tried various garmin devices over the years, hate them with a passion. Tomtom ev ery time for me, use truckpro 7100 for work. Hasn’t let me down…yet 
, just a bit slow to update the maps but I tend to use it for the last few miles and to keep track of my ETA for breaks etc. Got live traffic on a different dongle thing that replaces the power cable, IIRC its £70ish one off, that has saved me a ■■■■■■■■ of grief 
Roymondo:
tion - just tap the ‘centre map on my location’ icon and it is done for you.Must ask - have you ever actually used a TomTom?
I haven’t made sweet sweet love to it, if that’s whats needed to like tomtom as much as you do, but I have used it. I would still prefer a basic garmin to an expensive truck version of tomtom - they’re still crap, no matter how many people like to navigate with the help of stevie wonder.
Can’t say that I especially like TomToms - it’s just one tool in the box used to get the job done. I was just pointing out that the “main differences” are not what you said they are. My recent experiences with both Garmin and TomTom suggest to me that Garmin are not as well suited to truck use in some situations.
To explain - A lot of our work is regular monthly deliveries to private homes using 15T and 18T rigids. For the past couple of weeks I’ve had an agency driver out with me and he was using a current Garmin truck-specific satnav - sorry, I don’t know what model it was. It seemed to me that some of the routes it was directing him to use were not the most appropriate for the size of vehicle (and yes - he did have the correct weight and dimensions programmed in). I had been to most of the drops before so I knew there were better alternatives. To put it bluntly, the thing simply seemed to be using an ordinary car route unless there were actual legal weight limits or low bridges etc, which it appeared to avoid by finding the shortest possible alternative, even if it meant taking some decidedly narrow lanes etc (despite a much easier alternative route being available, albeit a mile or so longer). Naturally, we discussed some of these observations - typically as we were once again threading our way past yet another oncoming or parked vehicle - and so for a few days we ran both units alongside one another to see if there really were significant differences in the routing algorithms. And yes, there were.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying the TomTom is perfect - far from it. For example, with the TomTom, if your destination (or your start point, for that matter) is on a road subject to a lower weight limit, it doesn’t give you the option of ignoring just that particular limit - it simply says “No truck route found” and gives you the option of using a car route instead (which of course ignores all limits - weight, height and width…). I think the Garmin allows you to over-ride individual restrictions - but I’d need to try one for a bit longer to see exactly how that works out.
Roymondo:
Can’t say that I especially like TomToms - it’s just one tool in the box used to get the job done. I was just pointing out that the “main differences” are not what you said they are. My recent experiences with both Garmin and TomTom suggest to me that Garmin are not as well suited to truck use in some situations.To explain - A lot of our work is regular monthly deliveries to private homes using 15T and 18T rigids. For the past couple of weeks I’ve had an agency driver out with me and he was using a current Garmin truck-specific satnav - sorry, I don’t know what model it was. It seemed to me that some of the routes it was directing him to use were not the most appropriate for the size of vehicle (and yes - he did have the correct weight and dimensions programmed in). I had been to most of the drops before so I knew there were better alternatives. To put it bluntly, the thing simply seemed to be using an ordinary car route unless there were actual legal weight limits or low bridges etc, which it appeared to avoid by finding the shortest possible alternative, even if it meant taking some decidedly narrow lanes etc (despite a much easier alternative route being available, albeit a mile or so longer). Naturally, we discussed some of these observations - typically as we were once again threading our way past yet another oncoming or parked vehicle - and so for a few days we ran both units alongside one another to see if there really were significant differences in the routing algorithms. And yes, there were.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying the TomTom is perfect - far from it. For example, with the TomTom, if your destination (or your start point, for that matter) is on a road subject to a lower weight limit, it doesn’t give you the option of ignoring just that particular limit - it simply says “No truck route found” and gives you the option of using a car route instead (which of course ignores all limits - weight, height and width…). I think the Garmin allows you to over-ride individual restrictions - but I’d need to try one for a bit longer to see exactly how that works out.
Yes and no, it’s already routed the truck route and just takes you through the last bit even though it thinks you’re too big, and it thinks most industrial estates and business parks are no hgv for some reason, but you can edit this and correct it.
