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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: s90i under £170
cejsmith wrote:
I was in costco earlier and noticed that they had the s90 on special offer at around £165, is it worth it?
Some of the reviews seem to love it , but the feed back on this forum seems to say it's abit fiffy.
IS it worth sending at least a extra £60 to get a tomtom 720( which as we all know has a lot of problems)
Also can u get a USA map for the S90?
This is a right b*gger for those of us who are trying to get rid of our second-hand ones!
I haven't experienced the spontaneous rebooting that some users are suffering from, so in my own personal experience, it isn't "iffy". Indeed mine has been utterly reliable. Then again I don't use the camera or have loads of POI categories enabled - the latter does seem to be responsible for performance problems at least. For me the reason why it was overpriced in the first place was that some aspects of the user interface are badly designed and make it cumbersome to use, while a lot of features fall short of the mark. However...
While I wouldn't say £170 was a bargain, even as one of its biggest critics, I'd have to say that at that price, you should give it serious consideration. After all, as I've always said, if NavMan ever get round to providing downloadable software patches to tackle its myriad little problems, it could be transformed into the best SatNav system out there!
It will be interesting to see if other retailers follow suit with price cuts - I noticed Amazon dropped theirs another twenty quid yesterday. The fact that CostCo are now offering it for almost half the price it was just three months ago seems to confirm my view that the market does not feel it has lived up to its expectations.
Can't comment on its worthiness compared to the TT720, sorry.
Joined: 15/07/2003 22:59:27 Posts: 1050 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:37 am Post subject: Bargin
cejsmith i think you should jump at the chance to get a 90i at that price! They are an absolutely great GPS system, and Ive used most of them, and (while not without its critisism) will imho work as well as if not better than the TomTom to Garmin Nuvi to guide you to your destination
USA maps are already on the supplied DVD - you just purchase a KEY from Navman online for instant activation
I would guess the drop in price is due to high market competitiveness and that Navman / Mio are probably going to release some joint units this summer holiday season, perhaps, the first under their joint name - hopefully with some innovative features???!!! Just a guess!
Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:55 pm Post subject: Re: Bargin
xtraseller wrote:
Navman / Mio are probably going to release some joint units this summer holiday season, perhaps
And that's the danger, of coure. Are NavMan about to stick two fingers up at existing S-series owners and launch replacement units rather than address the problems of the existing range? If so, then £170 is arguably a fair price for something that is about to become a "legacy" product.
Either way, the plummeting prices of the S90i indicate that retailers like CostCo can't convince punters to pay anything more than 55% of the original retail price (Let's be honest here: no retailer puts on a "special offer" as a favour to customers). Either that or CostCo know NavMan are about to declare the S-series obsolete and they don't want to end up being stuck with their remaining stock of them.
You could, of course, point out that the retail price of TomTom's 920T has fallen dramatically, too. I think they were £390 originally and they can now been had for as little as £290 - but it has been around longer than the S90i and yet it's still more than 75% of the original asking price.
Joined: Feb 10, 2005 Posts: 1951 Location: Mostly somewhere in Essex
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:06 am Post subject:
I think you will find that this is just one of Costco's one-off deals. They did it for previous Navman models and it was not before a change of model - just one of their marketing events.
Just remember, that this forum is to help people with difficulties and you rarely hear of the satisified customers. When you consider the number of these devices that are sold, I would imagine there are far more happy Navman owners out there than there are unhappy people.
I cannot advise on the price, but if it is below the current market level and you are considering one, then go for it. Navman do get stick, but then so do other makes. I have been through three different models so far and now I understand them I am very happy with their performance. Like all technology, you have to treat it sensibly and not follow the instructions blindly. Country lanes are only for Tank delivery drivers. _________________ Gee-Pee
Lifetime member PGPSW - time rapidly decreasing
I think you will find that this is just one of Costco's one-off deals.
Ah - you mean it's a loss-leader...?
Gee-Pee wrote:
When you consider the number of these devices that are sold
I must admit I've no idea how many they sell - please do enlighten us.
Gee-Pee wrote:
I would imagine there are far more happy Navman owners out there than there are unhappy people.
But even Amazon's price is well below the original. In fact I was in PC World earlier today and they are flogging them for £230. All in all this doesn't sound like a unit that is selling in healthy numbers when measured against rivals such as TT and Garmin.
If you are a first-time SatNav user without the benefit of having tried other systems, you'll almost certainly find the S-series great to use, so £170 for the top-of-the-range unit is almost irresistable. For me, however, the NavMan unit is desperately poor in many areas in comparison to my old Navigon system.
Joined: Feb 10, 2005 Posts: 1951 Location: Mostly somewhere in Essex
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:04 am Post subject:
Quote:
Ah - you mean it's a loss-leader...?
Possibly, or Costco have just done a good deal...or both
Quote:
I must admit I've no idea how many they sell - please do enlighten us.
Surely, you have seen the proliferation of GPS devices decorating windscreens
Quote:
But even Amazon's price is well below the original. In fact I was in PC World earlier today and they are flogging them for £230. All in all this doesn't sound like a unit that is selling in healthy numbers when measured against rivals such as TT and Garmin.
And at £160/170 this must be a bargain
Quote:
If you are a first-time SatNav user without the benefit of having tried other systems, you'll almost certainly find the S-series great to use, so £170 for the top-of-the-range unit is almost irresistable.
And it is a great looking device.
Quote:
For me, however, the NavMan unit is desperately poor in many areas in comparison to my old Navigon system.
