SatNavs

[Ranchi]

I used to have a TomTom satnav which cost all of £80. It did everything you could want without any fuss. Last year I got a Volvo with a built in satnav & it seems to have a mind of its own. I accept that it has difficulty understanding my accent ( been through the training routine several times). I always opt for either the fastest or the easiest route & usually ignore any diversions it wants to use ( due to changing traffic situations.... How can you possibly read the information regarding the changing traffic situation as you drive along the road, anyway?). It seems to accept 7 digit postcodes intermittently and sometimes gives up after 4 digits. Last week I was going to York and typed 'Y' into the city space & it suggested 'Abergaveny'. It has the latest updates but whilst I now have a good working knowledge of several farmer's yards between Greenock & home I am beginning to wonder what I have done to upset the SatNav gods. Is the Volvo satnav suitable for Room 101?
Phew! Feel better now.

[Silver_Shiney]

If it's still under warranty, I'd take it back.

I've always wondered if these built-in satnavs are totally free or if you have to subscribe? There are many free Android alternatives. I've never tried using voice commands on mine though.

[Manoverboard]

A number of cars have the restriction of only using 4 digit post codes ... making it virtually impossible to find many destinations.

[Ranchi]

the annual updates are free for 3 years and come on 4 DVDs sent by post. Later update safe also 'free' as long as you car is serviced at a dealer.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I have a new Tom Tom 5000 Traffic sat nav which has free updates for life and generally seems pretty good at avoiding trouble. It can also be voice operated with varying success depending on background noise. To wake it up into this mode you have to say "Hallo Tom Tom" and it starts listening for your instructions. On a recent journey it suddenly went into listening mode for no apparent reason. Then I realised that on the radio was Adele's new single "Hallo"!

[Gill W]

We used a Tom Tom for quite a few years until we got a new Toyota this year.

The Tom Tom was so much better - the Toyota one always wants to send us up country lanes, even when we tell it that we want main roads / motorways

[qbman1]

I used to have a TomTom satnav which cost all of £80. It did everything you could want without any fuss. Last year I got a Volvo with a built in satnav & it seems to have a mind of its own. I accept that it has difficulty understanding my accent ( been through the training routine several times). I always opt for either the fastest or the easiest route & usually ignore any diversions it wants to use ( due to changing traffic situations.... How can you possibly read the information regarding the changing traffic situation as you drive along the road, anyway?). It seems to accept 7 digit postcodes intermittently and sometimes gives up after 4 digits. Last week I was going to York and typed 'Y' into the city space & it suggested 'Abergaveny'. It has the latest updates but whilst I now have a good working knowledge of several farmer's yards between Greenock & home I am beginning to wonder what I have done to upset the SatNav gods. Is the Volvo satnav suitable for Room 101?
Phew! Feel better now.

Have you tried speaking to it in Swedish ?!

[Ranchi]

Jag har naturligtvis!

[qbman1]

That sounds like it involves stripping off ?!

These Scandinavian - any excuse to get their kit off !!

[Raybosailor]

I traded my old Zafira in for a new Hyundai in October and the salesman tried his hardest to get me to add built in Sat Nav but I said I have a Garmin that I hardly use so no deal.
The only time I use Sat Nav is when I go abroad and my trusty Garmin locked up two days before we were to depart for France, I restored it to factory default and downloaded the latest map update and it worked perfectly getting me to the most remote villages without a hitch.
After years of motoring I have come to the conclusion that there is no perfect sat nav system and the built ins usually cause the most problems. I was driving our department heads Porsche Cayenne 4x4 once and tried out the built in sat nav which wanted to take me to the other side of Sheffield to reach Staveley which is just outside Chesterfield ( I know the route like the back of my hand but you have to play with gadgets don't you ?)

I will let you know how my Garmin performs when we drive down into Spain but I have preset all my destinations and checked the suggested routes and they seem pretty accurate so fingers crossed.

On a different note has anyone tried the Michelin Via App ? we found it really useful as it gives details of toll fees and petrol costs for the journey, Cheryl who is the toll booth operative as I am on the wrong side found it really useful as she could get the correct fee ready before we reached the peage stations.

[johnds]

I read this a couple of years ago


I have a lttle Satnav, It sits there in my car
A Satnav is a driver's friend, it tells you where you are.
I have a little Satnav, I've had it all my life
It's better than the normal ones, my Satnav is my wife.

It gives me full instructions, especially how to drive
It's sixty miles an hour, it says, You're doing sixty five.
It tells me when to stop and start, and when to use the brake
And tells me that it's never ever, safe to overtake.

It tells me when a light is red, and when it goes to green
It seems to know instinctively, just when to intervene.
It lists the vehicles just in front, and all those to the rear
And taking this into account, it specifies my gear.

I'm sure no other driver, has so helpful a device
For when we leave and lock the car, it still gives its advice.
It fills me up with counselling, each journey's pretty fraught
So why don't I exchange it, and get a quieter sort?

Ah well, you see, it cleans the house, makes sure I'm properly fed
It washes all my shirts and things, and keeps me warm in bed!
Despite all these advantages, and my tendency to scoff,
I only wish that now and then, I could turn the b****r off.

[towny44]

I have had a TomTom now for about 12 months, its fine and does exactly what it says on the tin, HOWEVER I do wish its interface with its My Drive on my laptop would stop asking me to update the same darned upgrade that I only did yesterday and the day before etc......

