Just curious if anyone in Sheffield on this forum has a navigation system in their car and if they are actually very useful or not? There are several different priced models, some much cheaper than others...I was curious as to how much detail the "talking" ones gave you re directions for complicated roundabouts or junctions, and specifically if they verbally told you which lane to be in and stuff like that, or if they just merely told you turn left and just basic stuff.......some are built now into brand new cars, but I am sure the more epensive ones probably..

a)have a sexier digital voice, and/or
b) Give you much more important traffic/road detail...

ive got a pocket pc, with £50 gps unit.

installed on the PPC is TomTom 5 with John Cleese voice...

You could get an Acer n35 from ebuyer (£230) and TomTom5 for about £130.

or a TomTom Go 300 is about £350...


TomTom is the way forward though.

I have the same setup as Vini.
I don't use it around sheffield, but it's generally pretty good. It doesn't tell you which lane, but at roundabouts it tells you which direction and exit count. The biggest difficulty is actually programming the destination sometimes, as if you put in a postcode then a road name, it still seems to show all the roads in that city area with the name instead of just the one in that postcode area.

do they have 'dalek' metallic voices or do they sound...well human?

Originally posted by goldenfleece
do they have 'dalek' metallic voices or do they sound...well human?

sounds pretty human to me. only has 1 english female accent though, the american ones are annoying and the other languages just confuse me.

Do all the men choose the woman's voice, and all the women choose the man's voice?

bought an avensis to get one as standard- use it everyday for everywhere. only takes street names though not postcodes.

I am curious to try out a few different models and pick, say a fairly complex Sheffield cross town route, and see how they cope with directing across the BEST route, and also provide details of traffic jams, roadworks and other 'live' stuff which could effect the timing of the route.

It has got to have a sexy female voice though......and definitely NO AMERICAN ACCENTS!!! I wonder if you could load in a beautiful Sheffield accent......or even have one that changed its dialect according to what town you were in......this would make places like Liverpool very easy to get lost in as I cant understand a word.....

Originally posted by Andy
Do all the men choose the woman's voice, and all the women choose the man's voice?

The male version just sends you of in the "right direction" then refuses to ask the satelite for directions when you get lost.

likewise the female version i have says " in approx 50mm there should be a left turn - darn which way up is this map"

Originally posted by willman
likewise the female version i have says " in approx 50mm there should be a left turn - darn which way up is this map"

then bursts into tears and refuses to speak to you until you appologise.

Originally posted by nick2
then bursts into tears and refuses to speak to you until you appologise.

LOVE IT!!

Originally posted by goldenfleece
I am curious to try out a few different models and pick, say a fairly complex Sheffield cross town route, and see how they cope with directing across the BEST route, and also provide details of traffic jams, roadworks and other 'live' stuff which could effect the timing of the route.

the voices are human, just like on the tv ads/website...

you can (not easily) add your own voices to tomtom... tomtom offer a live update service too, dont know of others which do offer that service.

Originally posted by goldenfleece
I am curious to try out a few different models and pick, say a fairly complex Sheffield cross town route, and see how they cope with directing across the BEST route, and also provide details of traffic jams, roadworks and other 'live' stuff which could effect the timing of the route.

It has got to have a sexy female voice though......and definitely NO AMERICAN ACCENTS!!! I wonder if you could load in a beautiful Sheffield accent......or even have one that changed its dialect according to what town you were in......this would make places like Liverpool very easy to get lost in as I cant understand a word.....

I think you'd find that local knowledge beats the planning, to go from the parkway to walkley it sticks rigidly to the main route, parksquare roundabout, past the law courts, up to the university roundabout, down the A61. Which is fine, but not the quickest way normally and definitley not quickest in traffic.
It's not supposed to replace your brain, it's for use when you're not sure where you are going.

And in order to get traffic information etc, you'd need it connected to a gprs phone and to pay for the tomtom traffic service. I'm avoiding all subscription like services as i'd rather not pay for them. If you do find out there's a problem via the traffic announcement on the radio you can tell it to find an alternative. Worked quite well from the M1, directed me off at the next junc, (25) in towards Derby, back out on the A38, avoiding the problem on the motorway (although I ignored it and took the A61 as an experiment from Derby, bad idea by the way).

I use the Tom Tom with no complaints at all.

It's actually better than my other halfs built in Audi one!

Unlike some of the others, it's display is a recreation of the view in front of you with an arrow pointing you in the right direction.

It also speaks the directions but when you get used to reading all the displayed info you don't really need it in vocal command.

Like anything else though you still need common sense, it does'nt actually drive you there.

Have heard of people using them as an excuse for being late to work or meetings.
Which is absolutely ridiclous, even if you miss a turn they re adjust the route in seconds.

