Nuvi or tomtom ??????????

mpgrant5 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 16, 2006 Posts: 4

Which sat nav should i buy tom tom 510 or the nuvi 310 or 360. Needs to have bluetooth for mobile phone and could do with the full maps of europe. What is it to be ????

mikealder · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:10 pm Post subject:

You seem to have come up with a shortlist its down to preference and price vs functionality from here.
The 510 will provide you with mobile phone connectivity, but check to make sure that your phone is on the compatable list, if not it might or might not work. It is supplied with Major roads of Europe on the map, but only the UK is mapped to full street level, if you want pan European street level maps consider the 710.
The Nuvi 310 again will provide hands free, but check the suppliers web site to see if your phone is compatable. The map again is UK as supplied, but you do get the whole of Europe on DVD with an unlock code - to install this lot will require an aditional memory card (2GB to get it all on), but these cost very little these days. The big plus point is the supplied traffic reciever an considering the price sub £300 its a nice unit (but lacks the widescreen format of the TomTom device
Either unit do as advertised and will get you from departure to arrival with similar routes etc.
The 360 offers the Text to Speach capability where road names are announced, I have not tried one of these device so it would be unfair to comment, the TTS capability is costly and explains the increase in price for this device, it would be a fairer comparison if pegged against the TomTom 910 which does offer the TTS capacity - Mike

swing · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:21 am Post subject:

I think it's worth pointing out that to get the European DVD and the traffic receiver with the Nuvi 310, you need to buy the Nuvi 310D (Deluxe) version, and not the standard Nuvi 310 package.

Halfords do sell the Deluxe package for £299, but many other online resellers are still selling the non-Deluxe version for that sort of price.

paulbds · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 1

I sold my TomTom 500 in order to upgrade to a TMC compatible machine. I bought the Nuvi 310D from Halfords but after using the TomTom I feel I have been spoilt with configuration details - -I took it back to Halfords after 24 hours. The TMC side worked ok but it was very poor with safety camera recognition and I do lke to see the the speed dispalyed on my GPS system. I know, it's sad.
Took it back and bought the tt510
Paul

Harveyc · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:29 am Post subject:

After much deliberation and fondling examples in Halfords it was with some trepidation that I picked up a 660 early last week and with almost 1000 miles from the south coast Hampshire/Sussex borders to west London, Essex and Kent I have to say that I’m struggling to think of any problems with it.

Outside the shop I plugged it in, stuck the antenna along the bottom of the windscreen and by the time I’d stuck the box in the boot and got back in the car the thing was ready to go and the traffic reports symbol had flashed up. The TMC has vastly exceeded expectations in that there were pages of reports from all over the country, M42, M6 near Kendal and the reports were more detailed that I was expecting. I can't speak to the accuracy of them all but so far the accident reports have been spot on, even on a Sunday, flagging up delays yesterday on the A3 and the detour button worked a treat taking me on a sneaky back route through Putney and Roehampton. The only time I’ve regularly noticed the green TMC light go out is approaching Hindhead, down to Thursley and then it bounces back. I’m not sure how to find out signal strength of the TMC and would appreciate any help on this. The TMC uses RAC LIVE.

Also my bluetooth phone, contact list and call register were picked up instantly and the hands free function worked well for me and those I was speaking to.

The screen is tremendous being large, bright and clear, the mapping appears more accurate than my recent built-in car nav and my original TTGO, the voices are loud and clear, particularly British Daniel, the TTS is a fantastic feature, especially along those unknown detours and I really like the thinness of the unit as I just slide it into the leather pouch and stick it in my pocket. Also the mount is rock solid and easy to attach and remove, as is the unit itself. I noticed that the cursor grinds to a halt even in short tunnels, like Hyde Park Corner and that slowly going round corners there is a millisecond delay but these are purely aesthetic issues as most importantly the redraw speed, reliability and instructions are spot on. I was pleasantly surprised that the unit also comes fully loaded with Europe wide POIs for everything that I looked for and a speed camera warning system which seems up to date, saving my bacon on a cheeky mobile trap on the Thursley bypass last week. I guess that I’ll soon start getting complacent, ignore these and get my collar felt. Does anybody know whether these POIs are a trial subscription or built in as the speed POIs are Cyclops and glancing at their website, their subscriptions are fairly hefty.

I’ve read the many tales of woe in respect of all manufacturers, so I’m aware that these things can be temperamental and if the TMC mysteriously stops working I'll be a very unhappy camper but thus far this thing just has just done everything right first time every time without fuss and I am very impressed.

