navigation aids

[flump1]

Hi folks I have been asked by a friend without a pc your opinions regarding satellite navigation systems(tom-toms). He is only running a couple of vehicles in a hundred mile radius and he is wondering if these systems will benefit his drivers ,or are they over rated?.Any help ,opinions appreciated.

[Oneeyedvic]

The company I used to work for had a company Tom Tom Go - it meant that whoever was going out could use it (we didn't go out a great lot).

I found it amazing. I was going to a city i had never been to before, and it got me exactly where I wanted to go.

It is a weird feeeling driving and not knowing where to go until the device tells you.

Anyway, I no longer work there but am buying a tomtom for my pda - obviously I give it the thumbs up

[ianess]

Great technology if you really need it but at a price.
Why not go for a cheapish PC and use use an on-line printable mapping service?  Much cheaper and amazingly accurate.Click http://maps.google.co.uk/maps  to try it out.

[tubeway]

I use a TOMTOM as I travel to various locations - I could not do without it - I purchased it myself and I have worked out that it saves me at least 3-4 hours a week. It was also excellent when we went for a long weekend break earlier this year - they are not infallable but are VERY useful.

[mfewell]

Sorry not an answer, but I am very interested in these systems. Can they map out a 'quiet' route. If I want to go from London to Southampton I guess it will say M25 M3. But what if I don't want to sit on motorways, can I specify just B-roads or single-carriageway ?

[si the fire]

hi I have a navman650 wich is along the same lines as the tom-tom sat nav system, in my experiance, they are 100% accurate in getting you to your destination, but the route it gives you may not necessary be the quickest or best route, i've travelled a known route and used my local knowledge to get to a destination(over a distance of 100+ miles) and although the sat-nav would have got me there it kept it would have added a further 12miles or so to the journey. you can also set a preference on my one for A+B roads and motorways or a mixture of the 3. i have experianced some mirror scrapping "tracks" using some B roads though lol !!

[flump1]

Thanks very much for your answers all have been logged and passed on. He is still in two minds over whether it is for him or not, so I am sure this will help him,

[maggie01]

I purchased a Tom Tom a while ago but didn't feel confident to use it. I took it out with me last week just encase. I took the wrong exit off the motorway and parked up when I could. punched in the details of where I wanted to go and I was both amazed and relieved to have someone speaking the directions and actually getting me there. I was very impressed. Although they do not always take you on the most direct route. Still at least you get there in the end. Amazing

[SteveD]

Have a look here:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews80411.html

[flump1]

maggie 01 and Steve d thanks very much for the advise. He is busy writing his proposal now!

[Alltorque]

Tom Tom is brilliant, and might just save your marriage/relationship, (no more map-reading arguments). Only problem I've had with a Tom Tom Go 300 was it kept losing sat signal in central London on a really very stormy night, (thunder, lightning the whole shebang). No idea why.

[flump1]

Alltorque thanks for that!