Sat Nav
 

I know this has been done before but for the techno phobe please explain!

What do I need in Sat Nav system?

Whats the best one at the lowest price possible?

Do you have to pay service charges like sat radio?

I'm thinking of getting hubby one for crimbo but we give each other lowish budgets to buy pressies on. I got him a Sirius radio last year but he took it back because he didn't think he'd use it.

He is a complete nightmare to buy for as if he sees something he wants he buys it - so he never wants anything. So I thought a gadget for the car would be good.

Otherwise it's socks, pants and some gummy bears:eek:

Thanks in advance.....

Re: Sat Nav
 

they dont require any monthly fees. they are simply picking up a signal which is beaming down all over the world.

i have a tomtom. lovely to use. but i havnt got the Canadian maps for it yet. but in the UK it was great.

i believe Garmins are better for canada/usa tho! i just couldnt justify getting rid of my tomtom which was not very old when i can just change the maps..

get a touch screen, with voice turn by turn and preferably a good search level, ie full address/postcode. ie 1020 1st street, not just 1st street...

sorry to hijack slightly, but ive been meaning to ask does anyone have the Canadian maps for tomtoms? are they any good? where is cheapest to buy them?

Re: Sat Nav
 

Thanks - that's not hijacking your on subject - every little helps too!

And what are you doing on here this time of night??????I can't sleep. But I'm gonna go and try.

Re: Sat Nav
 

Why not get him one of those charity goats or something? Instead of wasting money on something he doesn't want, you could do something useful with the cash.

Re: Sat Nav
 

Ive just got back to the uk having been on a recci trip to see where we want to live and I downloaded the map of USA and Canada for my tom tom i must say it was spot on in Lethbridge, Red deer, and all over Edmonton.
WE hired a car at the airport and it had a garmin in it I turned it off as it got me lost twice so in my opinion use a tom tom . hope this helps

Re: Sat Nav
 

The greatest invention ever.
We use our Tom Tom in Quebec and it has definately saved our marriage.(we women can't read maps - apparently):ohmy:
We also downloaded off the tomtom site - it costs of course, but is well worth it.:thumbsup:

Re: Sat Nav
 

In defence of the Garmin, I have a Garmin 660 and It's been great here around Ottawa, before I bought it I'd spend three quarters of my journey trying to find my way out of being lost (you don't get the pedestrians to ask like England), and spent much money on petrol/gas, now I go out with greater confidence, even if I take a wrong turning it recalibrates and gets me to where I want to go with no fuss. I have heard the Tomtom maps are updated more often, but I reckon if you got of the latest of either make and you won't go far wrong.

Re: Sat Nav
 

I have an old tomtom 300 I bought a Usa and Canada sd card for it on ebay for £50 and it was great for us in Ontario earlier this year.


Danny

Re: Sat Nav
 

I can read maps - fortunately as MOH can't. As I cant lipread and drive at the same time its always me as navigator and MOH as driver. Trouble is he gets his lefts ang rights confused so we still end up going the wrong way. :rofl:hey ho.

Re: Sat Nav
 

I can read maps too, but OH says you're not supposed to turn it upside down and round about.:confused: Who says!!!

Re: Sat Nav
 

Hey, whatever works for you. :)

Re: Sat Nav
 

We used our TomTom 910 when we went to NS & PEI and it was mega.

The 910 comes with all N.America maps pre-installed on the harddrive. It has MP3 player built in, Bluetooth to use as a hands free phone and loads of other stuff.

Realy realy easy to use and you can download Points of Interest from various websites and install them easily.....ALL of Tim Hortons locations for e.g. mmmmmm what more do you need

Prior to the the carwe now have we had a Chrysler Grand Voyager which had Alpine satnav kit worth £1000's in it....great piece of kit but total nightmare to use so over complicated...TomTom is a godsend.

Cost about £210 I think it was about 8 months ago.

Re: Sat Nav
 

Thanks for your replies - I shall check out the shops and see if I think it's worth while.

Hopefully I can come up wit something totally cool instead though;)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Go for the $10 christmas, or at the most $20. Its saves all this sort of angst and you save money and the world too

Re: Sat Nav
 

Bought myself a Garmin Nuvi 660 just after we landed in ON.

Best thing I ever did. On our road trip from ON to NS we had three stops along the way - Ottawa, Quebec & Fredericton - it took us to the front door of the hotel every time. The other good thing is, once you go and do your sight seeing bit in an unfamiliar city, you just tell it to take you back to the hotel - dead easy!

But probably as you know, it's not just maps! Amongst other things you can find the nearest banks/ATM's, resaurants, petrol stations and hotels - very handy!

Have also had a return trip to ON this time from Yarmouth on the cat (ferry) to Portland, Maine then through New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York state crossing back into Canada at Niagara - all done with the satnav.

Now, I wouldn't be without one.

:thumbsup:

Re: Sat Nav
 

have used a Tom Tom 510 in the Lower Mainland and wouldn't go anywhere without it. We bought ours in the UK and paid a small fortune for it as would be expected.

You can buy a Tom Tom 1 (which works just as good) in Canada for about $200 with all North American and Canadian maps already loaded. Try future Shop or CostCo there are some good deals around at the moment. Garmin tend to be much more expensive but have a good reputation as well.:thumbsup:

Re: Sat Nav
 

Very happy with my Garmin. At the time I shopped, the comparable TomTom model had a volume control that could only be changed by going into an onscreen menu. The Garmin had a good old fashioned dial on the side of the unit. The TomTom way sounded like a palaver and dangerous. Ability to instantly increase volume is a must with screaming kid (or OH) in the car :thumbup:

Re: Sat Nav
 

Hmmm...I don't get you guys - the most fun about a road trip is getting lost! :)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Not when your spending money and trying to get somewhere before the day after tomorrow:p
Anyway, it's ok for you Nordic types, you have navigational aids built in to your genes, a present from your Viking past.

Re: Sat Nav
 

If you're in such a hurry, why not leave a couple of days early? ;)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Because I'm lost somewhere else from the day before trying to get back to start from where I want to go the day after tomorrow, or even before.

Re: Sat Nav
 

You're charmin' with a Garmin...

Re: Sat Nav
 

For your sake, I do hope you have an RV with tons of supplies, the way you're being lost all the time. :p

Re: Sat Nav
 

I'm lost right now! I forgot use my GPS to get me to the living room. Now I have to spend 3 hours trying to find the Kitchen again.

Re: Sat Nav
 

You need a smaller house! :eek:

Re: Sat Nav
 

Or other people in it to tell me where to go lol.

Re: Sat Nav
 

Or big arrows painted on the walls.


KITCHEN
--------->

WASHROOM
<----------


;)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Tentatively broached the subject of Sat Nav over the weekend.

He doesn't want one:(

Why would you not? We always get lost, and we always nearly run out of fuel. It's always frustrating!

Oh well, socks, pants and gummy bears it is. Unless anyone has a 70's style police CB radio thingy (AKA Starskey and Hutch type thing) they want to sell me - then he would be made up! He may even dance about a bit if he got one of those! Oh a red kojack lamp would be cool too - anyone got those items in the attic?????

Re: Sat Nav
 

Buy him some snow tires:D





I'll fetch me hat

Re: Sat Nav
 

& some gummy bears!

:lol:

Re: Sat Nav
 

:rofl::rofl:

Re: Sat Nav
 

Buy yourself a new husband.

Re: Sat Nav
 

I find the ones with volume control are best ;)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Or just rent one by the hour. :cool:

Re: Sat Nav
 

I'm not usually a Luddite, but I love maps and I've never seen the need for sat nav - especially not in Canada where grid layouts and absolute numbering systems are there to help you. My OH tells me that I'm abnormal (she may have a point...) but for most journeys a 5-minute look at a map before departure is all I need. If I've driven a route once, or been driven twice, I can typically drive it again without a map, even months or years later.

But then, I have a somewhat strange affinity for maps - as a kid I apparently used to read atlases like novels.... anybody else suffer from this affliction?

Re: Sat Nav
 

Not everywhere in Canada is designed and built on the grid system.

There great majority of Calgary was designed otherwise I believe the newer areas of Edmonton are built the same way nowadays.

Example: Google Maps of Northwest Calgary

Cheers
Steve

Re: Sat Nav
 

I do that too, pore over maps for hours. I think I pinched every single school Atlas I was ever loaned :o , and I still look at them now - funny to see the changes in such a short time even.

But show me a street map and ask me to drive somewhere and I just can't be bothered. I'd much rather have a nice voice telling me. I don't like to navigate as a passenger either, I've even acted up non-existant car sickness so I wouldn't be asked to do it in the first place :thumbup:

Still, it's not all a waste, I can't be beaten at Trivial Pursuit geography :D

Re: Sat Nav
 

For the number of times I go somewhere I am unfamiliar with, it makes no sense to spend the money, Ill just get directions from google and take a map. But if I were a salesman going places I didnt know all the time it would be a nice feature.

If I am away on business I like to rent with Hertz to get the "neverlost" GPS as its nice to concentrate on the driving rather than figuring out where I am and where I need to turn. Do other rental firms offer that sort of thing now?

One thing I dont get is why you would pay $1000+ as an option for a built in one in a new car when you can buy them for $2-300 now and take them with you.

Re: Sat Nav
 

Weirdo.

:)

Re: Sat Nav
 

Some woman would prefer losing the volume completely.