 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,i am about to buy a sat nav for my trip to the alps this winter and i am looking for some real users advice between the tom tom and garmin.looking to spend around £150.Any help? 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Unless you need a sat nav for more complicated trips, spend your money on a ski pass or some nice meals. The routes to the Alps are extremely straightforward and mostly on motorways with exemplary signposting. I have a copy of a two year old Michelin Atlas you could have for the cost of the postage. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Flow, I've got a TomTom one europe edition and it's not let me down the last 8 trips to different parts of the alps. You can pick them up as cheap as £75.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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There was a thread recently about Sat-Nav and I'm pretty sure all but one person recommended a TomTom
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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For me the most useful part of TomTom or Garmin is not just the routing, but the ability to find things nearby (eg fuel or restaurants).
I have Garmin Nuvi, bought mainly because it was much smaller than TomTom at the time. If I'm in the middle of nowhere and hungry or car needs another 70 euros of fuel pumped into it's black hole, then all I have to do is hit "Find, Near my current route, Fuel/Restaurant" then OK.
Can even set it for use on a bike (and then a whole load of trails appear), but it's flippin confusing on the Autobahn if you forget to set it back to car use!
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Garmin...they work in planes
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I'm sat at home waiting for my new Tom Tom 730 to arrive. I got it over the Garmin 770 mainly for the new IQ function, also got it because g/f wants to avoid traffic jams via TMC (Traffic something-or-other channel) updates. Benefits of the Garmin compared to TT were N.American maps and free TMC updates for life.
For 150 I'm sure you can get one of the UK and Europe older versions. Having used before their main benefit is in major towns or if you arrive at an airport and pick up a hire car 9when they are brilliant.
When doing my research on various web sites they both got some stick for occasional dud routes but Garmin more than Tom Tom. Though this is inevitably when someone really knows an area. I don't think a computerised device with X million bits of data and non-local knowledge is going to win that one. The Users sharing updates is a really good idea though, will get v. close.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Flow, I just bought a refurbished TomTom One Europe - see here. I got it because it is so compact and, with the free map update included, it was nearly as cheap to buy it, as to install up-to-date maps on my older - and much bulkier - TomTom.
I tested my TomTom on a drive that I frequently do from Marseille Airport to a destination in the Vaucluse, for which I use (what is thought to be) a rather nifty route, not an obvious one. TomTom also chose that very route. It's a great gadget and, whilst I would never drive without a map plus, indeed, a printed out route for somewhere complicated, it is a real boon when driving alone.
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JT,
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Garmin...they work in planes
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I think the pilot's know which way to go 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You can also use the 720 as a hands free phone kit and mp3 player which transmits in FM to your car stereo.
You can also watch videos on it if you install this program. http://www.mobilnova.com/MobilNova/en/
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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jimmjimm,
The hands free is rubbish, you have to shout into the device with your mouth about 6" away before anyone can here you. Didn't know about the video though I will give it a go, thanks
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You know it makes sense.
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jimmjimm, I was wondering if they could do anything else (recently new TT One XL owner here). After all they seem to be little more than a glorified PDA and must have some sort of hard drive in them - I might have a look next time I link it to the PC and see how much space there actually is. That software looks interesting and isn't big money if it efficiently does all it claims. I'd be interested to read if anyone else has any experience with it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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As pam w wrote, Michelin make good maps and you can read the road signs.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We had someone driving to our apartment in Ste Foy and their sat nav took them through Mont Blanc tunnel and tried to take them over the Petit St Bernard Pass, (La Thuile-La Rosiere) great road in the summer but not in February! Needless to say they had to go back and it added 5-6 hours to their journey. Save your money and buy the map.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Fogliettaz,
i agree with you, sat navs are terrible people never seem to know where places are nowadays, and when we have been in friends cars they take you some weird ways, like wrong way down a street, the worst thing we have found in spain is, it takes you off a junction to bring you back on the other side ????
Flow Save yourself loads and get a map,
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Flow, buy a map. At least when your passenger f~*k$ up and you shout at them you can get into a proper argument.
When the machine takes you the wrong way it will not respond to your constructive feedback!