You pay your money and make your choice. What's good for one person may be c*** for another. I have a lower end model but it does the job for me. It gets me from A to B without fuss and without frills. Job done.
Graham _________________ Gee-Pee
Lifetime member PGPSW - time rapidly decreasing
I must admit I've no idea how many they sell - please do enlighten us.
Surely, you have seen the proliferation of GPS devices decorating windscreens
Yes but I've still no idea how many units NavMan have sold - I assumed from your earlier point that you did.
Gee-Pee wrote:
You pay your money and make your choice. What's good for one person may be c*** for another. I have a lower end model but it does the job for me. It gets me from A to B without fuss and without frills. Job done.
Prima facie the S-series comes across as a very good range. But I found that once I started using it intensively, the cracks soon began to show: the areas where NavMan either didn't test the unit properly prior to launch or didn't think through a particular feature comprehensively enough. Inevitably, then, the higher up the range you go, the more cracks there are - or, to put it another way, the lower-end models manifest fewer problems.
I'm going to try a little experiment this coming week. Back in November I packed away my (four year old) Navigon unit, anticipating that I was never going to use it again. Well I got it out of the cupboard last night and set it up side-by-side against the S90i. Even just sat with them in the lounge, it was immediately apparent that despite the latter's larger display and Text-to-Speech feature, overall it is inferior in most respects. The Navigon boots up quicker, it gets a GPS fix quicker, you can manually slide & zoom around the maps far more slickly, it gives the user more information about his/her position & heading & journey, it's more realistic with journey ETAs, its autozoom works better when negotiating junctions, the female voice is sexier etc, etc. But to confirm my view, I'm going to put the Navigon unit back in my car all this week.
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:49 pm Post subject: Re: Found memories
xtraseller wrote:
I think you are just thinking fondly of the past, when sat nav was new and impressed us all. Now we expect more
Not at all - I got so excited after firing it up again last night that I've just used it for a (short) journey tonight and while the S90i beats it in some areas, it's not rose-tinted nostaligia - the Navigon *is* far better overall. As I said, it's just far slicker and more pleasurable to use than the clunky NavMan user interface. All the main, commonly-used features can be reached within one or two stylus taps, whereas on the S90i it's all so much messier.
xtraseller wrote:
The sexy voice is perhaps something we have to live without, if we want text to speech. For the moment, at least!
Well that wasn't supposed to be a serious suggestion! Admittedly the Charlotte Green-soundalike on the old Navigon adds to the pleasure!
As I said, I'm going to run the Navigon all this week and report back.
Joined: 15/07/2003 22:59:27 Posts: 1050 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:16 am Post subject: Personal taste
I guess it is just personal taste with no hard and fast rules
I've a Navigon 7110 (their latest) and a n110 (about 2 half years old) and while okay - better in my opinion than my TomTom and Garmin for use and visual display, everything was way to small to be safe to glance at while driving. Also crashed way too often to be suitable. For me. Really quite liked the overall however, and would possibly try again with them
However, Phil in the office, excited about the Reality View i was showing off to him, and better onscreen graphics than the 80s style TomTom, purchased a Navigon 7110
His now sits gathering dust, while he continues with his TomTom wondering whether to buy another TomTom or follow me again and buy a Navman S series
Let us know how the routing is different (the most important feature, I suppose) and accuracy / detail of turn by turn directions (second on my must have list) - and which you end up with come Friday evening, and which finds it way onto eay
By the way Navigon are releasing a 8110 in April, with version 7 of the software, which looks interesting. On screen display still to small for me though - would love their system in spit screen mode!
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:01 am Post subject: Re: Personal taste
xtraseller wrote:
everything was way to small to be safe to glance at while driving.
Yes, this is a problem on the older versions, too. But fortunately important information such as which turn to take next and the street name is displayed in a large, easily-readable format. As for other information, it's a compromise between making it readily available without cluttering the screen up or forcing the user to make a sequence of stylus taps (like you do on the NavMan). And, again in Navigon's favour, it gives you *more* information than the NavMan.
I think with Navigon you need to allow time to acquaint yourself with its User Interface. It isn't as immediately intuitive as the S-series but once you've got used to it, it makes its features much more readily accessible.
xtraseller wrote:
Also crashed way too often to be suitable.
Presumably Navigon have sorted this now?
xtraseller wrote:
Let us know how the routing is different (the most important feature, I suppose) and accuracy / detail of turn by turn directions (second on my must have list)
Now this is one of the areas where I am surprised you prefer the NavMan unit. Both systems provide very similar routing but the NavMan is occasionally tripped up by the inferior accuracy of its TeleAtlas maps. I have also found that it has more of a tendency to say, for example, "Turn Left" when it should actually instruct me to bear left. Again, though, this is down to TeleAtlas. Recently I approached a roundabout whose second exit led straight to a dual carriageway, while the third led straight to a motorway entry sliproad. The unit instructed me to "Take the second exit onto the motorway". Slightly confused by this, my immediate thought was that the TeleAtlas mapping had let us down again... but, no, it was correct. What seems to be the problem is that NavMan use the word "Motorway" to also mean "Dual Carriageway".
The Navigon/NavTeq mapping unit isn't without its faults, of course - just far fewer of them.
Overall, despite being four years out of date, I have more faith in both the NavTeq mapping and the Navigon unit to give me correct instructions.
xtraseller wrote:
By the way Navigon are releasing a 8110 in April, with version 7 of the software, which looks interesting.
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