GPS navigation devices for a car

Hello,

I am looking to buy a GPS navigation device for my car.
It need to be small enough that I can carry in my pocket when not in the car, has to speak out the streetnames, (not only where to turn etc), and must cost less than €250.
Any suggestions from current GPS users?
Is it too much to ask?

thanks,
dino.

I've got TOM TOM on my PDA and it was pretty good and pretty cheap, I already had the PDA so it was just the software (120 Euros) and a little bluetooth GPS mouse (50 yo yos) that I needed.

However I think that your requirement of having to speak out the street names is going to leave you somewhat wanting.

I've had several Navi's in cars that don't speak out street names and my TOM TOM doesn't either. Good luck.

Which PDA ? a Palm?
and which software ? GPS mouse did you get?
I might still be interested ..

thanks for the asnwer.
Dino.

How about navigation on a mobile phone? If you have symbian or windows phone you can get the software for 99 euro plus GPS receiver
Or free software version on some Java phones but it is offboard so you will require a data traffic from your mobile operator or it could get expensive.

https://www.navigon.com/site/uk/en/shop/con...er/mobilephones for a list of software.

The Nokia N95 and Nokia 6110 Navigator have built in GPS, and they will very soon support that so you won't need to purchase a separate gps receiver.

Get one that you can upgrade and is portable, not an in-dash dinosaur. I have a Garmin Nuvi and it worked really well in Germany -although I changed the voice to German for my hosts, they said it was accurate. I use it all the time at home and it easily takes new information from Garmin over a computer liinked to the internet. They send you e-mail when updates are available -sometimes often, sometimes not.

Tom Tom maxi europe is fantastic and it has on line updates when you need them.

The Garmin Nüvi kicks-ass. Not merely a GPS navigation system, it's also a travel guide, language translator, mp3 player (with SD slot so you can bring gigs of audio for cheap), etc. Best of all it's the size of a pack of cards - they also sell a larger one but I've found the standard to be the perfect size for both car and pedestrian navigation.

Web updates are a piece of cake on either a Mac or a PC.

Yeah, I didn't spring for the extras on the Nuvi, but having the GPS was worth it.

My only complaint about the Nuvi is the 2-part unit needed for windshield attachment. I've just lost the smallest part and I don't know if I can buy it separately or will be compelled to buy a new mounting set just to attach to the windshield. Anyway, it's illeagal in California to attach anything to the windshield, but I've not known anybody to get cited for it.

For those that do offer it spoken street names is pretty crap. They assume that most people set spoken language to the country they are predominantly driving in, so English streets spoken in English sound (almost) ok, but German street names spoken in English are unintelligible as the pronunciation rules are so different. Most people that have this feature turn it off.

One last thought. If you need to pound a nail, you wouldn't go looking for a wrench, you'd find a hammer. Similarly, if you need a GPS for your car, get a unit that is made to do just that. I'm not in favor of PDAs or any electronic device with multiple functions -unless you have road tested it. Yeah the Nuvi has an MP3 player in it, but the sound quality stinks. When I am in my car, I do not use my Nuvi for listening to music. The restaurant-finding function in the Nuvi is really great -especially when you are in a city unknown to you. We use that function very often on vacation to answer the question,"What do we feel like eating?" Our first experience with this was on a road trip across the states. We pulled into Salt Lake and were hungry for pizza. The Nuvi found a favorite pizza restaurant 6 miles from our hotel.

Garmin Nuvi 670 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator and Personal Travel Assistant with European Maps

700 USD

I own the 660 and had some European Maps that I load with the sd card.. This is an excellent unit that is fast in calculating, directioning, and overall usage. You can bluetooth to a cell-phone and if you buy it in NA, you can also playback music onto your car radio!

After using it, I threw away all of those maps that I've been collection for the last 10 years!

Thanks all who replied.
I am getting more aware of stuff out there.
Once I buy one, I will let you folks know.
thanks again.
Dino.

I just bought a Navman today from Media Market. their was one for 189 yoyos and 199. I bought the 199 and Its ready to go out of the box with map of europe already loaded. English and quick loading maps and portable. I bought one 3 years ago for triple the price and this is as good if not better.

Aussie Steve

We have the TomTom Go 910 and it's pretty awesome. It reacts quite quickly to changes and you can attach an RDS antenna for example that will give you live updates (from the radio stations) on the traffic situation. Pretty neat.

Do both of these models speak the streetnames? Or only "turn right in 300m, turn right now"..?

My Garmin Nuvi speaks street names, though I don't know how accurate they are in Germany. I know that in English they pronounce by syllable, not by the whole word so some words, like Middlefield come out Middley field.

The two navmans I look at have these bulit in voices and of course in english and of course its a women cause I dont like another man telling me directions. their is a option for the radio controlled traffic report for another 50 euro.

Aussie Steve

What do you want streetnames for? This would only confuse matters. It makes much more sense to just drive and wait for the unit to say turn left.

The Nuvi has both. And this is a VERY IMPORTANT question. I'm used to feet and miles, but not kilometers (which you can switch on the Nuvi).
If you are at all uneasy about the voice commands, go to a dealer and ask to try one. If you sink that much cash into a device, you might as
well have one that is what you want. Get a demo!!! I'm so glad I chose a model that I like. I would have not been happy to have been stuck with a "turn in 200ft." model. The dealers know this difference and there are some devices that are not as user-friendly.

I have just bought a Garmin NÜvi 350, for €259 from Mediamarkt ( was on offer), and I can say that it works pretty well.
No streetname option, but I found that it does not bother me at all.

I am only afriad that I'd be too dependent on it or be "dumb" in terms of getting to know the city

Otherwise, it is great. Have done the autobahn, landstrasse and city and seems working well.

The mediamarkt offer I think is still on, if anyone is interested.

Dino.

A satnav I WON'T recommend is the Navman brand, it's so bad I've renamed it the 'Naffman'.

Following issues:

It takes forever and a day to find a signal.
On odd occasions it tells you to turn left when you can clearly see on the map the next turn is right.
During some routes it takes you off the motorway around the round-a-bout and back onto the motorway - yeah OK so I admit I followed it but sometimes you kind of throw logical thought out of the window when you are following the things.

Anyone have a Navigon PNA 3110? Are you happy with it? Thanks, PES

No opinions?

• Maybe no-one has one
• Maybe they are so bad no-one wants one
• Maybe (on a Sunday afternoon) everyone is out navigating with theirs
• Maybe they are so good that once you have one Toytown palls into insignificance
• Maybe the people who have one can't write
• Maybe no-one has an opinion

Thanks YSL again for your endless and merciful wisdom knowledge.

I have a Navigon

...different model. I love it.

If you have a newfangled phone with a GPS built in, there is a FREE** piece of software you can download called "Ö-Navi" from the people who give us the "Das Oertliche" white and yellow pages. You get the entire contents of Das Oertliche on your phone, plus a full-fledged navigation system to get you from A to B. (** the software is free, but you are charged for data traffic which is about 5-10 cents per route map you download). See http://www.oenavi.de it's in German. I have used this service for a couple months now and find it very handy (pun intended).

If you don't have a GPS receiver built in you can buy an external one at http://www.gps4now.net, it just won a test in a magazine. I've just started "geocaching" and this unit works quite well.

Hi, moving to Germany in February '08 and I want to buy a GPS unit before I leave the US. It has to:

1. Be usable in the car and as a pedestrian
2. Have traffic capability either built-in or add-onable.
3. Have US and Europe maps pre-loaded

Any ideas?

Check out Dino78. He/she'll do all the conversions you need.

Have a look at the TomTom Go Series... In my book all other car navigation devices are crap and you'll have one hell of a time keeping the maps updated.

The ADAC magazine "Motorwelt" did a review of Navi devices in the Dezember 2007 issue.

You can also see this under www.adac.de (Tests / Zubehör / Navigationsgeräte-Tests). Here its shown as Test 11/2007...

You don't need an ADAC login to view this...

Thanks, Darkknight. Costco are selling the TomTom GO920 for $400 right now, which is a steal, from what I can tell. Already loaded with NA and Euro maps. Hope I can change the language to German, though. Learn or get lost! And I wonder if the traffic feature will work?

The Tomtom Go 920 does not have the traffic jam feature built in. You would need the 920T model for that. But with tomtom it looks to me like a subscription traffic service and not the free TMC data. Does anyone have experience of the Tomtom traffic?

As long as you have a phone with bluetooth and a valid GPRS data connection, you can get the Traffice updates on the TomTom, but it is a subscription service after the free 30 day trial.

TomToms, can usually be switched to 1 of 20 something languages, at least the ones here can..
Also have a look at the TomTom one series, they use the newest ver. of TomTom, ver. 7 (Now called Navcore)
and also have the newest maps.

Tom Tom Europe does it for me

NavMan... Whilst it does sometimes have a minor problem getting locked on, i've had one for 18months and driven *all* over Europe with it... Very rarely lets me down and very rarely wrong! (Mind you, when do the roads move?).

Only minor issue is cost of updating maps - cheaper to buy new navi! Talking of which - just bought my Dad an S90i - massive screen and it does call out the roadnames... has a camera (why?) and also bluetooth...

Why?

Does anyone have a traffic GPS system that is free? As in traffic data? I thought that was receved via FM radio? Why should anyone want to pay tomtom?

TMC Info is limited depending on what country your in. TomToms service provides all avail TMC data from all countries
in one simple easy to use/update download/update.

Ok... But it costs a subscription. Which may be fine for a travelling salesman on a delivery company. But if I'm going to use the traffic data 3 times a year, that gets expensive per journey.
Thats why I'm asking about any free service.

Well, the service itself is free across Germany, the public broadcasters carry the signal. You just need a TMC-enabled GPS device.

Why? To help me learn some German! I hear the words spoken and I see a graphical representation of what they mean on the screen. Just like Rosetta Stone language software. I'm moving over in less than two months, so every little bit of exposure helps.

I have the TomTom GO 720. It came with the Traffic Receiver and there is a free service available. It's not the best but it's free.

@EOINRYAN : I personally do not recommend learning German from a GPS ! Do the learning through other established methods (class, books, news, ..) but if you want to arrive at your destination quickly and efficiently, better forget learning German just during the period you are on your way. (at least in your very first months of stay here).

PS : I just got back from a trip in Slovenia and am 100% satisfied with my TomTom 920T. Simple, efficient and user friendly.
Besides, you can get rid of its speakers and use car HiFi speakers for listening to the instructions and your own mp3's (either by connecting iPod or copying the music into its memory).

Ah, I see. Useful. Especially when you need to tell someone to turn left at the next fork when you meet them in a bar...

Come on now, lad. Stop giving me a hard time! I was thinking more about when I'm getting directions from somebody on the street. As long as they speak in a neutrally-accented, dialect-free female voice with perfect diction, I should be all set!

And no, @KOOROOSH, I was not planning on using my GPS as my primary language learning resource! But, thanks for the tips, everyone. Looks like the GO920/920T is a pretty good choice.

That is the solution to all human problems.

I have just found out the TomTom Traffic versions have both a subscription system and a free system. Phew! Otherwise Tomtom would have been off the list.

just wondering if anyone has new thoughts on all of these systems ... I'm looking to get one (especially for here, France and Italy) and I'm tending towards the latest Garmin Nuvi (760). Does anyone have it? Know about it?

we haven't had a navi system before (apart from me and the map) so some replies would be helpful

thanks

jenny