Sat nav decisions

Borders2

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On our latest away break the tomtom packed in. Its a go pro and was pretty pricy at the time some years ago.

We are debating buying a tablet and sim, or another TT probably

TomTom GO Professional 520 5 Inch EU Traffic Truck Sat Nav730/9546​


The issue is though that we are often in very remote places so are we better with satellite satnav signal or phone signal we suspect the dearer option is the wiser one.

B2
 
There is always the tablet with inbuilt GPS, or a tablet with a GPS reader hooked up to it, or linking a tablet to your phones GPS.

It really is down to the software, mapping and inbuilt database you are using and for me no tablet software beats the Garmin camper van sat nav range , now in its 3rd or 4th generation, for mapping, free map updates, speed camera info (paid for file but useful), route planning (enter the van size and set the various route restrictions that you want, can be a bit off at times though but aren’t they all) and a large pre installed database that you can personalise by uploading your data files, such as the wildcamping points of interest or lpg databases.

I enter coordinates most times and I am done. Keep perusing the route on the journey to see if there are any poi’s worth a stop or detour for.

You are then free to use your tablet or phone for other things whilst travelling, such as streaming U.K. radio when in Europe, assuming you have a mobile phone signal, listening to podcasts, or music without having to put up with the radio musical tastes, adverts, and screaming dj’s of the countries visited.

Garmin Camper 780 is worth a look. We have the 760 which is now two generations old but the regular annual updates keep it fresh.
 
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I`ve been a Garmin fan for quite some time now and the 760 LMT-D was great until recently when it stopped getting map updates and after trying everything i could including full factory resets i contacted Garmin UK, they said it was no longer supported.

I went for the 780 MT-S from Halfords which i now see is on offer with £60 off, which IMHO is much better in many aspects than the 760.

The only downside is that the mount is not powered like the 760 LMT-D was and you have to manually plug and unplug it but that`s not a deal breaker to me.

Caravan Sat Nav | Halfords UK

A caravan sat nav is an essential piece of technology if you’re travelling. Using the size and weight of the vehicle, you are shown the best route.
www.halfords.com www.halfords.com

It works perfectly with Garmin Express and the Garmin POI Loader ( Windows PC ) and our POI`s load very easily and quickly and show on the map whilst driving with a Green W whether there is a route programmed into it or not.

The LED screen is much crisper / clearer and doesn`t not get affected as much by direct sunlight which the 760 LCD screen was quite bad for :(
 
The 760 LM has stopped getting map updates! :(:(:(

So much for the promise of “free lifetime updates”. Are you sure as pre 2019 sat navs with an LM designation were sold with free lifetime updates.

Garmin do say all models later than 2019 get free updates, not just those with an LM designation.

Very disappointed with Garmin if this is the case. It’s was one of their major sales pitches at the time for the (more expensive and then recently launched) LM models. Especially at a time when TOMTOM had stopped doing free updates so it was a major Garmin sales pitch for their new LM product.

There is a recent July 2022 USA map update for the 760 LMT-D on the Garmin website but as I away from a PC cannot check for a 2022 European update.
 
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Moped said:
The 760 has stopped getting map updates! :(:(:(

So much for the promise of “free lifetime updates”

Same promise as the current 780.

Very disappointed with Garmin. It’s one of their major sales pitch.
Click to expand...
It isn't just Garmin, Tomtom also promise free lifetime updates but then stop supporting models and saying that 'lifetime' is a term used for the length of time that they support it.

If you already have a tablet the Tomtom app is good but costs £20pa. or you can get the motorhome/caravan version for £50pa.
For that you get regular updates and speed cameras, (speed cameras alone cost £20 from Tomtom for their models with out free updates) link it to your phone's hotspot and you get live traffic info, also it is being improved with new features and you always have the latest model, with good satnavs costing £300 or more it is a cheap option
 
How strange - I have only just last week updated the maps on my 760LMT without difficulty and it’s now on 2023.10 I think. I did my even older Zumo 660 motorbike unit at the same time.

Incidentally I use an iPad air2 loaded with both copilot and maps.me which is held on the dash with the optional Fiat tablet holder. This way I can have closeup mapping on the Garmin and wider on the iPad, quite useful with the WC icons showing on maps.me. I wish they could be in Copilot as that’s a nicer map to view.
 
I like the idea of the Garmin 1090, bar the price, as it can be rotated 90° to provide a portrait view, ideal when you have ‘route up’ navigation

www.garmin.com

Garmin Camper 1090 | Camper Sat Nav

A motorhome sat nav with a large, edge-to-edge 10" display, preloaded campgrounds and custom routing for the size and weight of your motorhome or caravan
www.garmin.com www.garmin.com
 
I do still use a dedicated SatNav (TomTom), but mainly use a GPS tablet, so I'd recommend a tablet and a decent mount. Don't even remember how many how many navigation apps I got on the tablet, most free some fee based. Dedicated satnavs area bit yesterday now.
Waze is a great navigation app with by far the fastest road condition updates, but needs a connection for live updates, but the data is minimal. If a truck breaks down ten minutes up the road, the chances are you'll be warned of it before you get there.
IGO Nav is great as is the fee based TomTom app, and Organic maps is a great app too, great for looking around up roads if your are making a route up as you go, but it's not a great SatNav as will only show route and no other info, speed limits etc.
Have those and many more all on one device.
 
