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        General >> Off Topic Subjects >>  Sat  Nav ?
        
(Message started by: mr._floppy on Jun 28^th, 2006, 1:12am)

Title: Sat Nav ?
Post by mr._floppy on Jun 28^th, 2006, 1:12am

Sat Nav ?

Is it the Bottled Water of motoring ?

i.e. one big huge fat wobbly bottomed con, or a boon to drivers suffering from the basic inability to read a map ?

I don't really need it , or do I ?

( Sorry about all the questions )

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by jonnycab on Jun 28^th, 2006, 2:22am

Sat Nav is only good if there are traffic jams, otherwise good knowledge & a new map book will only cost £6.99 a year.
Last week, late evening, I took a couple of (worse for ware) guys home & they told me they'd been to Ascot for the day. They had ordered a cab for a 6am pickup & the driver had SatNav. He typed in Ascot & two hours later they were at Ascot House near Milton Keynes!!! Two hours later they arrived at the real Ascot.....Four hours from Brentwood to Ascot!!! Should have taken an hour, two hours max with heavy traffic.
It's know wonder us real cabbies get such a bad name with amateurs like this in the job >:(
I don't have SatNav & I never get lost 8)

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Kjetil S on Jun 28^th, 2006, 5:34am

My system has been invaluable (mostly during vacation time), as manouvering through Oslo can be quite interesting sometimes. But I have a computer sitting in the boot doing the sat nav job (not a one-trick pda system on the dash ;)), which makes it a lot more usable the rest of the year(as I use it to play music and movies as well).

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by john_smiffy on Jun 28^th, 2006, 7:28am

sat nav is a good tool but like most tools its only as good as the person putting in there info

IE put ascot but dont then choose the right option

like ascot racecourse they just click ok then find out they chose ascot house nr milton keynes

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Daven on Jun 28^th, 2006, 7:43am

Wouldn't be without mine - tells you where speed cameras are (not that I speed but at least you know where everyone will be slaming the brakes on ;) ;D )

Also navigates around mad oneway systems in towns and will take you a nice scenic route if you want.

No more aguments with the wife about getting lost and saves on petrol.

Safer when your alone in the car and can't remember the route.

Points of interest are also useful - recently whilst on holiday, in a remote area, we needed a supermarket - took us directly there!

I use TomTom on an Ipaq so have the added bonus of a handheld computer as well!

But yes you do have to learn how to use it correctly, but it's quite straight forward!

HTH

Dave

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by PeteB on Jun 28^th, 2006, 9:10am

Love mine so handy when on the open road and attending meetings on my own. Only problem I find is that its verbal directions can be a bit vague and then then you end up taking a wrong turn off a ring road :(

Also I find that it can distract you from driving sometimes, imo they could cause more accidents on the roads.

I went for tomtom mobile on my nokia 6630 which is handy as it means i dont have to carry tonnes of crap around with me, just the phone and gps unit :)

Pete

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Baz on Jun 28^th, 2006, 8:53pm

I love mine....it is a ford travelpilot from a Focus and looks the part and isn't stuck to the windscreen with one of them suckers you had in the bathroom when you were a kid and mum used to hang the flannel on it!!

I use mine a lot and find it invaluable especially with postcode and street numbers (the guy who got lost going to ascot mustn't have had that feature!!) Works a treat in France too and when your destination is 740 miles from Calais, even the best navigator gets a bit lost....

Go and buy one!!

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Lee on Jun 28^th, 2006, 9:04pm

yes just got a Hp pda with tomtom 5 :) great little thing sits in the window and has got my fannel hanging from it as well ;D
but it is like people say only as good as the person using it, always double check my addresses with a real map and go the way i know untill the last few miles which is great as you don't need your head stuck in a road map causing a accident

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Baz on Jun 28^th, 2006, 9:06pm

Mine talks with a kind of joanna lumley accent....grrrrrrr

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by mr._floppy on Jun 28^th, 2006, 9:43pm

< got my fannel hanging from it > ???

I'm going to regret this I know, but what's a Fannel ?

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Baz on Jun 29^th, 2006, 8:56am

Not fannel....flannel (Lee spelt it wrong!!) It is what you wipe your face with..."face cloth" is the posh way of saying it!!

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Lee on Jun 29^th, 2006, 6:20pm

oops :-[
oh well at least someone knew what i was getting at 8)

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by sector-9 on Jun 29^th, 2006, 9:01pm

Sat nav is great if you're going to an unfamiliar place and probably only the once. If you're making regular trips to an area then buy a local A-Z - it'll be cheaper, more accurate and won't crash (or flat battery) when you really need it!

It's handy in my job because I (literally) drive all over England and Wales and even though I can get to most cities by memory it's not as easy to find a random address once I arrive and I can't buy an A-Z for every area I go to. Having said that, we do go to Bradford quite often so we did buy an A-Z for there; though I've been often enough now to know most of the main roads anway!

Being as everyone here has internet access and most have a printer it's perfectly feasible to print maps from multimap.com or similar at different scales until you find a major road you know - I used this method for years before treating myself to sat nav and at times still go back to it.

Darren

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by mr._floppy on Jul 1^st, 2006, 12:30pm

I could've done with Sat-Nav while driving in the US recently.

The number of illegal U turns I did after missing turn offs, you would not believe :o

As well as illegally going through the Express toll booth on the New York Turnpike thus failing to pay the $2 toll.

If anyone from America asks, you don't know me , right ? ;)

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by mach1rob on Jul 2^nd, 2006, 11:56pm

I'm running TomTom mobile on my Nokia 6600, have been for the past 7 months, and its not let me down yet, although it does send you som eodd ways at times! Not that I need it in anger often as I've got a pretty good sence of direction, and can generally get where I need to be, and, I don't mind stopping to ask directions! Usually easier than finding yourself stuck in a dead end with a large truck!
If you can afford it, then go for it, you'll be glad of it if you often travel to unfamiliar places, however a map is cheaper ;)

Title: Re: Sat Nav ?
Post by Dave on Jul 3^rd, 2006, 9:07am

on 07/01/06 at 12:30:21, mr._floppy wrote:

......If anyone from America asks, you don't know me , right ? ;)

ROFL ;D ;D ;D