Hi Guys, I’ve decided to get modern !! which is the best sat-nav for European roads ■■ or is it best to buy software for laptop ■■ or sat nav that plugs into laptop ■■?
Also which is the best laptop ■■ for battery life, etc, etc ■■?
i have got a tom tom go which is dedicated device for sat nav
tomtom.com/products/products … Language=1
if you bolted on to a laptop you would be adviced to run it via an inverter which would mean wires everwhere
better to go for a dedicated device or pda with add ons
my veiw on sat nav is that it does not replace maps but makes the navigation to the job a whole lot safer
Picked up the unit 3 weeks ago…great for the UK and not too bad in France (main roads of Europe)…Well worth the money…(£500 at computerland)
Found a small one way street in Eastern Paris (bobigny) at the first attempt…
user44:
Picked up the unit 3 weeks ago…great for the UK and not too bad in France (main roads of Europe)…Well worth the money…(£500 at computerland)Found a small one way street in Eastern Paris (bobigny) at the first attempt…
What blooming make of unit though user44 
I use the Garmin Street Pilot with the full unlock codes for Europe.
It’s great for most countries (not sure about Spain and Portugal). I’ve used it in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy for street level stuff. I’ve also used it for main routes through Austria, Hungary and Romania.
You can change the settings from mph to kph, including the voice prompts.
I also take my laptop everywhere. I have two data cards for the Street Pilot, so going long distance means downloading different map sets to cover the route and destination.
I have MapPoint on the laptop as well. This is like the professional version of AutoRoute. Could be wrong, but I believe the coverage is better. You can set up Map Point to work with the Street Pilot, but I’ve never had to do this yet.
i have had a pioneer avic x-1 fitted in my new r series.
it is a tv tuner, dvd/ dvdr, cd/ cdr, player, also mp3 it is an rds radio, sat nav for all of europe & scandinavia & some of eastern europe, its all controlled by a 7 inch touch screen, you can hook up a reversing camera to it also you can add another screen to it to view from the bunk etc.
paul
Aldi have the Medion PDA with navigation software onboard and GPS receiver being released on the 11th November priced at £249 which is £20 cheaper than it was a few months ago. Same unit in Halfords is over £300 pounds. Comes complete with all you need for in car/truck at 12volts. Would make a nice Xmas present LOL.
Regards
Westie
Sorry Simon…
Thought I’d put a name to it…Tom Tom…Still very happy with it …Just a further comment…I spoke with an Italian driver a couple of days ago with the same unit and he said it was great on the continent but ■■■■■ here in the UK…
He had the ’ Major roads of Europe database’ instead of the UK database…only a fraction of the information compared to the UK version…
Now the MROE Chip works great on the continent, but because we have a huge amount of small roads and streets here, the chip can’t hold it all and we have our own chip strictly for the UK…
I mention this because drivers may find the unit at a slightly cheaper price in France or Italy but it will come with the MROE database and the additional chip you need to buy, to download the UK database plus the hassle (unless your really computer literate) of downloading (websites not that user friendly). Makes me think it’s better to buy here with the UK chip supplied unless you can save more than say 80 quid and accept the necessity to download the UK database
Regards…Paul
A few weeks ago I was looking at a couple of sat-nav models here in Belgium.
One was a Garmin Street Pilot 2660 I think and the other was a Magellan.
I asked the guy in the shop if he could demonstrate both models for me,so I gave him an address in Revin,France where I was going to the following Monday.Neither one was detailed enough to give street level accuracy for Revin,and could only show the main road through the town.
So I have now bought a Navman iCN 650,which has good street level maps,including the address in Revin that the other two could not give.
It was advertised in Halfords at £799,I bought one this morning for £680 in Dixons at the tunnel terminal in Folkestone,and tried it on the way home.
I have to say that it is a lovely bit of kit and well worth the money,it has detailed street level maps for 16 European countries with postcode search etc. multi view display and voice guidance.
It only works on 12v but as most trucks have a 12v socket it shouldn’t be a problem,it also has a mains adaptor and USB cable to upgrade the maps etc at a later date.It also comes with an infra red remote.
hi keith,
let me know how you get on with it, as hopefully come the new year i may have a job!! and will be in the market for a gps unit, thought of the tom tom but with the bolt ons it turns out very expensive about 800€
you can find cheap pda’s mobile gps units at www.pdaonline.co.uk i think that is right and they are not hugely expensive.
chris
After one week with my Navman iCN 650 I don’t think I’ll manage without it,and should have bought one long ago.
I loaded in the Belgian Ardenne on Monday and as I’d been to the address before I knew the way.However,on arrival I was informed that I had to load at another place 45km away,and so typed the address in and it took me straight to it,albeit through some rather tight lanes,though there isn’t really anything else when you’re off the beaten track!
I then typed in the delivery address where I had to unload,approx 40km north east of Le Mans,again out in the sticks.I didn’t have a street name,just the name of the village,but the Navman took me to within 1km of the place!
The only drawback is that with it having an internal GPS antenna,it tends to lose the signal now and again,which is quite disconcerting as when it picks up the signal again the voice guidance will tell you to make a U-turn as soon as possible,even though I kept telling her she must be off her rocker if she thinks I can do a U-turn in a lane barely wide enough for the truck!
I may invest in an external antenna.
All in all though I’m very pleased with it so far.The re-routing is done within a matter of seconds and the 3D map view is excellent.
I’ve been busy this week programming all our regular loading and unloading addresses in.
It can either be mounted to the windscreen with a sucker or fixed to the dash,I have it fixed to the dash top,though it does vibrate a bit.
The infra red remote is very good,nothing worse than trying to push the right button when you’re driving,the remote makes it much easier and safer.