I don't see the point there are several apps out there which do most of what I need, but mostly I use Google maps and if data use (it uses very little anyway) bothers you, you can download quite a large area, if used live you get traffic updates which help avoid queues, and of course, the maps are current so no need to update before you set off anywhere.

Also of course the wild camping app links nicely into it, it was fool proof on out last trip,
 
Wooie1958 said:
I`ve been a Garmin fan for quite some time now and the 760 LMT-D was great until recently when it stopped getting map updates and after trying everything i could including full factory resets i contacted Garmin UK, they said it was no longer supported.

I went for the 780 MT-S from Halfords which i now see is on offer with £60 off, which IMHO is much better in many aspects than the 760.

The only downside is that the mount is not powered like the 760 LMT-D was and you have to manually plug and unplug it but that`s not a deal breaker to me.

Caravan Sat Nav | Halfords UK

A caravan sat nav is an essential piece of technology if you’re travelling. Using the size and weight of the vehicle, you are shown the best route.
www.halfords.com www.halfords.com

It works perfectly with Garmin Express and the Garmin POI Loader ( Windows PC ) and our POI`s load very easily and quickly and show on the map whilst driving with a Green W whether there is a route programmed into it or not.

The LED screen is much crisper / clearer and doesn`t not get affected as much by direct sunlight which the 760 LCD screen was quite bad for :(
Click to expand...
Just checked our 760 Graham and yes I now can't see any map info on Garmin Express although it has still updated the software. The 780 is also carrying the same discount at Curry's, so I'm assuming there is a new model imminent, seems to be a confusing array of Garmin camper versions .......... more research required 🤣
 
Val54 said:
Just checked our 760 Graham and yes I now can't see any map info on Garmin Express although it has still updated the software. The 780 is also carrying the same discount at Curry's, so I'm assuming there is a new model imminent, seems to be a confusing array of Garmin camper versions .......... more research required 🤣
Click to expand...

That`s what i found with my 760 Dave as it seemed ages since it last got a big quarterly map update so i looked harder and found the map info wasn`t there any more.

The software updated fine but not the main maps 🤬
 
Wooie1958 said:
That`s what i found with my 760 Dave as it seemed ages since it last got a big quarterly map update so i looked harder and found the map info wasn`t there any more.

The software updated fine but not the main maps 🤬
Click to expand...
Out of interest, do you think the 780 loads gps any faster than the 760?
 
I am used to my TomTom but the maps are too old and I suspect cannot be updated via a tablet or phone.
Thus I am trialling TomTom Go app.
1 week free so that will allow me to decide.
I normally upload custom pois so that will be an early test.
Uk maps downloading now !
 
jagmanx said:
I am used to my TomTom but the maps are too old and I suspect cannot be updated via a tablet or phone.
Thus I am trialling TomTom Go app.
1 week free so that will allow me to decide.
I normally upload custom pois so that will be an early test.
Uk maps downloading now !
Click to expand...
The current generation of the Tom Tom app does not allow importing third party POIs.

That is why I ceased using it.
 
Canalsman said:
The current generation of the Tom Tom app does not allow importing third party POIs.

That is why I ceased using it.
Click to expand...
That's a bit stupid I first bought one so I could import OV2 files. I don't understand why they try to alienate their customer base.
 
Hmm. This thread is starting to get as interesting as the portable power unit topic.

OK, so if I can't update Garmin then at what stage does the old mapping become useless?

Reason I ask is that we used to tug with a Nissan X Trail which we still have with no plans to get rid. The Nissan sat nav has never been updated since 2011 as it is a disk based update (no USB on this model) and Nissan want £160 for their last disk based update available which was 2015 so I have passed thankyou.

Point is even though the data is 11 years old it still does its job 99% of the time. OK you get the odd bit of new road in France or the UK which does cause a bit of satnav confusion but it is not such a deal breaker that I want to fork out £160 for something that is 7 years old anyway.. A bit of driving common sense and I am soon back on track.

So will my Garmin 760 be good enough for the next 10 years without updates and if not why not?

I do have a smart phone so if the satnav really does get me lost I can always refer to that.

OK the TOMTOM above is broken so a replacement of some sort is required but what about those who have working sat navs all be it with outdated data?
 
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TT are not precisely at the top of my favs list after £300 or so of kit died at the usual critical moment.
 
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