I bought a NAVMAN iCN 650 from Dixons at the Eurotunnel terminal a few weeks ago,I got it for £680 which was considerably cheaper than the high st. where it retails at £800.
I have to say it’s not 100% perfect but I am very,very pleased with it.
It has street level maps of europe right down to house numbers,and over the last few weeks it has directed me to the door at several places in the wilds of France.
But,as I said,it’s not 100%.Sometimes if you lose the signal and then get it back again it will tell you to exit at a junction and then re-enter at the same junction! But if you keep an eye on it and watch the 3-D map then you can see where the route is going.
The voice directions are clear and well in advance.
Dont forget those thinking they can just buy a PDA will also need a Sat Nav device also.
Plenty are available a lot brand new from dealers on ebay for those interested have a look here:
I know a lot of people prefer not to deal on ebay but it has never cuased me any problems.
For those of you into walking hiking or perhaps mountian biking or motorcycling it may be a good idea to invest in bluetooth enabled devices. There are a few software systems about now to cope with this sort of thing the best known being tom tom. v3 I think is the latest.
If you know where to look Tom Tom is avaliable in usenet from time to time to download foc but of course one couldn’t condone such an action.
A good site for reviews is this one :
If any of you own a smartphone such as the Orange SPV 200, 500 or 1000 then a version of both Tom Tom and another ordnance survey mapping software system call memory map can be installed . You would of course with this option still need a gps reciever . Most phones in the catagory these days can recieve bluetooth so this may well be a sensible option.
I can see in the next few years most production model trucks carrying this sort of kit as standard. After all they will all be fitted with GPS to enable road use charging in any event.Makes sense also as it assists the driver to follow the best route direct to the delivery point therby saving operators money on those ever increasing fuel bills.
Don’t discard the PDA option. I’ve just ordered myself a Dell Axim X30 PDA with blutetooth and Tomtom software. My wife has a Dell PDA through her work (amongst all the other hi tech gadgets she gets to play with 
) and it has to be said its a very powerful PC in its own right. I’ve spec’d the X30 up to the hilt and it;s still considerably cheaper than Tomtom Go.
www1.euro.dell.com/content/produ … l=en&s=dhs
just a tip. If you don’t want to shell out for the faster processor do go for the extra memory as Tomtom is quite large in storage terms.
Another option is the mobile phone. I have a nokia 6600 and have just bought the tomtom mobile software and bluetooth receiver off Ebay for £115. Seeing that I already had the phone it was quite a cheap option and is as good as the PDA version except for a smaller screen. I am quite impressed at the moment and only 2 pieces of gear to carry, the mobile phone which I always have and the gps receiver, which is the size of a box of swan vesta. It works on other mobile phones but I cannot remember which ones.
Regards
Westie
Can I join the ‘Head Hurters’ Club’ with Kitkat, CBR_SI and tiggz?
I’ve got Autoroute on the PC at Home, had it for years, and it gives me house numbered streets if I want them. But I only use it to confirm mileages and times of my routes. It rarely agrees with me on those and I know who’s right!
I use GPS on my Flight Simulator and it’s great, but that’s where it stays.
A map, a pair of eyes and a gob. That’s all that’s needed. 
Now I’ve got to go and have a lie down.
Any more takers for the HH Club?
Salut, David.
tiggz:
I’d rather have a traditional map, address and find it myself. Use my eyes to read the map and the road signs and get there.Don’t you think it takes the fun out of driving■■?
Sure we all love to know where we’re going, but i can’t see the enjoyment factor of it myself.
IMHO
Getting lost in the middle of nowhere in a 53ft long artic with nowhere to turn around got old a long time ago for me. Alot of the places I go to don’t have streetmaps you can buy. In fact, get out of the areas covered by A to Z county maps and you’re pretty much stuffed for finding a streetmap covering it. That coupled with always finding the Village Idiot ™ when I asked directions plus getting postcodes for addresses and phoning said companies up only to find that the clown on the other end of the phone hasn’t a clue how they’ve got to work every day for the last few years pushed me onto Satnav.
Oh and isn’t it alot safer navigating through a city centre with both hands on the controls and both eyes on the road rather than an A to Z in one hand that you’re also steering/changing gear with and looking at the map every few seconds?
And a final note…
I’ve got an entire street level map of the UK that fits in my trouser pocket. How big was your mapbox again? I know mine was at last 2.5ftx2ftx1ft deep, stuffed to the gills and weighed a ton.
Conor:
tiggz:
I’d rather have a traditional map, address and find it myself. Use my eyes to read the map and the road signs and get there.Don’t you think it takes the fun out of driving■■?
Sure we all love to know where we’re going, but i can’t see the enjoyment factor of it myself.
IMHO
Getting lost in the middle of nowhere in a 53ft long artic with nowhere to turn around got old a long time ago for me. Alot of the places I go to don’t have streetmaps you can buy. In fact, get out of the areas covered by A to Z county maps and you’re pretty much stuffed for finding a streetmap covering it. That coupled with always finding the Village Idiot ™ when I asked directions plus getting postcodes for addresses and phoning said companies up only to find that the clown on the other end of the phone hasn’t a clue how they’ve got to work every day for the last few years pushed me onto Satnav.
Oh and isn’t it alot safer navigating through a city centre with both hands on the controls and both eyes on the road rather than an A to Z in one hand that you’re also steering/changing gear with and looking at the map every few seconds?
And a final note…
I’ve got an entire street level map of the UK that fits in my trouser pocket. How big was your mapbox again? I know mine was at last 2.5ftx2ftx1ft deep, stuffed to the gills and weighed a ton.
Well said my man!
It’s all very well having a map to see where you should be heading,but it’s no use if you’re in the middle of nowhere and need to know where you are!
Satnav-the best thing since sliced bread.