Sat Nav recommendations around £150

ronguthrie · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Posts: 3

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase my first sat nav and am looking for some recommendations.

I've just passed my driving test so thought one with lane indications would be beneficial but other than that I'm not bothered.

I was looking at the Navigon 4350 Max but was worried that as its not one of the two big players the maps may not be kept up to date.

Anyone help?

Cheers,
Ron

BigPerk · Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject:

Navigon use maps from the same supplier as Garmin - Navteq (TomTom use teleatlas). They do an update package at £80, but you should certainly get a 80% discount with the 4350max judging from their website - have a look. This gives you 4 updates a year for two years - a VERY good deal.

Make sure you check what it says on the box though if you buy from a retailer, eg, Halfords - especially if you seem to have found a bargain (remember free lunches). Check EVERYTHING even more carefully if you are thinking of buying off ebay (tell me you're not Cool

).

Hope that helps.
_________________
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

ronguthrie · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Posts: 3

Hi,

think I've narrowed it down to either the navman 4350 max or the tomtom XL Live IQ both from halfords, any advice?

One question I do have in general though is can you browse the map and pick a destination from the map rather than enter a post code?

Cheers.

BigPerk · Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:07 pm Post subject:

I take it that you mean Navigon 4350max, not Navman? If so, I can't personally make a comment about the 4350 itself, but my experience with my own unit has been pretty good. Some features are quite sophisticated, but not available on all units (except sometimes at extra cost). There are several 4350ers on here who may be able to advise, and you may like to look up a couple of threads on here about them.

The things I would mention are that if you expect to put on your own particular points of interest (POIs), such as Caravan Club sites, or CAMRA pubs, Navigon won't let you do that at the moment. They do of course have MANY POIs of their own, including pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, etc which are generally reasonably good.

Also with Lane Assistance, this is pretty good for motorway/major A road exits, though I've seen someone say that TomTom might go a bit further, with some roundabouts included. In general though, TT is a big blank spot I'm afraid! Hopefully you won't have to wait long for the TT boys to come along either - most posts on here seem to about TT Cool

In the meantime, I'd suggest you also have a look at their websites for info/demos about features, download a user/quick start guide for the models you are interested in to see what the screens/menus look like, and finally when you think you are more or less there, try them out with a few things, such as planning a route, in Halfords to see how the handling compares for you. (It's a pretty personal choice in many respects). What I would STRONGLY suggest is that you do NOT ask Halfords for their advice, unless you want to end up with what they most want to sell at the time Evil or Very Mad

!
_________________
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

brms · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 16, 2006 Posts: 12

I got one of these from Halfords just before Christmas to replasce my TomTom One. Had initial problems with some features not working, and Navigon's help wasn't initially a lot of use - butHalfords swapped it without quibble and the new unit works very well. Navigon have since given me the map updates free of charge for two years because of the difficulties I had.

Nabigon works very well, giving the name or number of the road you're turning into, which is a big help. Speed cameras are there, as are warnings of speed limits, and loads of POIs. It's not as flexible as TomTom: not easy to load the pocketgps speed cameras, or your own POIs, but I think it's a great satnav and I'm very pleased with it.

Andy_P · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:47 am Post subject:

gatorguy6996 · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:13 am Post subject:

One caveat to add to Andy's advice. If the point you want to navigate to on a Tomtom isn't on a mapped road, then you won't be successful in routing to it.
_________________
Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

BigPerk · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:53 pm Post subject:

Andy_P's answer seems pretty comprehensive! It gives me a bit of a toe-hold on possible comparisons ( bear in mind mine is a different, older, unit, but should still be broadly the same, plus you should find additional features). With Navigon you get the same options as Andy lists (with (12) you probably need to save it first), and:

- when you plan a journey it will normally offer you 3 routes - this can be pretty useful as it gives you more of a choice of how you want to travel;

- it gives you the option of navigating to a car park near your destination;

- it is pretty open-ended in planning multi-leg routes, if you are planning stop-overs;

- it has a category of 'National Interest' POIs. So if you want to go to Heathrow airport, or the Angel of the North for example, you don't need to find the address/location but can find the POI in the list;

- you can specify 3 categories of POI to be displayed on the screen for easy selection. This displays local ones to where you are. Handy for petrol, hotels, etc

- if you have traffic, you get a verbal description of the problem when you select a particular incident. You can choose to reroute automatically, manually (it shows you the proposed diversion on the map), or ignore and keep on the original route;

- if you have Reality View it provides a realistic display of the overhead signs at junctions on motorways and major A roads;

These are just a few pointers - you need to check what you would actually get on your unit. And of course, many or all of these may be available on the TT as well. As I say, I'm completely blank on their products Embarassed

Anyway, hope that helps.
_________________
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

Andy_P · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:04 am Post subject:

BigPerk · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks Andy, that's a great response. I think that should give ronguthrie plenty to help with his choice!

Ron(?) - obviously there are lots of overlaps - it doesn't seem sensible to keep on with a point-to-point between your choices without knowing more about what you need (there are some of Andy's latest points also available in Navigon, but not necessarily all); you'll obviously want to investigate further.

Do come back with any further questions - 'Ask here'! (where did I hear that?) Cool

_________________
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

mikeiow · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 12, 2004 Posts: 34

One thing I liked about the Navigon (& one reason I moved to it from my aging TomTom One !) was that it offered the Premium TMC at no cost, as well as free map updates for 2 years. This was with the 4310/4350 Max model (I got from Halfords), so I suspect is not on all models from all suppliers !

(That said, you will see another post from me pointing out one of two problems I have had, so I am not anti-TomTom or pro-Navigon !!)

cheers
Mike

sleppard · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 06, 2006 Posts: 1

I have upgraded from the TT One to Navigon 4350 Max

It seems fine apart from the TMC is really tempremental (2hr around the M25 and no signal?!?)

Will be discussing this with Navigon.
This was discussed on the Halfords website who offer the best price I could find in the UK

simon

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