I find it fool proof and my road directional skills will probabaly be zero with out it, which is the down side.

TomTom is great!!!

I've got it on my mobile and on a pda. but if i was buying one now, i'd get a TomTom GO 300, (£370)

If you only want UK maps you don't need the more expensive models.

Very simple to use and the most user friendly.

Journeys are now a pleasure, if your going somewhere new and worry about getting there on time, safe and relaxed, they are priceless.

Also you can put speed camera locations on it, to help you drive safely.

If you get it from here link (http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/viewprod.php?flt=&search=tomtom&st=TomTom+GPS&vt=list&product_id=3324&max_cat_id=17&vt=list) they put the speed camera database on for you for free, and set it up for you before delivery, which is also free.

It's one of those items where if you get one, you'll wonder how you lived without it before. :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Modesty
, even if you miss a turn they re adjust the route in seconds.



Unless it's the woman, in which case she says "You should have turned left there" in a know it all voice :D

"please make a legal u-turn!" "please make a legal u-turn!" YES YES YES, CALM DOWN VERA! (VERA VECTRA-WITH SATNAG!!!)

lets rename this thread - SATNAG! Worse than the Mrs!?! Sorry ladies!

Have TomTom 5 on a Dell Axim.

Problems...
The Dell has a terrible speaker, even attached to a powered speaker it sounds quite bad. Have to use the Mans voice has the Womans, being a higher pitch causes feedback. (PLEASE NOTE: This is a problem with the Dell PDA and not TomTom. I have heard it on several other brands of PDA and they sound excellent).

Rather slow at updating the Maps, although V5 is supposed to have 2005 maps, these are in fact the maps the mapping company had in 2005 and don't include all the new roads. Living in Rotherham I decided to test the new layout at Denaby / Mexbourough (2 to 3 year old) and it still had me driving in the field...

Directions: Noticed the odd junction that confuses it in the following way.. You are driving up "Road A" which has a juntion on the right hand side. Now if you turn right here you are still on "Road A" (by name). Continuing straight on the Road actually changes names to "Road 2" :) . TomTom has an habit of not saying anything if you are to turn right has you are still on "Road A".

None of these problems are major has a quick glance (this becomes as second nature as checking the mirrors) makes everything so obvious.


Plus Points.
In unknown areas, these are excellent. Had the TomTom about 20 months and it has got me to and through loads of places including..
London: (get a GPS kit that has an extension area, its cuts out Londons "Urban Canyon" problem with GPS units)
Edinburgh:
Goodwood: (Festival of Speed 2004). It took me a different way to the AA sighns. Radio stated you will be stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, we where stuck for about 15 minutes only.

Quickest routes: You be amazed how often you go the long way round just because thats the way you have always gone.

Finding places that you didn't know existed. Just a route to Derbyshire, swithing to shortest route instead of quickest took me out of Sheffield over some moors that I had never seen before (the name escapes me, will go again and report back) instead of the usual Rivelin or prince of wales routes.

Road Layout: How many times have you been going down a straight, unknown road road for it to suddenly turn to S bends. The TomTom will show you the layout way before the signs do..

Drive to unknown areas with the GPA off to get lost (I love doing this) knowing that when you ready for home just switch it back on.

Avoid Road Blocks: is featured on the Standard Software. As mentioned you can subscribe to TomTom Traffic which will guide you around Traffic Jams and roadworks. The latest version will also tell you the weather forecast for you destination for the expected time of arrival.




GFleece: TomToms verbal directions are adequate, I think too much information would just confuse (and if you need to be told which lane to take, should you really be driving :D )

Cyclone: If you are using the latest TomTom (V5). Don't use "Navigate To", "Address" to type in Postcodes. Use "Navigate To", "Next Page", "Postcodes". Previous versions did not have 7 digit postcodes without using 3rd Party Software.

Oasismark: The "Go" versions are great for people that just want the Navigator. The PDA + GPA kit packages do much more.




AND FINALLY (at last I hear you shout :D )
THE BEST THING ABOUT TOMTOM.
Download the "KFC" Points Of Interest file (poi). Where ever you are in the country just "Navigate to", "Points Of Interest", select "KFC" and you get a list of KFCs listed with the nearest one first. :D

Originally posted by bigflesh
"please make a legal u-turn!" "please make a legal u-turn!" YES YES YES, CALM DOWN VERA! (VERA VECTRA-WITH SATNAG!!!)

When I first got mine (without the powered speaker) I would take a wrong turn (trying to get it lost) and it would state "Turn Round When Possible" but it sounded like "Turnround Impossible" to which I would reply (yes, Im that sad :D ) "Do ya wanna bet"...

