- Thread starter Puglet1
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addjunkie
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Use your phone, and google maps..
addjunkie.
I’m really looking for a large screen that makes it easy for me to keep an eye on speed limit and actual speed etc.
Plus something that just sits in the car and doesn’t require any fiddling or setting up each time I get in the car.
Thank you for your suggestion .
I’m really looking for a large screen that makes it easy for me to keep an eye on speed limit and actual speed etc.
Plus something that just sits in the car and doesn’t require any fiddling or setting up each time I get in the car.
Thank you for your suggestion .
doubleboost
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I used to be an avid Tomtomist.
But I have gone with smartphone carplay and use Google maps.
Our friends in China make them for allsorts of moderns, I have fitted one to my 2014 VW Amarok.
But you can also get universal models that suction cup to the windscreen or dash top.
Program your destination on your phone before you hop into your car or ask the unit to set your destination by voice control.
But I have gone with smartphone carplay and use Google maps.
Our friends in China make them for allsorts of moderns, I have fitted one to my 2014 VW Amarok.
But you can also get universal models that suction cup to the windscreen or dash top.
Program your destination on your phone before you hop into your car or ask the unit to set your destination by voice control.
Misterg
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IMHO, Tomtom do the whole sat-nav thing better than Garmin. (More intuitive to use, reliable maps, sensible routes, etc.)
I also prefer a dedicated sat-nav rather than relying on my phone. The trouble with car-play / google maps is that you're goosed if you're in an area with no signal.
Cobbler
Codger bodger
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I agree with you, I bought a Garmin one programmed for a camper or larger vehicle, cost a lot of money. I uised it for a bit & hated it, it took me alsorts of odd routes. Gave up on it & bought another Tom Tom. It’s on the shelf unused & has been for a long time.
You can select offline maps when route planning still at base, and the smartphone/google maps will download all the maps covering the route to the phone storage to use offline if you have no signal.
Misterg
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Yes, but it doesn't help if you're stuck in an underground car park in a city centre somewhere and want to know which way to go when you get out.
dobbslc
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The Tom Tom database seems very out of date to say the least in central London!
My one always tries to take me through a bus gate on Bakers Street that's been there for at least three years and another route and another bus gate on Regents Street.
Yes it's got lifetime updates and yes I've updated it many times but it's particularly useless in London.
In some areas it will literally drive you round in circles.
Roads that have been a 20mph limit for years are also still showing at 30mph!
The speed camera alerts are good though and I also like the large 7" screen compared to a phone.
My one always tries to take me through a bus gate on Bakers Street that's been there for at least three years and another route and another bus gate on Regents Street.
Yes it's got lifetime updates and yes I've updated it many times but it's particularly useless in London.
In some areas it will literally drive you round in circles.
Roads that have been a 20mph limit for years are also still showing at 30mph!
The speed camera alerts are good though and I also like the large 7" screen compared to a phone.
Morris
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Surely that's loss of GPS signal which would affect any sat nav device.
Morris
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Yup, did 2400 miles in the USA like that. I would download the map needed on public WiFi (usually our hotel) and work offline. Saved a fortune in phone charges
Misterg
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Yes, loss of GPS affects both, but at least with a sat-nav, you can program your route and it will give you directions as soon as it gets GPS signal.
With google maps (as per my last experience with it), it won't even let you put a destination in without mobile signal. (Which I've also experienced in quite a few bits of Scotland and mid Wales.)
You just get this:
You have to go into google maps settings and "Enable Offline Navigation" + "Enable Offline Directions" then it works offline too with the maps you downloaded.
Walkthrough of the various settings possible (offline traffic information and other options too) https://www.madpenguin.org/how-to-use-google-maps-without-internet/
I run google maps right on the car's headunit (its android based), and its 4g sim coverage is patchy so I have all this set up. Waze too.
Smallfry
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A lot of them do just that.
I got rid of my iphone when I stopped working, so no google maps or Android stuff for me. I have a twenty year old Navman, and it has been brilliant. Unfortunately, when I bought it new, I didn't realise you had to pay for updates, so I have never updated it. If I need to go to anywhere "new", it does not come up on the search, SO, I am going to get a new to me used TomTom.
I used to use satnav every day when I was working, and I find they send you on sometimes "interesting" routes, that you would never take locally. Also, why is it that if they send you on one route which is supposed to be shortest or fastest, then coming back, send you on a different route ? Even the old ones, that do not take into account traffic.
