[rodders]

Guys, thinking of getting a sat nav. Off to France for a driving holiday in sept and know if I get a navman or garmain I can purchase extra card for France.

What are your thoughts on the best system here at reasonable price that can be upgraded for Europe later?

[BMW //MPOWER]

The TomTom one is a really good system, i've got one and highly reccomend it.

[LEA69]

I got the Navman ICN520. I love it, its smaller than the Tom Tom and same touch screen features, hasnt got the colourful covers that Tom TOm promotes but for portability as a street map when your on foot, its a lot smaller (like a PDA) to have in your pocket. But check out prices for Europe cards/ maps, can be a few hundred$$.

[rodders]

The cards for Europe are big bucks but if you go on ebay in UK they are as cheap as chips! You can purchase a card for as little as 25 pounds - genuine.

By the way Lea, have ordered the K&N so thanks for the info!

[VGR00]

Good timming. I'm looking at buying a nav at the moment as well. So far, i'm leaning towards the TomTom one (V2) on sale at Harvey Norman for $499 at the moment and Whereis has a $50 rebate. It's got a 3.5" screen and it's pretty compact. This unit has been around for a while and everyone rates them highly. I do suspect that a replacement is around the corner with the bigger 4.3" screen. Ultimatly, at $449 (after rebate) it sounds like a good deal. I don't know about maps but since these are on SD card, you might get a good deal on one by going to Ebay France or UK and see what's listed there.

[LEA69]

Originally Posted by rodders

The cards for Europe are big bucks but if you go on ebay in UK they are as cheap as chips! You can purchase a card for as little as 25 pounds - genuine.

By the way Lea, have ordered the K&N so thanks for the info!

Good Work Rodders, let me know when you put it in if you like it!

[LEA69]

Originally Posted by vgr02

Good timming. I'm looking at buying a nav at the moment as well. So far, i'm leaning towards the TomTom one (V2) on sale at Harvey Norman for $499 at the moment and Whereis has a $50 rebate. It's got a 3.5" screen and it's pretty compact. This unit has been around for a while and everyone rates them highly. I do suspect that a replacement is around the corner with the bigger 4.3" screen. Ultimatly, at $449 (after rebate) it sounds like a good deal. I don't know about maps but since these are on SD card, you might get a good deal on one by going to Ebay France or UK and see what's listed there.

wow, theyve come down a lot in price. I bought my 3 years ago though and it was fairly new then. I paid close to $1k for mine. 3.5" screen, with remote/ mounts etc... the usual. Cheap to get them nowadays which makes getting the BMW nav a real expensive 'option' when buying the car. But sometimes, i wished I had it built in, looks so much nicer.
I cant complain though, my partner hardwired the power plug thru the air vent in the top of dash, so all you see is 1 inch of cord sticking into the Navman on the windown mount. So neat!

[VGR00]

OK ..... I have an update. I purchased a TomTom One (v2) from JB hifi this morning for the low price of A$440 and cash back voucher from Whereis for $50. This makes it A$390 which is a great deal.

Just playing with the unit at the moment and it's very easy to use.

[astra]

Originally Posted by rodders

Guys, thinking of getting a sat nav. Off to France for a driving holiday in sept and know if I get a navman or garmain I can purchase extra card for France.

What are your thoughts on the best system here at reasonable price that can be upgraded for Europe later?

that's what i did when i drove around europe... i bought a europe card for my navman and off i went... those things are great, we drove through around 7 countries and didn't get lost once

[CaptOz]

I have owned a Garmin Sat Nav and have a friend with a Navman.

My tip is not only to consider brands but models within the brand. Some units can be slow to find satellites, lock-up, offer poor directions and other bugs. I would suggest talking to quite a few suppliers to ensure you don’t end up with a dud.

Cheers.

[astra]

if anyone else is interested, i sugest looking up "everything gps" in rozelle... fantastic range of navs, and very knowledgeable salespeople

[rodders]

Guys, made my purchase. Purchased the TomTom One (v2). Went to JB HiFi in city and got for $338 plus $50 cashback.

Went for tomtom cause other sites said it great unit.

Didnt go for bigger better system cause other stuff (bluetooth phone, mp3, ipod connect) we already have!

My final decsion was based on costs of French Map:

Navman A$299.00

TomTom 59 euro = approx A$100.00

Thanks for your help!

[VGR00]

Hey thats a fantastic price. $100 less than my purchase and I thought I was doing good. I used mine seriously for the first time today as I had to go to a place about 200klms from the office that I had never been to before and it performed briliently.

I don't like mounting it on the windscreen but the unit works and sits nicely in the ask tray. This weekend I'm going to make a removable mount for the ashtray.

[ed-320d]

What about Nokia E95?

- 5 MegaPixel camera
- Sat Nav
- Mobile 3G
- Multimedia player

[VGR00]

Don't know much about the Nokia E95. My impression has always been that multifunction units do everything but dont do everything well but i'm not in a position to say that about the Nokia E95. I personally want my phone to be a phone and don't care about any other function. When I need a camera, I'll take my camera and same too with the GPS.

I'm going to look into this Nokia unit thougth. Do you have one Ed ???. If so, does it interface with the BMW Bluetooth system well including download of phone book ???

[ed-320d]

Originally Posted by vgr02

I'm going to look into this Nokia unit thougth. Do you have one Ed ???. If so, does it interface with the BMW Bluetooth system well including download of phone book ???

No, I dont have one. But would be interested to get one. I dont think it will be able to download phone book as it uses different kind of software version.

[astra]

found out the hard way that my pda doesn't synch properly with my car has never synched phonebook, and occasionally drops out when talking via bluetooth

[VGR00]

Hi All,

Well I got around to giving my TomTom a permanent (removable) home. I don't like mounting it using the suction cup on the windscreen so I made a custom mount into the ashtray (i'm a non smoker). It's screwed into the removable part of the ashtray. It looks good, works well and all I have to do now is hard wire the power to it. In the mean time, I can still use the cable into the ciggy lighter. To remove it, I can either unclip the unit from it's mount or pull it out the ashtray which will allow me to close the lid.

[astra]

question for you vgr - can you see the screen down there? (always wondered this with mounting something like that so low)

[VGR00]

Yes ASTRA ...... very clear. You only have to glance at the screen occasionally as the voice commands really direct you to where you need to go. In fact the other bonus of having it in that spot is because the speaker is in the back of the unit and the volume seems to amplify as it fills the ashtray chamber.

Today I'm going to try and get to the wires attached to the lighter so I can hard wire power to it.

[astra]

oh good to hear

[CaptOz]

Originally Posted by astra

question for you vgr - can you see the screen down there? (always wondered this with mounting something like that so low)

It's not an out of the way location for vgr as he has to look down there every time he reaches for his can of beer.

Cheers.