I "inherited" one (TT) from my dad because he couldn't work it. I never use it as I'm sick of being sent the wrong way up one way streets, turning into roads that no longer exist, ending up in industrial estates the wrong side of a river/ railway/ motorway (delete as applicable) to the one I want to be in, going up sliproads to come stratight back down again etc, etc, etc.
Also, the thing to find the nearest fuel station is pants. I was on 0 miles left on my fuel countdown (bad situation to get myself in I know) and I used the facility. It told me to get off the dual carriageway and go back the other way for 8 miles. Not an option. I turned off anyway as I had no choice and at the top of the sliproad I could see a filling station about 100 yards away which I found for myself.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not had a problem finding nearest fuel station. If you're travelling, then use "near to my current route" then all the fuel stations will be between you and destination. If you're parked up then use "near to my current location" and it will do a radial search. Sure the built in database won't be 100% complete, but it's gonna be pretty exhaustive.
Not seen many road atlases that mark fuel stations (other than motorway services).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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TomTom One
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As a 40-50,000 mile a year driver, ( not proud of my carbon footprint, but I have to work to pay for my ski trips ) I would not be without a TomTom and have used GPS for about 7 years now, my first one cost (not me but the company I work for) well over a grand and was the size of a brick. My first TomTom was a program on a PDA and I have had several since and they just keep getting better and better with every new model.
Please note i do not have a TomTom fettish but i have 8 guys out on the road who work for me and whenever theres break down I just send them my old one and get myself the latest model.
GPS has revolutionised the way we drive, yes I could tell you the way to get to most major town in the UK off the top of my head and If the Tom Tom tries to take you a different way you simply ignore it and it will re-route itself, but try finding for example Acacia Avenue in South Lewisham (if there is such a place) and you might struggle without it.
As for going down a one way or a farm track or even the Petit St Bernard Pass yes on the odd occasion it may do this ( but I have found on the newer models it is far less likely), but you can always ignore it and use the road block function to help it out. Which in the case of the Petit St Bernard Pass is pretty obvious just by looking at it on the Browse Map function and if I was going renting someone's apartment and wasn't quite sure the first person I would ask for local knowledge would be the owner.
I don't use the TMC function as sometimes it can re-route you off the motorway to avoid a 10 minute delay, but worse than that it can take an age to update and will re-route after the delay has cleared, just use RDS on your radio and a bit of common sense.
The MP3 FM function on my 720 is a very useful function, its the equivalent of having a 12 disc CD auto changer built in, now how much did we pay for that 15 years ago.
Wouldn't buy one just to go to the Alps though, would buy one just because they are now affordable enough for most people to throw in the glove box and use whenever needed.
Be warned the last time I used in Bristol City Centre it was useless
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I have native Sat Nav in my car which I've found I no longer use as it just isn't as good for real time conditions as Google Maps or Waze. Can't see the point in something in which I have to faff with postcode entry etc.
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@achilles, I like Garmin but I only ever use Google maps on my phone these days.
Unless you need off track GPS location then I would use my phone or if you are going somewhere with expensive data then you need the be careful on a phone. But you can download maps to the phone in advance so the phone and use that on GPS (no data) mode.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| I have native Sat Nav in my car which I've found I no longer use as it just isn't as good for real time conditions as Google Maps or Waze. Can't see the point in something in which I have to faff with postcode entry etc. |
Any reason you're responding to a thread rapidly approaching puberty? Not like it'll pay any attention to what you say anyway.
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@SnoodlesMcFlude, Achilles had a post above @Dave of the Marmottes, and me. He has deleted it and started a new thread.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yep @achilles necrobumped it then sneakily deleted his post and moved it elsewhere
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| Yep @achilles necrobumped it then sneakily deleted his post and moved it elsewhere |
He's mugged you right off there 
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I'd always recommend a backup plan for an unfamiliar route. Which is to use something like www.viamichelin.com to plot out your route. It'll also tell you what the tolls will be and fuel consumption etc. Print it out, there and back. And if the SatNav is doing something completely wierd then you at least have something to check it against. It's also useful in listing the key waypoints that'll be signposted.