Originally posted by SlimboyFat
When I first got mine (without the powered speaker) I would take a wrong turn (trying to get it lost) and it would state "Turn Round When Possible" but it sounded like "Turnround Impossible" to which I would reply (yes, Im that sad :D ) "Do ya wanna bet"...

Slim, she was so stern faced. Once I made her speak Spanish for an hour.... "huh that'll teach you" "... I dare you to say - please make an illegal paella" I thought!

I can't remember what spanish was for "please make a legal u-turn", but the thought of doing a handbrake 360 degree manouvor on the Parkway at rush-hour makes me chuckle! Although i would never dare do it, even if Vera made me (in her psuedo spanish/still north american sounding tongue).

Update for Cyclone: I had only seen the postcodes working on a mates PDA. Tried mine tonight and was only getting the 5 digit lookup working, after a couple of hours searching it seems that you re-insert the setup discs and add map, you should fing "Great Britain Postcodes". Install this to you Memory Card. Navigate to the Memory Card, you should have a new folder called zip with 1 file inside called Great_Britain.postal.

Go back a level so you can see the zip and Great_britain-map folders. If the instalation hasn't created a folder called tomtom, create one. This folder remains empty.

Do a soft reset, then when you start TomTom use the "Navagate To", "Next PAge", "Postcode".


All sorted.....


Any problems PM me.

GFleece: TomToms verbal directions are adequate, I think too much information would just confuse (and if you need to be told which lane to take, should you really be driving :D )B]


Got one now....its great!!! It actually DOES give you some indication of lane selection in advance....you know those unknown towns you go from time to time where suddenly you are forced without warning to take one of 6 different lanes all without any signage or proper road markings? Tom Tom shows you the junction options in advance (sometimes in plenty of deatail) and does indicate if you need to move into left or right lane at various points.....at least to some extent. I found it very useful near Bury (Lancs) which has an awful ring road and unless you know exactly where you are going at one section you end up on the road to Rochdale as you have about 3mm warning to change lanes as half the signs are broken, bent or...er missing.....

Tom Tom.....great gadget......

I have a pocket PC with mapopolis and via michelin which I switch depending upon where I am going. Via michelin navigates like tomtom.
I recently got mu daughter an Acer Palm from halfords with via michelin UK on it for £180.
The menu system is different to the via michelin I have on my pocket PC but the navigation mode is almost identical.
£180 is an absolute bargin.

I have a blank voice on my PDA TomTom so I can still hear speed camera alerts without the annoying constant directions, far happier just glancing at a map.

I was very tempted by the Yoda voice though. "At the next junction, turn to the left you must!" "Stay in the right lane or to the dark side you will fall" etc.


Robin

More information on Sat-Nav etc. on this (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63932&perpage=15&highlight=tomtom&pagenumber=1) thread...

update from the field as it were, tomtom succesfully took me from geneva to a tiny town in the alps and back this last week.
But then I knew it would :D

I use tomtom go 500, and in general find it to be excelant. It has blue tooth so you can use your phone hands free via it. It has been updated to take saftey cameras and silly voices, these are available free at some sites, and for pennies on others.

It is about 95 - 99% accurate, missing off new roads and recent changes. Once you get used to the way it 'thinks and speaks' its a doddle, for example it may say bear right, meaning turn right, and turning ahead, sometimes several before. It does guide you as to which lane to get into. Taking a wrong turn, it reconfigures in seconds and either tells you to turn around or finds an allternate route. It takes addresses, postcodes crossings of road names, recent destinations, points of interest(extra ones can be downloaded or added by the user ) or you can browse the map in various scales. In unfamiliar places, it saves the stop starting and hesitency at junctions, the quick look at an a - z whilst driving? and holding up of other traffic(admit it were all impatient at times)

It works on 12/24v so can be transfered between car and truck, alternatley it has an approx 4 hour battery life. I use mine daily for travel accross length and breadth of Britain, once you are familiar with it, its quicker than looking up things on a map. Its also a dam site lighter, than carrying about 30 - 50 a -zs, which go out of date even quicker than the software and can't be updated. It gives an arrival time, so you can call ahead if your going to be late(hands free via the bluetooth of course)

The downsides are, its quite expensive if you never leave Sheffield and use it only occasionaly. It does not and cannot ever beat local knowledge. You may often know a quicker way locally, but as a visitor to the place, you are gauranteed to arrive albeit a minute or so later. It does not remove your responsibility for driving poorly, you still have to look at every junction/turn and read the road ahead. It is of course out of date as soon as a new road is put in, but thats life, and you should still be reading raod signs.

I've rambled on enough now:D but they are a good bit of kit, used correctly.:thumbsup: