Satnav repair

[jackdaww]

I try to review my route before starting off to be sure its ok.

you can do that with a paper map of course, but then you have to rememberit all - and there is a serious issue observing direction signs now that councils are not clearing obstructive vegetation.

I use the free Google Maps navigation as my sat-nav and I think it's an amazing free resource, almost completely removing all of the stress associated with setting off for unknown realms...

One of the biggest advantages that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that if you happen to take a wrong-turn for whatever reason, off your pre-planned route, a sat-nav instantly knows that you've done this, but also learns on the fly as to the best method of getting you from where you 'currently are' to where you really want to be, and modifies the suggested route to keep up with any changes to your actual route...

I'm a huge fan, and don't really see how the free Google Maps method could be improved by spending money on a Garmin or Tom-Tom solution, especially given the issues related in this thread, and also update-issues I've heard anecdotally.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

=========================

my smartfone is on a PAYG sim, no bundles for me .

i would expect many topups will be needed on a long trip.

i do many trips all over the uk towing our caravan , the satnav is VITAL for me.

agreed on the recalculate facility , also re-routing for accidents etc .

i find it easier to follow the satnav instructions than looking out for roadsigns while holding the map/route in my (now sluggish) memory.

i do understand those who want to use paper maps -- many people still drive vehicles with manual gearboxes.

[Slarti]

my smartfone is on a PAYG sim, no bundles for me .

i would expect many topups will be needed on a long trip.

i do many trips all over the uk towing our caravan , the satnav is VITAL for me.

agreed on the recalculate facility , also re-routing for accidents etc .

i find it easier to follow the satnav instructions than looking out for roadsigns while holding the map/route in my (now sluggish) memory.

i do understand those who want to use paper maps -- many people still drive vehicles with manual gearboxes.

The other weekend I did 6.5 hours in one direction and 4 hours back with detours for traffic both times. I used just over 150MB of data for that.
With the £6 giffgaff Goodybag I still had just over 340MB left when it expired.

Perhaps getting a giffgaff sim for when you are navigating might be an idea?

Slarti

[jackdaww]

my smartfone is on a PAYG sim, no bundles for me .

i would expect many topups will be needed on a long trip.

i do many trips all over the uk towing our caravan , the satnav is VITAL for me.

agreed on the recalculate facility , also re-routing for accidents etc .

i find it easier to follow the satnav instructions than looking out for roadsigns while holding the map/route in my (now sluggish) memory.

i do understand those who want to use paper maps -- many people still drive vehicles with manual gearboxes.

The other weekend I did 6.5 hours in one direction and 4 hours back with detours for traffic both times. I used just over 150MB of data for that.
With the £6 giffgaff Goodybag I still had just over 340MB left when it expired.

Perhaps getting a giffgaff sim for when you are navigating might be an idea?

Slarti

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i think these goodybags are £ 6 / month - as much as i spend in a year.

also giifgaff were i think recently fined a lot for deliberately cheating customers .

now owned by O2.

[Dod101]

I never use a satnav. I know my around Scotland like the back of my hand and whilst I cannot say the same about England I certainly know the main through routes. I can see the benefit though to navigate around accidents.

Dod

[Slarti]

i think these goodybags are £ 6 / month - as much as i spend in a year.

also giifgaff were i think recently fined a lot for deliberately cheating customers .

now owned by O2.

Yes, but you don't have to buy one every month, only when you need one.

They were fined for a billing cockup that they discovered and then refunded the money taken in error.

Always been owned by Telephonica, who own O2, which is why it runs on the O2 network.

If you only spend £6/year another £6 for your long journeys, to get live satnave shouldn't be a problem, instead of many topups.

Slarti

[AF62]

Also, paper maps are usually 18 months out of date by the time you get them and then keep getting worse.

Not that satnav maps are necessarily much better. A couple of years ago, when leaving Manchester, we used the new M56 link road which had been open for five or six months, but which wasn't known yet to Mrs TomTom.

Stand alone satnav maps are likely to be out of date, but Google maps rarely is.

A couple of weeks ago my father had a lift home from hospital organised by patient transport and using an out of town taxi. The taxi driver got horribly lost around the new roads created by the new A14 and headed off in the wrong direction for half an hour because they were using a stand alone sat nav with an out of date map. Google maps has all the new roads mapped correctly.

I don't know how the proprietary sat-navs compare, but Google Maps does a good job of re-routing you, when it has seen problems on the original route.

I was coming down the A1M, intending to use the M11 and the Dartford Crossing, then accidents on the A14 near Cambridge caused it to re-route me down to the M25 and thence to Dartford. Further accidents on the M25 east of Potters Bar led it to divert me at Hatfield and take the M25 via Heathrow, which was free flowing for a change.

Experience has just taught me to trust Google maps, no matter whether I think I know better.

A couple of weeks ago heading back up the A1 I could see traffic backing up at one of the roundabouts, so both I and Google decided to take a detour. Google was trying to take me one route, but I knew a shortcut which I decided to take.

To cut a story short, I had to backtrack with my tail between my legs and follow the Google route as Google knew that lots of others had taken my shortcut and had created a mile long traffic jam.