NavMan or Mio269 for French Holiday?

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum but not knew to forums per se, AV equipment being more my thing. However, I am thinking of investing in a GPS sat nav device. My query is this - we are going to France in the summer, auto routes, route national, small towns and villages etc. etc., pretty extensive tour. I have narrowed the field down to one of the NavMan products - the deluxe version maybe, or the Mio 269. Has anyone any experience of either, and is one reputed to be any better than the other. I believe from reading various articles that the NavMan actually uses the Mio hardware.

sealion · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 27, 2005 Posts: 70

Just came back from 2 weeks in the South of France. Navman 510 worked like a dream. Before flying out to Nice I made a few places 'Favourites' by scrolling round the maps and saving places like the Car Hire offices and the Hotel. On arrival jumped in the car,stuck the holder on the windscreen and said 'go'. Even used it without a route planned and saw places that were of interest. It even found the 4 speed cameras in the area so I was warned in plenty of time, not that the French seem to take much notice anyway. Plenty of 'Points of Interest' to be found on the net to cater for all requirements.

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

djmek · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 23, 2004 Posts: 126

if it's any help, the Navman 510 is 399 just now in halfords.
_________________
2 x ICN-510 units now, 1 USA Unit and 1 UK Unit. Both working great and set up to perfection.
..............Route Type
Quickest.......Maximum Left.
Preference for Motorways & Freeways...More Often......Maximum Right.
Preference for Urban Roads

Gee-Pee · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 8:08 am Post subject:

Daytona · Regular Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2005 Posts: 60

We're driving from the NW of England down to the SW of France this summer (near Perpignon on the Med coast).
No idea about the Mio but I've gathered together the iCN510 (£399 from Halfords), a 1Gb Sandisk Extreme III card, Eurpean street level maps and the remote control. Incidentally, I ordered the European maps and the remote from the Navman online shop last week and they arrived next day. Just need to get a decent screen protector sorted out now!

With the 1Gb card, I have easily loaded all England, France and a decent chunk of Spain (as we tend to do a fair bit of touring around) and marked off our overnight stop.

Overall, I'm happy with the way the Navman performs.

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

From what I have seen and read the 510 premium edition only comes with European base maps not detailed street mapping. I priced up the cost of the more detailed maps plus the extra SD card last night on the Navman website and the cost had me reeling - total cost £603. For the extra £80 or so you could purchase the 650 which like the Mio has a hard drive. I subscribe to Computer Active so will read the review on the Mio before I decide. Do you know which issue number it is reviewed in?

Tim Buxton · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 8:42 pm Post subject:

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

Tim Buxton · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 10:45 pm Post subject:

Have a read about the iCN510 Premium on Navman's website here. Mind you, with the Premium you do get the European Basemap as well. Pity Halfords forgot to mention the street-level european maps!
_________________
Tim

Gee-Pee · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:35 am Post subject:

Gee-Pee · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:47 am Post subject:

Tim Buxton · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 11:04 am Post subject:

V3 certainly does have the M6 toll. I can't think why it wouldn't be on your 510!
_________________
Tim

Gee-Pee · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 12:02 pm Post subject:

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

I have to admit to being as uncertain as ever on which unit to buy. I have read the ComputerActive reviews on the various Sat Nav devices, two of which is the NavMan Premium and the Mio269. This is about the third review I have read where these two units have gone head to head, and on each occasion the Mio gets the thumbs up not the NavMan. Pricing seems to do the NavMan no favours at all - always quoted as being overpriced. Given the NavMan uses the Mio hardware one does wonder if the reviewers do have a point. Another minus against the NavMan again mentioned every time is the screen which gets criticised for showing reflections and being difficult to read in bright light conditions. It's a pity we can't hear more from Mio users to read what their experience is of owning and using this particular GPS device.

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