Best one ?

ellick · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 20, 2008 Posts: 22

Hi all,

I think I might regret asking this question but here goes. I am looking for a new sat nav. I have been using a c320 now for about 3 years (which has been good and not so good in Europe).

For a number of reasons i.e expanding business I am now looking for traffic (free), bluetooth, voice recognition, lane assist, cameras etc.
There is to say the least a bewildering array of units out there and reviews all seem to highlight problems of some sort.

I have recently been looking at the 860T which seems to fit my sat nav requirements.

I have two questions to ask of the experienced and knowledgeable sat nav users and of course anyone else who has an opinion:-

Sat navs are developing all the time. Are they really up to what they say they can do?

Which is the best one to fit what I am looking for. Any brand?

Thanks ,

Ellick

Darren · Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:23 pm Post subject:

The 860 is a good unit with a large screen. No equivalent that I'd recommend with a similar large screen in TomTom. They have just launched a large screen TomTom in the US but no news if/when Europe will see it.

The 860 offers all the features you suggest. What claims of satnav are you suspicious of?
_________________
Darren Griffin

ellick · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 20, 2008 Posts: 22

Darren.

Thanks for your reply.

In terms of suspicions the following problems have been mentioned in reviews.

Lane assist can tell you the lane but the arrow can be on a different one.
Traffic alerts can be unreliable (although that was mainly about Tom Tom).
It's difficult to tell when the traffic subscription is free and it seems that on the mid range up it is not (Garmin).
The on/off switch is flimsy.
Software failure and unit crashes which buyers were unaware of and found out from garmin website.
Map updates are they free or not. It's difficult to tell.
Voice recognition can be problematic.
Not all mobiles pair with sat nav units and I have not seen any information which advises which ones will.
I am not sure of the quality of the sound on hands free.
There are so many different types on the market with so many different features, it is difficult to sort through them all to find what you want.

In broad terms and particularly in business I follow a guideline that if a deal is too complicated it tends to be worth less than it portrays and is inefficient in that it becomes too demanding.

The sat navs I have looked at especially garmin and Tom Tom have so many units all of which vary by degrees in features. There seems to be little in the way of an effective catalogue so buyers are having to look at them all (at least I did) and price is not always reflective of the features as there seems to be constant upgrades. I would like to see sat navs numbered in sequence so I know for example that 7 out of 10 gives me a mid to upper range product. What I get is the 860 appears to be better that say a 1310 and is an 865 better or the same.

It feels that when you buy a sat nav with the curent array of different specifications you take a bit of a plunge.

Have to say that in general I favour Garmin units and I have been happy with my little C320 which has been about 85% accurate (my guess) and now like mobiles, I wouldn't be without one.

Thanks,

Ellick

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