Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

My question is ..... Sat Nav should I buy in the UK or Aus ??

Also the only ones I have looked at are tomtom go 300 and 500 are they any good, the 300 review I have read say it's to big to fit in your pocket.

Are their better makes out there??

Thanks for any help you can give :D

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Hi

My advice... buy a PDA with Pocket PC with integrated GPS (£199) (comes with car kit, car charger, mains charger, leather carry case) 256MB SD card (£16) and download the Aussie maps (free) and you wont get it cheaper. If you buy a genuine Tom Tom 300, not to sure if the Aussie maps will work? If the Tom Tom 300 is Pocket PC based, there should be no problem. The same PDA in Oz is listed on the web for $800 - $900 on some sites, so based on what I've seen... much cheaper here.

I have the Aussie maps in my PDA/Tom Tom and am heading for Perth in January. The maps have been great for checking distances and routes to see how far apart places are, prior to us going, another good reason to get the Sat Nav now.
If you want any help with the set up, PM me and I'll try to help.

Neil.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

we bought one over here in Oz.... INVALUABLE..... no pulling over to look in Melways and all that palarva... just plug in the address and go.. it verbally directs you as well as visually.. great bit of kit.. you never get lost as when you want to go home just bring up GO HOME in memory.... ours cost about $900 but money well spent.... get it over here whole map of Oz comes with it.. can't remember the name but if you want it let me know.
GL

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Hi,

I was following this thread as we are due to arrive on the Gold Coast next week and we have already decided to buy sat nav when we arrive. I think this will be invaluable when we are exploring the different areas when deciding where to live and also to avoid getting lost unneccessarily with two kids in tow!

If you are happy to recommend the one that you have bought would you please let me know the name and model so that we can look at this.

Thanks for your help

Julia

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Just purchased my Sat Nav 2 weeks ago in Perth. MIO 268 its called, and its great. cost $840 and woreth every penny, as im crap at directions. The Mio 268 is also a MP3 player , PDA Etc. look up on web.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Hi Julia.... with pleasure..... Garmin c320 Street Pilot.... Buy one that operates with a touch screen (by finger) not the ones where you need a little pointer to touch the screen with... The're much better and more convenient... you can also upgrade the maps on the web if you need too..... Goodluck with the move

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

sorry for delay in replying but getting ready for the move .. just wanted to say thanks for the info, will jot it down in my little filofax just in case we don't get back on internet straight away.

Julia

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Just adding my bit so i can get updates :D
I desperately want one when i get there.
Am i being ridiculous or if you bought it here, would you not have to buy some additional 'thingy'(very technical) out there to make it work :confused:

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Anyone got a navman pin 510??

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

hubbie got tom tom 300, does anybody know if you can get the aussie maps for this?

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I looked seriously at buying a Navman Pin for my business as I could use the PDA as well. I could see time/fuel saving benefits with such a device as well as the convenience.

My concern was the mapping software as I often use www.whereis.com.au for time/distance calcs. I found that 12 month old estates could not be found or it it default to some other dissimilar sounding street in an other suburb, far, far away.

As I understand it, the software is the same or similar for both the web and the devices.

I came to the conclusion that the novelty would wear off fairly quickly if there were any errors and the investment would end up cluttering the glove box.

If you drove in other cities frequently and for the UK/Europe I can see the benefits.

I just bought a new street directory $25.

The rest of the money I can put to use for other things.

WW

On an aside, during the first Gulf War, the Yanks "adjusted" their satellites to give themselves an advantage over the Skud missiles. At the same time trawlers along the Great Barrier Reef kept running aground on suddenly "uncharted" reefs :D .

I would wont to be driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and be told I should be 500m to the left! :scared:

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

My Navman is great fun - but has wasted gallons (sorry, litres) of petrol taking me all over the place.

The problem is partly to do with the lack of decent mapping in Oz - ask TomTom, who told me last year that they would not sell the TomTom in Oz because of this.

But the programming also sends you up the garden path more often than I would expect - on one infamous occasion I went nearly 100km out of my way in West Sydney. Not unusual when mapreading, but I didn't expect to pay for the privilege!

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I have Navman ICN510. Been an absolute godsend, as an external sales rep it was worth every penny i paid.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Hi Neil
You said download the Aussy maps Free? Can you tell us how and where as I am about to buy a sat nav and can't find any info on Aussy mapping.
Sorry I know the thread is old but I searched it and this took my fancy.