Last night though, I thought my Tomtom tried to take me a daft route, it was a main A road, but the M5 was about 1/2 mile longer, gave it the benefit of the doubt but I would use the M5 next time, 1 of the turns it had me do was slightly trickier than I needed to do, but I was getting pretty tired and it was nice to be on A roads tbh
hi all,
It doesn’t matter what u buy, cause they all use same map source, it navteq, init ?
I always say it gives u a idea where you are going, where the customer is. When I started to going to the “island”,I just had a big truckmap, baught on the ship! The company said that every driver had to be able to do that the old way for one month before he gets a satnav!!! Who still knows the old way? You drive close to the town, stop at the last services, look into a local map, drawing a map by hand and asked someone local … That was on your head and you knew where to go and you was more awake! Very awake! Memorized most markers on tour way… If you ask today a driver how he got to his customer he can’t mostly tell…cause nobody checking the map… just “follow me”…lol no satnav is perfect buy I say every human brain beats any computer in this world
has anyone used those truck navs off ebay about £80 if so are they any good or are you better off going for a branded one?
hello driver mates,
i got me a chinese one and i use a old tomtom one 3rd edition car satnav with downloaded free points of interest! Always check with a big real map !
cause i was not happy with igo and old fleet maps, i am using a bought Pronav 350 upgrade . i described that on another post.
The problem with all satnavs is to get the newest maps, true?
if u have a cheap wince satnav you can run different software on it . I found another solution:
called " Be on road " You can puchase a complete satnav or just buy for 69 pounds the hole software with the newest maps…
test it for free for 7 days on your phone and than decide if you want to buy it .
like this solution
click on: beonroad.com/en/e-shop/europ … uck/63-295
truckerlolly:
hi all,
It doesn’t matter what u buy, cause they all use same map source, it navteq, init ?
No. TomTom get their maps from TeleAtlas (no surprises there, as they own the company).
But even if they all used the same map data (which they don’t), it’s what they do with the map info that makes a big difference. A car satnav could be programmed to avoid weight and height restrictions, but would still end up guiding you along routes that are unsuitable for large vehicles simply because (in a car) they are a bit shorter/quicker. The Tomtom truck satnavs (and presumably Garmin likewise) will generally route you on A-roads, even it’s a bit longer, and will avoid sharp turns etc if there is a reasonable alternative.
Init.
Ah I see, did not know that ! I m sorry.
It true the best map has Tomtom. Therefore I still run the TomTom one next to that pronav to check and make sure I m nor ending up on a bad road. But if u have to load dirt , (peat) u have to go on “the white” roads…lol
It is a gamble… What ever you do, make sure you are in control…
I’ve had two snoopers, both failed…one in warranty and was replaced, replacement failed within 3 months but as it was outside the original warranty, Snooper didn’t want to know 
Then had Garmin Dezl 560, that failed after two months! Got a full refund as store I bought it from no longer stocked it.
Now got Tomtom Pro 5150
Snooper was easy to use, but I wasn’t that impressed with it’s routing. Would keep trying to take me miles out of the way as it was too heavily based towards motorways and dual carriageways.
Liked the Garmin the best, particularly as you could create pre set routes which was great for multidrops. Traffic monitoring was pretty poor though, often quite out of date…ie scene cleared by the time you arrived at an incident it said was still causing delays.
I would have got another Dezl except it appeared they’d discontinued it at the time, not sure if they’re replacing it. If not, then I wouldn’t bank on much future updates or support.
The TomTom is ok, not as intuitive to use as the Garmin, can’t do a multidrops itinerary. You can put in a waypoint, but it doesn’t show you time or distance to waypoint, only to final destination. However, the HD traffic is excellent…worth getting the TomTom just for that IMO!
None of them route perfectly, you,really do need to use them as an aid, an extra tool in your arsenal, but a tool I wouldn’t want to be without!
Hope this helps
Nez
I prefer TT… but have a Garmin. Reason being you can’t tell the TT that I’m driving at 50mph (my really old TT, you could!) so it’s arrival times mean nothing… I’m not shelling out 3 times as much for a truck one either.
Garmin seems to learn what speed you travel at and it’s arrival times even over 2-3 hour drives are +/- 3 minutes.