Satnavtastic

afternoon one and all,

just gonna throw this out there to see what peoples views and opinions are as the gubbins the comapnies write about their kit is obviously there to big themselves up.

Looking for a satnav, as not having one was part of the reason I crashed I have looked at both the tom tom rider v2 thingy and the garmin 600 (orwhat ever the latest collection of numbers and letters model is) going to be linked up to my face via probably a interphone F4 system.

If you think one model is really crap be honest I want the bad ugly and bad on em all, as they cost a small fortune each and don't want to get the wrong piece of tech!

Happy sunday evening yawl

Dave

How did the lack of a sat nav help you crash?
You have eyeballs, surely?

I've found using one is more likely to result in a crash, since they invariably spew the wrong (i.e.three year old) directions at you when you are trying to concentrate on finding the actual route to your destination using the old skool method of following the roadsigns.

imho SatNavs are only good for the last mile in City/Town centre's....and even then they're wrong half the time.

-edit- My 'patch' covers 30,000 odd square miles (not including the islands), so it's not like I potter around to the local Co-Op and back on a daily basis.

Point I'm making is: do your homework, it only takes a few minutes to work out a route (using conventional maps..be that on paper or online) to within yards of your exact destination.
Then you let the Sat Nav take over, and after three or four hours you'll realise that you'd have been better off walking the last bit..since it invariably directs you to a completely different place, recalculates (takes a random guess, more likely) the route, and turns you ten miles away only to do exactly the same thing when you get to where you were half an hour before....then it does it all over again. :rite:

ah see the thing is for me, Is I do plan routes and all that and I then stick pointers for the route in my tank bag, problem then is looking at those notes as a prompt means I look down for that split second to check,

and also the fact my sense of direction is pretty bad currently. so with the satnav its going to be talking to me via one of these headsets so I am keeping my eyes up and on the road, the satnav units aren't for everyone, but for me i feel its something worth having, as the tech has advanced well in recent years

You do know also that there have been reports of TomTom (and others) supplying information from their devices to traffic enforcement bods?

A bad choice of Sat Nav or Smartphone can see you getting charged, based on the information it has collected without your knowledge.

(If memory serves: TomTom have already (pointlessly, since they sold the info on) apologised for this, but concerns still abound over the tracking that goes on under the skin on Apple's iPhones.)

I heard about some of that with regards to the Apple stuff, (having got an iPhone) though nothing too incriminating on there I think :s

Didn't know about the TomTom stuff

Not traffic related, but a cautionary tale.
RIM, who supply the Blackberry, used to pride themselves on how secure their system was.

They sold out in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, making their traffic transparent to those Governments.


Moral of the story?
Trust no-one when it comes to communication of any sort.

this is true, does make you wonder as we type on this forum who (aside from the lovely mods) are watching us!!

Everyone who has a mind to, but it's an open forum, there's no ambiguity about it.

Back on topic: Point is, given that TomTom has already sold personal information on (and motorists have been charged on the back of that info), RIM has sold out, Apple's iPhone was found to be tracking it's users without their knowledge and Microsoft are now getting in on the action.
tbh, I think I'll just stick with the cracked copy I rarely use on my phone.
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There's talk of chemical sensors being fitted to smartphones that 'call in' when they detect specific chemical compounds (the excuse they're selling is it'll prevent terrorism).


..think that's beyond the bounds of reason?
Some US cities already have these kind of sensors dotted around in strategic locations.

cue Twilight Zone music.

this has all got a bit philosophical and twilightly all I wanted was a satnav and not to get lost and crash!

A good point, well made

As far as freebie's are concerned
Google Maps are crap (and use a lot of your data allowance), Nav4All might be worth looking into though,
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Drove through Belgium the other year and the SatNav that came with my brothers Nokia was more accurate than the TomTom.

I've got the Zumo 550 (Honda OEM - managed to get it a bit cheaper, bought it from a bloke on here who worked in Glasgow and won it in a Honda competition)

Although it has been replaced twice after it failed during upgrades I'm quite happy with it. It does what it says on the tin and I'm quite happy with it. I did buy the lifetime map upgrades (but only whilst they support it......not really a lifetime then !!!!!!!!!!!)

The 600 series doesn't offer too much extra apart from better bluetooth (music) from what I could gather the last time I checked.

I've got Navfree on the iphone (free) which is not bad but not built for motorbike use.

As for comparision with the TomTom (dunno) maybe someone else on here has experience of both. A google search mind find another forum with an answer(s).

Although Wooster is appearing a bit paranoid (philosophical) he is probably right.

Good luck.....and use dem eyes (and brain) inside yer Nutt and you'll hopefully avoid any more endo's.

ps. I do use mine on the move (naughty boy) but I also manage to put the strap on my lid, put gloves on and off and generally fanny about on the bike and I've only fallen off three times - none of which involved any of the above.

OMG! I read this post just before going to sleep last night and I had a really weird dream lol


Scary 'big brother' stuff!!

You'll need to stop dreaming about me Ellie. Anyhoos - I'd be your wee brother

Cheeky monkey

indeed rosco I shall be using my eyes more! I will stick to contryside a roads where there are many summer sights to get distracted by! oh and merc m-classes!

thanks for advice, tomtom generaly doen't seem to come across with people as well as garmins, so will dig some more into it all, though may end doing this over which unit to get!

As devices become more connected the danger of Big Brother getting their fingers in becomes more of a problem.

I believe the standalone SatNav devices are reasonably immune from this as long as you don't use a central server to store your routes/rides like Garmin's Zumo Connect.

I am not convinced that Garmin's latest and greatest 600 series devices are in fact any better than the 500's.
You do get stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) on the newer units and I think it can tell you which lane to get into; other than that the new ones have a slightly larger screen.

You lose the traffic receiver, which is no loss as I have only had it working for 3 months in 4 years. The 500's use a lot more hardware for dedicated functions whereas the 600's achieves this in software - something that needed to be done to keep costs down.

I'm not sure about the latest TomTom's but the Rider 1 had an awful mount and many a satnav has fallen off. I think they will both route about the same, last week on the return home from the BigMac a TomTom and a Zumo were given the same destination and took exactly the same roads to get there.

Garmin’s Mapsource is very good planning mapping software. I don’t know if the TomTom will give you a tourguide – maybe something which isn’t of interest to you, but can you create a route and add audio and optionally a picture. I have used it a few times and I find it great when touring – get close to lets say, a castle and have the commentary played on the history, or whatever other interesting info you plan to put in the audio clip.

In 4 years I have had a 500 and two 550’s. The first one just wasn’t a well puppy right from the start and Garmin replaced it with a 550 within a few weeks of me having it. #2 worked well for a long time and it started to lock up and generally play up. Garmin gladly replaced the unit out of warranty for £100, well I have a refurbished unit now – as good as new.
They are sturdy units; mine have all been on the floor more times than I can care to remember

Have a read around and see just how well the 600 interconnects with your intended headset. I know a few who have the new Zumo and there always seems to be some or other connection issue.

Sent you a PM about a new Zumo550 which may be of interest to you.

ive got a very old tom tom rider 1 never let me down never fell off does the job plain & simple like its owner iuse it as back up to maps or just go out get lost & punch in home & found some nice roads
pete

I can only comment on the Garmin 550.

Had it for about 2 years ish and love it.

It just works, no having to put it in plastic bags or tank bags like a car sat nav and it comes with route planning software (needs a bit of getting used to) but shop around. These things are expensive.

I bought a reconditioned unit for £300 when they were still about £500 everywhere else. Nowt wrong with re-conditioned, same warrantees and guarantees as if bought from Manufacturer.