on the voucher may cover the cost of the map update as the S series is a year old now anyway (when are new maps due out?), however I do not subscribe to the update maps idea - I recon very few roads change in a year, and at 100 quid for something that is a little less out of date, I just live with it.

I look forward to TheM's response, I am sure he will provide a much needed balance to my view point

[ln246442]

Hi Gareth. Just purchased S70 and have previously had 2 Tom Tom's. Must admit I now feel I might have made a mistake. Nothing really wrong with the S70 but not as flexible as a Tom Tom. The instructions are announced earlier in my opinion but the speaker is not as good. You cant change the screen around as well as the Tom Tom. So far I am having problems downloading Speed Cameras from this site due to file format. I am not dissappointed with the device but feel it isnt as good as the Tom Tom, however it is cheaper than equiv. spec Tom Tom. Dont think you can go wrong with a £100 Voucher.

[robertn]

Read this thread before parting with any cash

[cardiff_gareth]

Well voucher came yesterday so me and SWMBO took a look at the range. She isn't much of a technical person (her words) so bluetooth etc didn't appeal to her. Found the S30 entry level model, basic sat nav with no whistles or bells and she said I'll have that one.
Cool as the voucher was for £100 off and the unit was £100 and with a instore pick up its cost us nothing

Seen on the interactive demo that you can update like the garmin and it has POI's so it seems ok, bit annoyed that my Garmin gave me a free 30 day subscription to the speed camera's and the wifes Navman comes with a free 12 month subscription

Still, I'll update them both to the pocket GPS speed camera database so its ok.

[DGreen]

This reply is a little late in respect to cardiff_gareth's question, but in response to robertn's reply, which in general I whole heartedly agree re support.
There may be some saving grace with the future of the S-Series with maps etc. as I note the Mitac have released a range of Mio's using the SmartST 2008 softwares. This may mean that the SmartST softwares, being used for for both Brands that the products are being stabilised to be used for some time (one can only hope).

I also noted, being a little tinkerer with my S90i, that certain aspects of data files are already prepared for the advent of the 3D softwares. This possibly means that the current SmartST 2008 has some future growth. Obviously this is consistant with new 3D being introduced in May 08 without too much modification to software and maps.
_________________
Navman S90i
SmartST 2008 - Australian Maps, Pan European Maps
Navman S300T, MY-55T
SmartST 2009 - Australian Maps, Western & Eastern European Maps

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