Sat Nag, stand alone or phone/tablet app what to do you use.

[Pudsey Bear]

The windows phone just didn't work as well as other formats, the phones them selves were ok, Liz had two, but finding apps was a big problem so not enough take up, MS effectively ruined the leading phone manufacturer, but they are on their way back I think.

https://www.nokia.com/en_gb/phones/all-phones

 

[Pudsey Bear]

http://www.techradar.com/news/nokia-8-deals

 

[Vanterrier]

Garmin Nuvi 1340... Getting on a bit now and basic but it's just a backup for my "Nose-Nav" really (I follow my nose on many tours) It has lifetime mapping and has never let me down, I like the pedestrian feature where we have used it it unfamiliar cities to navigate our way around the streets on foot. The battery is probably too old to do that now though. I have POI files loaded too which is eas to update. We have a PVC so width/weight limits are of little use to us really. Just watch out for signage for low bridges, weight limits and width limits. Usually ignore width limits anyway, how many times have we passed 6ft-6 max width signs and not seen anything near that in practice, so a sad nag that navigated us around these would be a waste of time in all cases I can think of.

if it dies I will replace it with a similar spec Garmin I think.

K ?

 

[Minisorella]

I much prefer dedicated satnavs, in the same way that I'd never buy a combination washer/dryer and would rather watch TV on a TV, not a computer or tablet. I'll always check maps and routes on paper, phone or iPad, just in case I fall out with the lovely Aussie fella on the Garmin. I've tried a few navigation apps but personally just don't think they're a patch on the separate gizmos - plus I ran into signal issues more than once. The first satnav (long before there were phone apps) was a TomTom, now ancient and no longer supported but it was tiny... handy for walks though, so I've kept it. When we got the van, we bought a bigger Garmin that would take the vehicle dimensions and weight and that's still going strong after well over 6 years and has been really reliable. It came with lifetime maps and traffic, so I can keep it updated for no extra cost. More recently I bought another Garmin for the car to replace the old TomTom... could easily have been another TomTom but there was a special offer, also with lifetime maps and traffic alerts. They all have their quirks but I feel safer in the van knowing it won't route me under low bridges or down impossibly narrow roads, as one of the apps tried to do once! Having said all this, I think everyone gets used to using one system or another and it's human nature to stay loyal to what's always worked for us.

 

[edina]

I think the make of satnav is not half as important as keeping the maps on it updated. I've spoken to a few people who have never updated since they bought theirs.

 

[PeteS]

CoPilot on a tablet,a Hudl in this case so is dedicated to just that. Works a treat as its a 7" screen and I can see it!

 

[Jenrai]

On the subject of finding POI and avoiding low bridges I came across this website, not sure if it is helpful. Maybe someone more techie than I?

Jenrai

 

[nicholsong]

On the subject of finding POI and avoiding low bridges I came across this website, not sure if it is helpful. Maybe someone more techie than I?

Jenrai

I checked it for low bridges.

I shows them for UK and France but not for Germany and Poland - did not check further.

Geoff

 

[Tezza33]

I have a Tomtom Truck 6000, it has lifetime map updates, speedcamera updates and tomtom live, I can input the vehicle dimensions obviously and the Tomtom live redirects me if there is a hold up on my route, I can put the 3rd party POI's in (at last) although not as good as earlier tomtoms with that but only because you are limited with BMP files so on the screen Aldi or any other shopping POI looks like a WC/petrol/toilet/pub stop, you can touch the icon on the screen and it gives info though because it comes with a data sim card so always online, I carry an old Go740 with Truck software on and a Tomtom One XXL as back up but I have never needed them.
I prefer Tomtom but it is just what I am used to

 

[Campervanannie]

I use copilot on my iPhone which the only place I have had a problem with is usually centre of Glasgow it dies but as soon as your through it it starts up again other than that it perfect for me.

 

[saxonrosie]

Nozatec, cheap, large screen and does everthing I need

We also have Nozatec, does what it says on the tin, great device you can put your dimensions in.

 

[Rockburner]

I have a Tomtom Truck 6000, it has lifetime map updates, speedcamera updates and tomtom live, I can input the vehicle dimensions obviously and the Tomtom live redirects me if there is a hold up on my route, I can put the 3rd party POI's in (at last) although not as good as earlier tomtoms with that but only because you are limited with BMP files so on the screen Aldi or any other shopping POI looks like a WC/petrol/toilet/pub stop, you can touch the icon on the screen and it gives info though because it comes with a data sim card so always online, I carry an old Go740 with Truck software on and a Tomtom One XXL as back up but I have never needed them.
I prefer Tomtom but it is just what I am used to

how much does the sim card cost to run? How much data do you get through - do you know?

 

[Tezza33]

how much does the sim card cost to run? How much data do you get through - do you know?

It comes with the data sim installed and it is free for life (well the life of the satnav) so it doesn't cost anything, it has the advantage that if you want to find somewhere it searches the internet for places, I bought mine for £150 when Private posted a link on WC to Very.co.uk and even got £40 cash back from Tomtom so it was a bargain

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think there's value in the freebies - but software takes a lot of effort to write, so I'm happy to pay for it, assuming it's well written.

Me too, my maps.me was paid for as is my Copilot, I bought sysgic, but it was so crap I demanded a full refund, (this was a few years ago), maps.me went free, and got crappy, adding cycling and walking to the app, instead of making stand alone apps for those, now it has adverts on the map details, but can be turned off.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Usually ignore width limits anyway, how many times have we passed 6ft-6 max width signs and not seen anything near that in practice, s
K ?

Ah, yes the elastic road phenomenon, 6'6'' except for access

 

[Les Haro]

I had here for a while, but it kept crashing, as did Waze.

One I'd never bother with ever again is the paid for version from TomTom, nothing like as good as the older standalones to use, and unusually for an app has to be paid for yearly, and can only be used on one device, commercial suicide IMHO.

I have waze which is now owned by Google and it has never crashed in the 6 months I have had it.
1,000,000 automatic updates world wide daily they say. I have 2 full old garmins that cant work

 

[Pudsey Bear]

On the subject of finding POI and avoiding low bridges I came across this website, not sure if it is helpful. Maybe someone more techie than I?

Jenrai

Good find, but I couldn't work it out at all, needs another look after my Coffee input.

As an aside but still on topic, is anyone a member of this site https://www.pocketgpsworld.com/ I'm a lifetime member, there are loads of free POIs, and a lively forum, it did have a weekly newsletter, but the writer has been ill for a month or two, it's best attribute is a very up to date speed camera database, updated weekly, I won't go into the pros and cons of that, not the place and there is no right view anyway.