Pls help I'm buying a satnav!

[pomster]

Hi people, i'm looking for some help buying a sat nav! if i buy 1 with only uk an ireland can i load european maps on it and if so is it easy to do an how do you do it? do you have to pay for this or can i get it free? sorry if i sound dumb but i hav'nt touched 1 b4 an i have a week b4 i go to france, should i buy 1 with everything on or get 1 cheaper an load maps an speed camers on etc? gratefull for any help!
:manusign:

[xant14]

You can load other maps on a basic UK one.. IF you have enough memory on it or it has a SD card slot.
Not all have card slots, and the amount of internal memory varies. Down to as low as 512mb for some of the tomtom classics for example.

You have a week to go b4 you go to France? You could possibly learn how to load new free maps in this time, it's quite easy. But it took me more than this to do my studying and solving. But I'm a thick coont.

My advice would be to get one with an SD slot, and be prepared to lend a mates Europe satnav if things go tit's up.

[pomster]

Thanks for your help, I'm a thick cooont to so i think i'll have to go for 1 with europe on it, can't take the chance of ~~~~~in it up! been looking at sat nav's an there seems to be some good cheap navman's but when i look on here i dont see any updates, theres lots of people asking for em though! so i'm thinking of paying that bit more for a tom tom, what you reckon?

[av2008]

Thanks for your help, I'm a thick cooont to so i think i'll have to go for 1 with europe on it, can't take the chance of ~~~~~in it up! been looking at sat nav's an there seems to be some good cheap navman's but when i look on here i dont see any updates, theres lots of people asking for em though! so i'm thinking of paying that bit more for a tom tom, what you reckon?

I think Garmin's are also really good, they arnt that popular in the UK but they have a very simple interface, similar to Tom Tom and they are sometimes cheaper. If you find a cheap Garmin I would recommmend it.

Also if you cant find the maps you could buy them off the manufacturers website.

[chalky 4]

Hi i have a nav-man .Best advice get a tom tom. Wish I had.:top:

[xant14]

I only know Tomtom, so I cannot comment on t'others. For me it is tomtom all the way.

[bigfella]

get a tomtom mate with a sd slot and load the europe maps for free.....if i can do it anyone can

[dasteph]

i have a garmin but whatever you buy definately one with european maps.

[pomster]

thanks for all your advice peeps, i went out today an got a tom tom xl europe iq routes edition, should av been ?170 with case an charger but coz i did'nt know what i was on about nor the bloke who was selling it at halfords i got it all for ?150 so well happy with that! thanks again peeps!

[pomster]

It's got 2gb intern mem aswell so should be ok with that!

[xant14]

Yeah, should be a nice beast matie. The wide screen makes a difference, quite nice. You should get map guarantee with the new machine, so any updates should be provided for free.
Check your map.. the latest ones are 845.xxxx, if it aint this then I would get tomtom to update it.
2 gb internal is quite good, has it got SD slot as well?
When you get back from France you could have a play about with things.
Have you got Speed Cameras for it?

[pomster]

Map guarantee inc! No sd cards pal, it says it's got safety camera location is that speed cameras? the ones with sd slots cost to much for me so i thort 2gb int would b ok!

[xant14]

yeah, you have tomtom's own cameras on then. Update them before you go to France. There are no camera files for Switzerland, but I have em if needed.
2Gb is ok, it is just that the top Western & Central Europe map is slightly over 2gb, the one with ALG (lane guidance) and CSR (some speech file thing).
I personally wouldn't mess with my new tomtom, not until the warranty has expired, unless you wanna tinker with it.

[pomster]

Prob only need the europe thing once, No i dont think i'll piss about with it, not if i got map updates for free!

[pomster]

We'll i'm back peeps an what a pce of equip that tom tom is, it got me next door to where i wanted to go in france, it took me down some seedy small roads at times but did'nt make 1 wrong turn (apart from arriving next door) in 800 mile! thanks again peeps!:beer:

[xant14]

Well done, cracking things. It makes you wonder how we got away without them years ago. Saved my marriage a number of times travelling Europe, hmmm.
You need to to get your poi's now, a good one is the French Supermarkets (for the cheap wine).
Where in France did ya go?

[pomster]

le harve! i know it's the ferry port but we arrived in dieppe so had to do about 200 mile over there, got auchan in as a poi, it's just a shame i could'nt fit much ale in the car:laugh: