Sat Nav woes

[Jocko]

Today I was taking my step daughter to a college in Glasgow. Now I have driven in San Francisco more often than I have driven in Glasgow (driven through it a thousand times on the M8, but seldom driven in the city).
I Googled my destination and programmed it into my TomTom One before setting off. The sat nav worked perfectly on the roads I knew then as I reached the city boundary it started to show me beside the motorway, then on it, then finally nowhere near the motorway. As I reached the city centre it lost the satellites altogether. Luckily Laura had her Smart phone and she used that to reach our destination. I tried switching sat nav off and on to no avail.
I then turned  for home, relying on road signs, but there were none! I eventually spotted one for the M8, but westbound. I was going east. I ended up guddling about in the city centre, trying to avoid bus lanes and still looking for signs. I knew the M8 was to the north so turned that direction, and miles later I saw signs for Aberfoyle and the Trossachs. I headed for names I recognised and eventually got to somewhere I recognised.
On my return I connected the sat nav up to the computer (for power) and it found the satellites okay.
I am now betwixt and between. My wife says she will buy me a sat nav for Christmas, but I don't know if the old one (10 years I have had it) is going to work and if not, should I put the money towards my wife's gift and get another TomTom. I seldom need a sat nav, but when you do it is indispensable.

[Kenneve]

Hi Jocko
Have had similar issues with Tom Tom satnavs in the past, so changed to Garmin, currently using a Garmin 51 LMT-S and it works fine for me.
I think it's important to connect it to your PC now and again, to keep the software and maps up to date.

[culzean]

After I updated my favourite Garmin Nuvi 1490 about 6 months ago it turned into a brick, and googling it seems that this has happened to quite a few people using Garmin express.  Bought a Garmin Drive 51 to replace it and in many ways it is a better product, but only an hour battery life and IMHO screen not as good as older garmin kit, and mounting bracket a bit strange design.
You have to be careful to turn it off, as if it does off itself it is still powered up and will drain battery in no time even though display is off .  I like Garmin but I feel their newer products are falling in usability and build quality, this maybe due to falling market due to smart phone mapping...but still not good. Check out the drive 51 though, good price, sensitive GPS receiver,  5" screen and plenty of bells and whistles, with good built in database for attractions, garages, shops etc,  I turned off most alerts except speed camera and the bong when going into a lower speed limit zone,  if you leave all the alarms on it bongs every few hundred yards..... there are two models one with built in traffic and a cheaper one which needs to be hooked up with smart phone to get access to traffic information.

Argos seem to have decent prices on Garmin stuff,


https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7197662?rec=PDP[9163319]:bottomSlider:P2:OHAT:alternative:7197662:qCviRB7ntwSWxUmWuoaz




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[Jocko]

I think it's important to connect it to your PC now and again, to keep the software and maps up to date.

TomTom One no longer supported, unfortunately. Been looking at the Garmin 51 LMT-S.

[peteo48]

On my trip up to Scotland last month I had a little issue with my TomTom sat nav (this one is about 3 years old and I still get the free updates). We were driving from Motherwell to Ardrossan. The sat nav lady took me off the M8 by mistake (tbh it was obvious she'd got it wrong so I should have ignored her) and then had a bit of a meltdown at one point suggesting I did a U Turn on a one way bridge. Is there a known signal problem in parts of Glasgow? I say this because there is an issue in Northwich in Cheshire which sends sat navs a bit loopy.

I got back on to the M8 by following signs!

[Jocko]

Sat nav failed again sitting in my lounge. Luckily I knew where I was. Must be something heating up and dropping out.

[John Ratsey]

Sat nav failed again sitting in my lounge. Luckily I knew where I was. Must be something heating up and dropping out.

Or do you mean it lost the satellite signal - a big problem if indoors unless next to a south-facing window?

I have used several generation of Garmin sat nav in the past but got exasperated by the practice of using a road name if it could find one instead of a road number which made it difficult to relate the instructions to the road signs. I then switched to Tom Tom which is better in this respect. However, it occasionally causes confusion (it's sometimes necessary to glance at the map on the screen to check which turning is being referred to) or annoyance such as the habit of using single track roads because they are slightly shorter in distance but add significantly to the journey time due to the need to drive cautiously and sometimes go backwards. It's best to study a paper map before starting a journey.

[VicW]

annoyance such as the habit of using single track roads because they are slightly shorter in distance but add significantly to the journey time due to the need to drive cautiously and sometimes go backwards.

Not wishing to teach Granny to suck eggs here but I suggest that you should always set your Satnav to plot the quickest route and not the shortest. Even then they sometimes have an aberation. I reckon that you're right when you say look at a paper map before you set off.

Vic.

[culzean]

I found that using 'shortest route' is a no no, you will always get sent down those single track roads.  I also learned that sometimes the spoken message is wrong and it is always wise to watch the map and follow the graphics if any conflict.  One thing I am not happy about on new Garmin drive 51 is that it no longer has a spoken message to tell you it is recalculating, so you just get a banner flash across top of screen and nothing else to tell you that you have made a wrong turn,  I have had a conversation with Garmin customer services and they seem to have no plans to re-introduce this feature....shame...

I always carry map book in car and look first, and if there is a place I want to go through I put a waypoint in.  My brother in law relies totally on his satnav and literally would not know if he had travelled north, south, east or west to get to his destination.

[Jocko]

Just ordered a GARMIN Drive 51LMT-S. £89 from Currys, complete with case.

[culzean]

The supplied case is just a soft pouch, I kept the proper hard case from my previous 5" Garmin Nuvi and it fits a treat.   I do find that I can get pretty much full signal in middle of our house ( downstairs in two story brick house ) with Garmin 51... so as I said earlier the GPS chip is very sensitive.

[Jocko]

I never use the case. My sat nav was fixed to the windscreen for its entire life.
The TomTom One was sitting in the window where it worked happily - until it failed!

[madasafish]

Driven through Glasgow several times with my very old Garmin several times.. same route. Never had any uissues. Maps up to date.. Fastest route always..
Always store mine away - don't want smashed windows - had that in Brighton once BMW radio taken...

[John A]

I have used several generation of Garmin sat nav in the past but got exasperated by the practice of using a road name if it could find one instead of a road number which made it difficult to relate the instructions to the road signs. I then switched to Tom Tom which is better in this respect.

Garmin is USA based and they seem to like roads having names rather than numbers, whereas the Tom-Tom is Netherlands based and they seem to like road names for the major routes. Though of in a town the names based system can be better.

[Jocko]

Always store mine away - don't want smashed windows - had that in Brighton once BMW radio taken...

90% of the time my car is parked, it is garaged. Hardly ever parked outside after dark. Most new cars have sat navs now, so there is not a great market for secondhand ones (just look at the prices on eBay). It is like alloys. Hardly worth buying locking nuts.