Sat nav/ Laser & Radar detector

[Mark B]

I'll be starting a new job soon which will involve a fair bit of travel, so I thought It'd be a good time to get a sat nav system and a speed camera/ scamera van detector.

Question is though, is it best to buy two separate devices or one combination unit?

Also which would people recommend for both?

I did read a thread or two in the archives but they didn't answer all my questions, had a look on pistonheads & thought of buying a tomtom for satnav & a cheetah or snooper detector.

Your opinions gratefully accepted...  

Cheers,

Mark.  

[peterg]

Personal faves are TomTom and a Road Angel Compact  

[Liam]

I have had very satisfactory service for 2 yearsfrom a Snooper S6 Neo (2 seperate units). It may have been superceded?

However, the glass in some windscreens may affect the sat receiver performance. I had an Audi that required the receiver to be on the outside but it works fine inside in a BMW.

[Mark B]

Personal faves are TomTom and a Road Angel Compact  

Which TomTom in particular Peter?

Cheers  

[Boomy]

I got a tom tom one quite a while ago.

Dropped it at least five times too, she's still going strong

It was also louder and clearer than my friends tom tom 300 and i believe has a slightly faster cpu.

I added the camera locations onto it from the tinternet, but of course it's not like an actual detector.They are just shown as points of interest and i set it to warn us when they were 400 yards away.

Various guys at work purchased different makes of sat nav and they were all impressed with my tom tom, especially the speed it worked out routes etc.

I assume their are even more options/models in the tom tom range now though, but if the time comes i need a new one, i will be using them again for sure.

I just wanted one that got me to certain places with the minimum fuss btw, i didn't want or need one that played MP3's and made the toast etc

[bhouse]

I've got the TomTom710 whch is excellent. If you have a bluetooth phone it also works as a hands free kit, and if you have a datya connection you can (on subscription) download realtime traffic info and the TomTom will reroute you to minimise delays. On a recent drive to the southof France we avoided a 4 hour autoroute hold up thanks to this feature

You can download known speed cam locations to the TomTom but I wouldn't advise it as a primary scamsite warning, as many temporary locations don't seem to be in the database.

Cars with athermic windscreens benefit from an external aerial (for any satnav) but many such have a thinner coating at the edges of thscreen. Mount the satnav there and you should be OK.

[peterg]

Well, I have a TomTom 300 but it's been superceded and now it seems all old stock has gone...

You can however, still buy 500 and 700 models which have Bluetooth (plus 700 has remote control) or the One which as has been said is slightly faster and smaller allowing pocketing when you leave the car which the 300/500/700 don't as they're a bit bulky

or if you're feeling flush, you could get one of the newer models 510/710/910  

best deals on any model here  

[Mark B]

Thanks for the feedback chaps, keep em coming.......  

[nikpro]

Mark,

I've got a Garmin Nuvi and a Tom Tom navigator 5 on the pocket PC platform - both are excellent and you can call and have a look any time you want. I'm off tomorrow and thursday then nights over the weekend.

TomTom is probably the better application but the Garmin is beautifully built and fits into a shirt pocket extremely well!

have a look here at the various forums:

Pocket GPS World

[grunsmis]

Hi,

I've bought a Garmin streetpilot 2720 and am hugely happy about it. It can do the standard from-to part but has some add-on that make it great for sevens or motor-bikes:

- Waterproof

- Screen that is readable in sunlight (can vouch for that)

- Whole of Europe

- PC software included

- It logs where you've been

- More options on how the route is calculated

Especially the last two are great for touring: you can plot out a route at home, download routes from Internet (a lot of routes from bikers), download places where you've been from the unit (if you like certain parts), store them, etc. Am still learning to play but will drive to the Netherlands in two weeks time from Italy and plan to avoid highways at all costs (have an aeroscreen and don't like to wear a helmet..:-)). Found a lot of route on the internet (like the 50 most beautifull mountain passes in the alps, etc.). It really is a piece of cake to string that all together.

You can download all sites with known radars in Europe and it will warn you.

It cost me 1000 euro inc vat. Too much if you want just A to B but if you want A to B to C to B to D to A and use it in the open it is a great piece of kit.

Rgrds,

Mies

[Guest]

I've got a tomtom 510 and can't fault it yet.