Jonboy · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:01 am Post subject:

Welcome Harveyc,

glad your impressed with this new Nuvi, i am intending to buy one of these very shortly! Laughing

Do keep us updated on your progress, in particular the traffic side of things! :D
_________________
Don't follow me....i'm lost too!

Harveyc · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject:

Cheers Jon
I'm just back in from the Heathrow area and saw some major holdups on the clockwise carriageway M25 and Hindhead. They were all reported on the nuvi traffic which unsurprisingly, given the weather, was chocker. As I arrived home my reverse route still looked bad and radio RDS concurred, so I asked the nuvi to plot the journey back to Heathrow and happily it routed me off the A3 before Farnham across country on largely still fairly fast roads and rejoined the M25 above the incidents near Heathrow. I couldn't have chosen a better route myself and am still, fingers crossed, well happy with this gizmo. I'll let you know if any gremlins start to appear.

Can anybody help me with my query on the bundled speedcams and how to see the signal level on the TMC?

swing · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:12 pm Post subject:

The TMC signal strength can be accessed via the diagnostics menu, but it's not easy to get to, and certainly not safe whilst driving. If you search the forums, you'll find a number of posts providing the information.

As for the bundled speedcams, I only use the PGPSW speed camera database, so can't comment on the Garmin one.

Harveyc · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the information on the diagnostic screen Swing. The level seems to fluctuate a lot but on my regular journeys in the SE it seems to average 12, sometimes going down to 7 and upto 14 but insofar as I've noticed, never completely losing signal. I'm still getting pages of nationwide traffic info and when it has flashed up on my route and advised of traffic ahead, it's been dead right and has got me out where possible. In a matter of weeks this thing has saved me hours and my wife is chuffed to bits.

SafetyEngineer · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 21, 2005 Posts: 23

I've used the Garmin speed cam database since I bought my Nuvi 2 weeks ago, I'm based in Essex but have been up to Milton Keynes, Lincoln, around the London & m25 area and down to Plymouth and Poole.

Can honestly say that it performed a lot better than the PGPSW database on those journeys and for £50-00 it isn't going to break the bank.

Also if you register a My Garmin account you'll get a three month free trial with unlimited updates, I'll be subscribing in January.

IMO the PGPSW database hasn't really improved since it went subscribtion, other might disagree...

swing · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:19 am Post subject:

SafetyEngineer · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 21, 2005 Posts: 23

On the PGPSW database I have found fixed cameras that are not on the database, incorrect speed limits (eg there is a mobile camera site listed on the A12 just north of the Stock turnoff) which is no longer used and the speed limit is shown as 60mph despite this being a 70mph dual carraigeway.

On the runs I described above there have been cameras that just don't show up on the PGPSW database.

With the Garmin database with one exception I've found so far it has always pinged up when there has been a camera and displays the correct speed limit.

I'm inclined to call that 'better' performance.

swing · Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:12 pm Post subject:

It does seem you've found some discrepancies in the PGPSW database, and I can understand your viewpoint.

However, I thought the Garmin database did not have mobile speed cameras (it has accident blackspots, but not all mobile sites) and certainly does not have redlight cameras (which can include speed cameras too). (*)

Right now, neither seem "perfect" to me, the difference is I feel I can contribute something back to the community by reporting errors.

I have to say though, I'm not sure what the PGPSW policy is on mobile sites no longer used - eg years ago I reported a number of hardstandings that were put in place for mobile camera vans to park, yet until a month ago they had never been used (when I drove past) - it doesn't mean to say they are never used, and hence I'm all for these staying in the database.

(*) Based on the information on the Cyclops website, who provide the database.

SafetyEngineer · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 21, 2005 Posts: 23

Swing, yes you are correct re red light cameras, I've spoken to Garmin and Cyclops and they have told me that if there is a speed camera there it will get listed as a speed camera with the appropriate limit, but RLC's are not included.

As for mobile cameras, they do pick them up, I know of several in the Essex area that are regular haunts they are all on the database and I've had Mobile camera site come up on the screen in a few places in Kent and and about 100m down the road is a mobile van. So would rather pay for the Garnin/Cyclops database.

I like the idea of the PGPSW database as it originally started but as a subscribtion service it's not so hot and I have doubts about using it.

I think like you that if it is a haunt of the talivans, then it is worth including as a 'heads up' warning.

nudda · Regular Visitor Joined: May 16, 2006 Posts: 198

nuvi by far
I talk from experience Smile

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