Sean :) :)

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I use a fantastic system that works brilliant here, It costs nothing and is always reliably there. Its called the sun and buildings sat nav. As long as you know where the sun is and the relation of the skyscrapers and Q1 at Surfers paradise you cant go wrong.

To be serious though, I have had sat nav in cars when I was in the U.K for years and found them very useful. But over here the road systems and traffic are not as complex as the U.K so have never had the need to buy one. But looking at the prices some of you guys have paid, I might take a look at getting one as they look very cheap compared to the u.k.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

We have a Navman, bought in the Uk and downloaded the maps as it was the only one that guaranteed full Australia & New Zealand coverage.

Its been fantastic and worth every penny when we first got here. However Adelaide is very small, and I don't need it now unless I go well out of my way. And as a previous post, it too took us k's out of the way, when a quick look in the street map would have showed us the quickest way. But I felt comfortable in the knowledge that it may take me a few k's out of my way, I would get there in the end and not be lost.

Its very comforting having someone tell you when to turn and where to go, even if they are electronic!!!!!

Jo

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I'm looking at updating my maps or buying another SatNav

Current prices at Harvey Norman are:

Tomtom One $799.00 (Touchscreen)
Tomtom Go 300 Australia $888.00 (Touchscreen)
Tomtom Go 500 Australia $1,099.00 (Bluetooth)
Tomtom Rider $1,299.00 (for motorbikes)

Navman ICN 320 Handheld $547.00

Road Angel Navigator $1,199.00 (Includes In-Car Docking)

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Just looking at these yesterday in WOW - the Garmin seemed to come out top on the <$1000 front. Around $800 and had all the required whistles and bells and an easy to use interface

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I have the Navman icn 520 and have found it to be great, I use it everyday to find my way from job to job. It does take you a bit wayward every now and again but 9 times out of 10 gets you there in the end!!

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Yup!

Thats the one ive got....Navman 'iCN 510'

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Picked up a Garmin c320 on Saturday for $779 in the sale :) its great and really easy to use :) wish we'd bought one as soon as we got over here, would have saved us a few domestics on the old map reading :D

Sue x

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I was talking about this to one of my Australian collegues yesterday, and one point he made was that there is not local support to TomTom, and it is all done via the web. Apparently this has been disucssed in some other forums, and that if things got wrong (for what ever reason), that getting it resolved can be really painfull.

Just recycling somebody elses info.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

FWIW, using the thing aside, I can't say that the Navman is a consumer item if it goes wrong.

Mine lost its voice, within warranty, and was replaced with a different unit. This needed updated software and maps, and due to the anti-copying protection (I think) it took a couple of weeks' frustration on the computer, the web and several hours on the phone to Navman sydney to resolve. I had to make a visit there to get the thing to work again: the maps wouldn't load from the internal memory and the CD maps wouldn't all transfer to the memory card.

If you bought a car that required you to spend hours updating the ignition computer, rewiring the lights etc you would be able to take it back - the computer world is, I'm afraid, several centuries behind.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I got a mio 168 and it is Fantastic, I have a wifi card and this message has been sent from it, also got a naughty version of TomTom5 again excellent, I have Austin Powers telling me my driving is Groovy! :p
tried Ozzy Osbourne's voice lol, "in 300 yards take the left f***ing turn" much better than Jane or Tim.
the celeb voices are mad! also liked the queen saying "turnaround...arsehole"

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I use my Nokia N70 with tom tom & its excellent so if you have a seris 60 nokia phone then consider it. You only need to buy a 256mb SD card for about £20 on ebay & then a bluetooth GPS reciever which are about £50 also on Ebay, the Tom Tom software can be obtained for free (on bit torrent). I just returned from 3 weeks in Perth & found it very usefull the map seemed very up to date & never got us lost.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Can you tell me where I can get the software for the Navman then? I think the Osborne voice would be good, too!

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Might be worth holding off for a short while if you're thinking of gettin a TomTom GPS. They're releasing new 4" screen versions of their systems (you can see them here ) and so you can either get the larger screen new versions or make a killing on the old ones which will inevitably fall in price. :)

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

www.navman.com

:D

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

Agree - have this model and its very good, very portable and its the size of a large electronic calculator. Easy to swap between two cars and just carry with you out of the car - unlike the Tom Toms which are much larger in dimensions.

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

you'd have to buy in Aus otherweise the UK one would just be maps of london and the south and that :)

Re: Sat Nav, Here Or There
 

I also found (I have the 4420 on my IPAQ) Navman a little less accurate than TomTom. Admittedly I have only used TomTom in europe, and Navman in Oz, but my preference was TomTom for accuracy and postioning.