[Romig1]

A number of cars have the restriction of only using 4 digit post codes ... making it virtually impossible to find many destinations.

My built-in satnav also only accepts the first part of a postcode. You are then expected to give a street, followed by a house number, or an intersection of roads....or just point to it on the map!

Mine is mostly used for finding companies, who very often don't have a house number - making the whole process very tiresome. I tend to Google the full postcode before using the Sad-Nav simply to get a feel of where a premises is on the map, which needless to say doubles the workload. Good old German manufacturing!

[qbman1]

Does no one actually look at a map any more? SatNavs are a really useful aide but they don't mean you can abandon all common sense !

[qbman1]

I read this a couple of years ago


I have a lttle Satnav, It sits there in my car
A Satnav is a driver's friend, it tells you where you are.
I have a little Satnav, I've had it all my life
It's better than the normal ones, my Satnav is my wife.

It gives me full instructions, especially how to drive
It's sixty miles an hour, it says, You're doing sixty five.
It tells me when to stop and start, and when to use the brake
And tells me that it's never ever, safe to overtake.

It tells me when a light is red, and when it goes to green
It seems to know instinctively, just when to intervene.
It lists the vehicles just in front, and all those to the rear
And taking this into account, it specifies my gear.

I'm sure no other driver, has so helpful a device
For when we leave and lock the car, it still gives its advice.
It fills me up with counselling, each journey's pretty fraught
So why don't I exchange it, and get a quieter sort?

Ah well, you see, it cleans the house, makes sure I'm properly fed
It washes all my shirts and things, and keeps me warm in bed!
Despite all these advantages, and my tendency to scoff,
I only wish that now and then, I could turn the b****r off.

Love that, John. Just a bit too true to life for my liking, though !!

[Manoverboard]

A number of cars have the restriction of only using 4 digit post codes ... making it virtually impossible to find many destinations.

My built-in satnav also only accepts the first part of a postcode. You are then expected to give a street, followed by a house number, or an intersection of roads....or just point to it on the map!

Mine is mostly used for finding companies, who very often don't have a house number - making the whole process very tiresome. I tend to Google the full postcode before using the Sad-Nav simply to get a feel of where a premises is on the map, which needless to say doubles the workload. Good old German manufacturing!

You haven't got a Merc by any chance, my mate has and he ( they ) couldn't find the Pub we had all identified for lunch even though it's on the main A338 between Ringwood and Salisbury

[qbman1]

He doesn't deserve to be a friend if he cannot find a pub with or without the aid of a SatNav !

[Silver_Shiney]

Seems clear it was a ploy to avoid getting the drinks in!

[qbman1]

If he drives a Merc, perhaps he should have entered "bierkeller" in the SatNav" ?

[Raybosailor]

Does no one actually look at a map any more? SatNavs are a really useful aide but they don't mean you can abandon all common sense !

Exactly qb, sat navs use co-ordinates not common sense and even traffic alerts are only as good as the information reported, as everyone knows local traffic has peaks so to follow a sat nav turn by turn could lead you to delays sometimes.

I use mine more abroad but still check the suggested routes with a map to decide which is the best route for the time of day, for example last week I was travelling from Amfreville towards Arras starting at 07:00 am and the sat nav was taking me via Rouen onto the A13, not a good idea at that time due to commuters going to work and all the roads are busy at this time so I had to set a diversion which worked a treat.

The journey was in thick fog so the on screen map and distance reading was useful for judging my approach to bends and junctions but like you say you are the one holding the wheel so common sense is the best navigating tool.

I must admit to breaking French rules as I left my speed camera alert switched on as an audible reminder of the speed limits because it was hard to determine whether we were in a restricted zone or not due to the fog.

[qbman1]

I must admit to breaking French rules as I left my speed camera alert switched on as an audible reminder of the speed limits because it was hard to determine whether we were in a restricted zone or not due to the fog.

Hope the Gendarmes aren't regular cruise passengers and read this forum then Ray !!

[Raybosailor]

I must admit to breaking French rules as I left my speed camera alert switched on as an audible reminder of the speed limits because it was hard to determine whether we were in a restricted zone or not due to the fog.

Hope the Gendarmes aren't regular cruise passengers and read this forum then Ray !!

We were stopped by the Gendarmes at the toll booth and searched on Saturday morning and asked if we were carrying any weapons, I was amazed at how thorough they were but we knew nothing about the carnage in Paris the night before because we haven't had access to tv, radio or WiFi for quite a few days and even 4G is hit and miss in the Seine Valley of The Eure region.

I think they were interested in all foreign nationals travelling away from Paris and as we were on the road between Paris and Le Havre/Dieppe ports we would be targets for stop and search. Luckily I know the route well so I didn't have the satnav on.

[qbman1]

I think in that case, the SatNav would have been the least of their concerns. Good to know they made a thorough search, though

[Silver_Shiney]

We were stopped by the Gendarmes at the toll booth and searched on Saturday morning and asked if we were carrying any weapons,.

as if you'd say "yes"...

[david63]

We were stopped by the Gendarmes at the toll booth and searched on Saturday morning and asked if we were carrying any weapons,.

as if you'd say "yes"...

He would not have been posting on here