SatNavs

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Have always used paper maps so far quite happily but two of my long distance journeys have been spoiled by roadworks.  Without roadworks I am ok but twice now I have missed important turnings and on the first occasion had to go through London instead of round it.

It would also be nice to vary the route a bit. For example I could go round Paris but have always detoured to the west and I have no confidence in my ability to find my way when coping with Parisian style traffic.

So I am thinking of getting a Garmin Nuvi 1440.  Any comments on whether this would help and if it is money well-spent would be welcome.  Alternative makes/models would be considered but must have western european maps. 

[Martin]

just bought a Garmin Nuvi 1310 (Uk and Ireland) it's Mrs Zoom's so I've not played with it too much but I understand that when you type in an address or find it on a map you select "via" if you wish and type some via points in

it's a very nice little gizmo and very user friendly (although I'm a Garmin GPS user so a lot of the navigation around the menus is similar)

[SlowCoach]

I can't comment on specific models, but I must say that I find a sat nav unit ideal for long family journeys to unfamiliar places. I reckon I've saved a fortune on divorce lawyers fees since I started using them. At least there's an authoritative voice in the car which is telling you where to go as you approach a strange junction and doesn't throw a wobbly if you get it wrong. I'm a huge fan.

However - there are times not to believe them. Two occasions I can think of (both when in the US) were the instruction to turn right into the desert when half way down the length of Death Valley and the one to turn right (through the fence) across the main runway at Las Vegas airport.

[pcolbeck]

No experience with Garmin but have used my TomTom in UK. Europe and Canada for four years with no issues bar the occasional silly directions you get with all sat navs and you just ignore if you have any kind of sense.

[orienteer]

Bought one last year for a tour round Europe. Very successful apart from occasional tendency to try and send you over some dubious short cuts. Went berserk around Bolzano when it said I was driving along a river, maybe the mountains shielded it from satellites.

Don't rely on it 100%, use in conjunction with paper maps as back-up.

Has further uses such as showing your true speed and current speed limit (though this is not always up-to-date), which you can flip to km/hr, plus warnings of traffic jams ahead.

Would be even better if it displayed town names, and distinguished between bridges and crossroads!

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Hmmm..  Not sure I want a sat nav now.  Was just cycling along Terry Avenue and encountered a silver BMW!  Terry Ave has been cycling/pedestrian only a dozen years or more. 

Stopped said BMW and asked if he knew it wasn't a road whereupon he said he knew now and had been following his sat nav!  Mind you he admitted opening a gate, that is often locked, in order to get onto Terry Avenue.

He wanted Butcher Terrace which would have been fine on foot; I gave him directions for a car journey back up and along Bishy Road.

It ain't only Death Valley..

[frankly frankie]

But for every such tale there are tens of thousands of untold stories of business trips that went to plan, successfully delivered parcels and groceries that arrived promptly.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Yerright!  I have ordered a Garmin 1340T.. 

..am going nowhere near Death Valley and I know my way round York.

[Cunobelin]

There is limited data for SatNavs, and most (IIRC) is based on NAVTEQ

When they do a map for the UK for instance they will get the data from the Ordnance Survey

The problem then arises as this data has lots more road types than the SatNav requires.

For this reason they are lumped together and this means making decisions for a lass of roads. As a result all yellow roads for instance will be considered navigable, even though they are not!

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Did the first test, to Manchester Airport.  Went very well and the airport was exactly where we thought it was.  Only shortfall was that the device failed to realise the plane would be early.

[frankly frankie]

Heathrow T4 or T5 might be more of a test. 
I know my preferred map (Garmin Mapsource Metroguide v9, admittedly about 3 years old now) doesn't have T4 on, I have to switch to OSM for that.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

On Wednesday I put it to the test for my 750 mile trip York to Limoges area.  It managed to find the tiny hameau but wasn't able to pinpoint a particular house - none have numbers or names. 

First it sent me down the A1 instead of the M1 which turned out well as there are fewer roadworks and I got to Dover very quickly.  Then it sent me through Paris which also turned out ok although I did expect it to choose the peripherique.  I guess I need to change a setting.  When I escaped from the autoroute at Orleans to find cheap fuel, it put me back on the autoroute as soon as I started obeying its instructions again. (I did think it might get upset after disobeying it rather a lot but I am happy to say there were no tantrums)

Near destination it chose a very odd route, practically a mere farm track, so I suspect its use in rural France might need quite a bit of monitoring!  On the whole I'm very pleased with it.

[Manotea]

FWIW when I use my etrex vista with metroguide to navigate around london it works flawlessly. Which is just as well.