And even now, SatNavs do the odd truly wierd thing. Like the route to Lausanne across the Jura from the Autoroute des Anglais where it gets to Champangnole. On my BMW and my in-law's Audi, both satnavs take a 'direct' route around it far, far too soon and you find yourself in the middle of nowhere on effectively a single-track road. We have literally ended-up driving through a farmyard. ViaMIchelin doesn't do this: so when you suddenly are told to turn off the main road onto some dodgy-looking track, you can ignore it.
And if it looks like there are some tricky bits, then just hop onto Goggle Earth and drive along them. I did this when we stayed in central Basle one time and it helped me navigate much better as it was at least a bit familiar.
I know this is quite old-fashioned, but there's a lot of merit on the passenger 'shadowing' what the satnav is doing, at least in terms of the main directions and waypoints. When the satnav is counter-intuitive or just plain wrong, it's a bit unfair to expect the passenger to instantaneously provide the answer to the "Which way should we be going now?" question.
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You know it makes sense.
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@LaForet, interesting, if totally off topic, that you go via Champagnole rather than Besancon/Pontarlier. Just looked on Google maps - saves 7min and 17km. Might try it next time!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I was actually thinking to myself last night after being served an advert for a Tom Tom, why would you actually buy any sat nav given the capabilities of a smartphone now and google-maps / waze. I understand in the past in the days pre free EU data roaming there may have been an argument as the maps are preloaded. But in the great year of 2021 - why would you go to the shop and buy one of the latest devices - am I missing something?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@extremerob, screen size..i have an S20+ phone but my satnav screen us twice the size
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@extremerob, You might not have a smartphone, I don't.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Dave of the Marmottes, Will Android Auto work in your car?
I de-specced the sat nav in my (ex company) car when it was new 3 years ago because Android Auto is so good.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@extremerob, I'm with you, I have TomTom on my phone : £15 a year subscription. It's brilliant for postcodes but struggles with business addresses. Then I use google maps or just google for the postcode.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| LaForet wrote: |
| Like the route to Lausanne across the Jura from the Autoroute des Anglais where it gets to Champangnole. On my BMW and my in-law's Audi, both satnavs take a 'direct' route around it far, far too soon and you find yourself in the middle of nowhere on effectively a single-track road. We have literally ended-up driving through a farmyard. . |
I literally had exacty that 3 years ago at 4am in a snowstorm in the Jura! Unfortunately my fellow passengers were all asleep at the point where it went wrong 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@rjs, tbf I didn't consider that segment of the market and yes absolutely makes sense why you'd want one - but I assume you are in the minority of use cases now
@holidayloverxx, i've never thought much about screen size - and I am on the old iphone 6 - can see your point as well
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@LaForet, Not sure if it was the same route that you experienced, but my BMW had me driving along a single track road through a forest for about 10 miles in that area. You cant configure the BMW Nav to stick to major roads so I also use CoPilot on a phone to check that its not doing something stupid.
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@DJL Yes, we usually do the route via Besançon and Pontarlier with a supermarket stop at the Atac in Jougne just before the Swiss border.
However, both ViaMichelin and the SatNavs said that the Champagnole route was shorter/faster, as it's much more of a straight line i.e. the long side of a triangle, so we've given it a go about three times now. Yes, it is true, but only if you use the Champagnole by-pass, and ignore the weird Champagnole 'short cut' of the SatNavs, and don't break your sump on the aggressive speed-bumps in the smaller villages you transit through.
Yes, the trouble with the Besançon-Pontarlier route is you have to go through the commercial suburbs of Besançon and then 'round the hotel/university/hospital road to get to the new Besançon by-pass, but at least it's well-lit and the route is pretty obvious.
So, I'd say give the Champagnole route a try in the summer during the day and just follow the signposting. it's quite pleasant and will save 20-30 minutes if all goes well - but I wouldn't do it in the winter, as the route isn't always obvious.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Satnavs buy their mapping from a third party which is often HERE (formerly Navteq).
Several years ago (October 2016) I had a conversation with Garmin about the (edit) Petit St Bernard- the data they had been working from was different starting on the French side to starting on the Italian side - one way the road closure was from October to June, the other from November to May! My contact was going to change the mapping in Garmin and tell HERE.
Nobody in his right mind should rely on an up-to-date satnav alone - the device calculates travel time from distance and speed limits so it could well think that through Champagnole is quicker than the bypass!
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 7-11-20 21:21; edited 1 time in total
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FAQ
