Sat Nav

Tom Tom

 

I've been using a Garmin for several years without complaint........

 

Biro/paper

 

Garmin

 

I couldn't read this without my glasses plus it would blow away knowing my luck!

 

Sellotape??

 

Good plan! My mate just writes the route down in felt pen on the plastic tank of his BMW gs800

 

if there are any special offers going on either make you can't go wrong..well maybe not quite true they will take you the wrong road at some point but it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, @dilligaf would that be salopettes

 

To be , there. Or not to be , there? That is the question! I had both but stuck with the tom tom as I use one in the car. I think with bike specific sat navs they all have their little idiosyncrasies and it all comes down to which software you get on best with.

 

The new Tom tom go will have free lifetime world map and traffic updates, bear in mind by lifetime they mean for the apparatus not the owner!

 

Another TomTom vote. I've got the Rider 410 and when I was looking the equivalent Garmin was loads more expensive and still are.

Garmin were £350 - £640
TomTom were £250 - £350

A bit of a no brainer in my book.

 

Before I bought my TomTom 410, I used to steal my wife's eyeliner pencil to write on my tank, just wipes away after!

 

iPhone??

 

What ever is the cheap option with the functions your need.

 

I noticed something on my Rider 410 that I hadn't seen before. When riding through a section of average speed checks you get the warning and the details in the vertical strip on the right side of the screen.

It gives the speed limit but it also tells you what your average speed is, I hadn't seen this before because I normally I give it a quick glance then eyes back on the road.

 

Yup I have a feeling it's a new update, I only noticed it recently

 

Tom Tom.. if your buying make sure you get free map and safety camera updates as it can be pricey for updates.

 

I agree with this 100%. I've tried most options in the car and had a TomTom Rider that lasted for one European trip and then I sent it back as 'not fit for purpose'.

Since then I've found that a good SatNav app on an iPhone (or Android alternative) is a far, far better solution and have been using CoPilot on my iPhone to guide groups on a European tour every year. I would NEVER go back to using a dedicated device. For several reasons:-

Since almost everyone takes their phone anyway, why take 2 devices when one can do both jobs. Particularly when on extended trips with overnight stops as everything would need charging so 2 devices simply doubles the headache.

With your phone mounted on the bike for use as a SatNav and audio in your helmet, you can also listen to music and/or receive phone calls as you ride. I don't do that much, but it can sometimes be handy. Particularly when a group gets split up and you need to converse with other members to arrange regrouping.

Don't confuse mapping apps (as from Google and Apple) with a true SatNav app such as the aforementioned CoPilot. Google and Apple Maps download maps as required (which can cost a lot abroad), whereas a true SatNav has all the maps for the entire region that has been purchased. A proper SatNav app on a smart phone will be the same as a dedicated device, with all the maps you needs, fully loaded and NO downloading of data on the fly.

A good SatNav app for a smart phone is WAY cheaper than a dedicated device. CoPilot with ALL of Europe was recently £24 and I've never had to pay for any map updates either. Try and get a dedicated device for that.

However, nothing is perfect and CoPilot is typically flawed, but it's still the best option I've found and way superior to any TomTom device I've tried, let alone their smart phone app which I thought a joke as it was so bad.

There are other apps available, just find one you like, but I have to recommend the use of a good SatNav app on smart phone as the only option worth considering.