Fluffmeister

As per the title really,

Which portable SatNav would you recommend. It would need to have UK, Ireland and Western Europe, TMC would be nice. I don't need extra's like Bluetooth / MP3 player etc etc.

Which is currently the best or most cost effective. Can you still customise TomTom and put on silly voices?

Hit me with your opinions guys, girls and crossdresser's

cheezemonkhai

One thing I like with TT over the garmin is the ability to show all the data and current speed at the same time.

The Garmin has more features and IMHO better maps, but I think it's more of a personal choice.

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Dr Zoidberg

I'm very happy with my TT720 - didn't bother with the traffic version.

Does everything you need , and while you can put "funny" voices on , the novelty wears off after a day or two

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Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

Fluffmeister

Agreed, but when you have 6 year old twins it can be a source or mirth and merriment

Dr Zoidberg

Fair enough.
The newer TomToms also have computer generated voices that can read out street names as they give you directions which is very handy.

It's something you'd miss out on when you opt for Yoda instead

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Alex

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andy2407

[Ozzy]At the end of the road, ****ing turn left[/Ozzy] should go down well

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Mater

I have the TomTom 720 T with Western & Central Europe map and its brilliant

Carl

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Tomo1971

Been quite a gadget man I have a TT730 but have had a TT One V2 GB and before that ran Navigator 5 and 6 on a iPaq.

If you dont want Bluetooth and the like then the TT One or TT One XL range is the one to go for. Has all the functionality of the higher models apart from handsfree/BT and a couple of smaller things.

Some of the newer ones havnt got a memory card slot though, I would avoid these.

When I tried a Garmin last year I found that its quite hard to tell it to go a different route. Say that I knew that j19 m6 south was blocked (through sally traffic etc), the Garmin I tried had a basic re-route that just put you straight back on the motorway. TT though gives a list of every single road that your route takes you along. You can avoid one or many of these roads. Usefull for local knowledge and low bridges etc (caravaners/truckers).

I have had a few teething problems with the 730 (and the 3 520's before that which went back to halfords within 2 days) but the TT one is more stable and worked perfect for me every time.

Pocket GPS World

Steve

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fatty5000

You can download Mike Strutter voices for tom tom.

HTH

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ShadyAl

I used to have a RoadAngel satnav, and it was RUBBISH. It took ages to load up when you turned it on, and it was just always wrong.

I replaced it with the new UK tomtom, cost me around £120 I think, and It's excellent. I would thoroughly reccomend it to anyone, plus it has free updates for life, and those all important speed camera warnings!

I noticed you also want Western Europe... I know it sounds obvious, but make sure you opt for the European Tomtom rather than the UK Tomtom (its a bit dearer from memory) as with my TT you can't load new maps onto it.

Hope my tup'pence worth helped

Tomo1971

They dont have free updates for life though.

TT's come with the Latest Map Guarantee and Mapshare.

LMG makes sure that you can update your map within 30 days of purchase. This is just in case the unit has sat on the shelf for a while and a newer map has been launched in the meantime.

Mapshare gives you the ability to correct some errors on your map (road speed/turn directions/(un)block roads etc. You can send these to tomtom and download corrections from others, thus updating your map. These are valid for 12 months, they assume you will buy a new map in 12 months and then get another 12 months of mapshare updates etc.

Steve

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smstext

tomtom, they have the latest map guarentee, the map correction thing and do the tomtom with TMC (optional plug in kit). i was going to go with garmin after years with tomtom, but saw how good tomtom have got and decided to do another spell with them.

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Stuart_J

Another vote for Tom Tom. We have factory fitted sat nav in the Nissan & the Superb yet we use the Tom Tom, its just so much easier to use, it can be updated from internet downloads & things like speed camera locations can be added. We tried garmin a couple of years ago & took it back after 2 weeks & swapped it for the Tom Tom, it just wasnt as good although newer models might be better

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ShadyAl

I hate to be a smartass, but I think your wrong mate. I have had my tomtom for well over a year now, and it updates for free..

Your right about the mapshare thing where you can edit it yourself and send it in to their main database via your USB to update all tomtoms, but as far as it not being free for life, I think you are mistaken..

ShadyAl

Tomo1971

Ok, sorry, not sure what you were refering to, maps or device software......

Updates for maps are not free (apart from the one time latest map guarantee)

Updates for TT home (on the PC) and TT Application (on the device) are free.

But.......

Its hard to explain but I cant imagine that TT will be updating the device SW on older machines (like the original TT go's and x10's), rather concentrating on the later x20 and x30 series. And even if they did, the older machines havnt got the processing power to run some of the later features (IQ routes/mapshare/Text to speech etc) so at some point updating the application becomes pointless, they have taken it as far as the processing power can take it. That will of course apply to machines you buy now in a couple of years time.

Even regarding mapshare....... you are only downloading mapshare updates from other users that apply this updates on the same version of map that you are running. So, if 1000 people kept there map and never updated it, 200,000 folk could be updating a newer map via mapshare but you would never see those updates. Only those from the other 999 devices. Yes, it sucks. So, I have a 730 with latest maps but as they are new, I wont be getting as many mapshare updates as say a x20 owner as there are more of them around (with the older maps on).

TT is still the best though, they can be updated for several years by which time you would probably want another one anyway.

Steve

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chicken_eyebrow

I've got the TomTom 720 and it's brilliant. It even reads out text messages out loud if you set it up to use one of the computer voices. The only complaint I have is it doesn't seem to last long before the battery runs out (a few hours), so on a long journey I have to keep it plugged in to the ciggy lighter.

I got it from the Halfords website for £169 p&p included yet the same model was selling in the Halfords stores for £229! So shop around!

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Dor

I had a TT720 before getting columbus. I really thought it was a good bit of kit. Mind you it doesn't have the classic columbus voice line...

Stay on this road....for a long time...

Chris

Petr

I am very happy with Becker satnav, 7927 is what I have, speed cameras database, lane info, TMC, and both western and eastern Europe, got it from Ebay for £65 second hand
they used to be brand new about £130

the model with BT (7977) is for £170

TaviaRS

Garmin every time. I've had 4 of them and they are brilliant. Made the mistake of getting a TomTom, more like a crapcrap 3 repairs in a year and totally unstable.

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DGW

Another vote for the TomTom 720. But I well NEVER buy a new model TomTom on release because they depreciate like a lead balloon.

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Denis

2002 Octavia 1.8T 4X4 turbo Estate - rebreathed on by Jabba ... 31.93mpg
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skudmissile

I vote for garmin.

The way i look at it is well sell equal amounts of both tomtoms and garmins. the pile of faulty garmins is about a 1/4 the size of the faulty tomtom pile.

The garmins mounts are also alot stronger than the recent tomtom ones. the garmin Nuvi 200 is only £99.99 and is a brill, simple to use bit of kit.

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ShadyAl

Dr Zoidberg

They always put them on sale at a very high price - the 730 is about 280 quid where I got my 720 for 160 a few months back.

Give it six months and it will be a lot cheaper

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Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

vRSLen

TT One Europe for me with the add on scamera database.

Nice and easy to mount and use, plus you can carry it in your
shirt pocket

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parsko

The guy in Halfords made this point to me today when i asked why they recommend them over a Tomtom.

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