On 5 August 2015 at 20:52, James Freer jessejazza3.uk@gmail.com wrote:
On 5 August 2015 at 14:33, Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
On Tue, Aug 04, 2015 at 05:20:28PM +0100, Paul Tansom wrote:
Cheap Android smartphones are often cheaper than satNavs. My Motorola Moto E which is sort of middle of the road is only around £100. There are others out there much cheaper.
I found Here! at least as good as the native Garmin offerings, better in some ways. I didn't use Google Maps at all.
We don't have a signal at home (out in the sticks in Suffolk) but I still find having a 'phone is handy at times.
** end quote [Chris Green]
If you're just using it for offline maps which update over wifi at home why not use a small screen tablet? There are car mounting brackets for them, although I'm not entirely sure whether they would fit on the dash. Storage wise I think they would stand up better than a phone since most I've seen only have about 4G (e.g. the Huawei Y550 that my son has which is around £40 plus £20 topup on EE, there used to be a similarly spec'd Sony for a bit more there too), whereas tablets generally have around 16G (e.g. the Lenovo A7-50 which was around £60 in Argos recently or £70 on Amazon, it looks like there's a new version with less memory now; I suspect the S8-50 I've just got for around £100 would be too large at 8" instead of 7", although the screen is a better resolution - go to John Lewis for that price as Currys, etc. want another £50 for it! You also get 2 years warranty for free).
Yes, I quite agree, as a 'new satNav' a cheap tablet makes a lot of sense, I did consider it for my application but didn't have too much time to spare so went the 'use existing phone' route.
-- Chris Green
I'll have to look at those - I'd quite like the 8" for a truck. Which offline maps would you recommend for it? Just had a friend round whose an ADI and he was saying that satnav use is going to be part of the test in future. He also said that google maps were c*** - but happy with his satnav. Thing is a tablet with offline maps is a better tool... just occasionally the satnav loses signal.
james
Just thought I'd 'tie-up' our rather long thread. I got a smartphone in October along with a 7" tablet. As a truck driver I am doing 2000 miles/3200 km per week - so a satnav is an indispensable tool. Not to be relied on too much as one loses direction I find but for detail I wouldn't want to be without one.
Someone did suggest that a dedicated satnav was not worth having as a smartphone can surfice. I don't disagree but the dedicated tool has its place. Assuming one goes out in the car for a few hours trip - use a smartphone as its handy.
But out on the road as a job is a different thing. Folk want to phone me and every stop I don't want to remove the satnav from the screen (as it's also the phone). I found that a pain.
As for satnav apps - I gave each one a go. Only two I could find were worth using Navmii and Here (as Chris Green mentioned) - worth using in the sense that they work offline. Here maps I preferred as it usefully has 'From: To:' routing like google maps. Indispensable when one has to look at distances between locations which no satnav does to my knowledge (only current location to destination). As for the apps the maps are 'diagrammatic' like Tom Tom and lack some of the detail unless one uses the zoom. Garmin built in a useful feature which is that a screen touch produces a plan view which is helpful on a housing or industrial estates. Google maps can be useful which is why I got the phone originally but Here maps being offline and a 'close second' is what I turn to first. Navmii has more POI and I think is a better app but Here's From-To capability makes it a winner. Navmii at night is a bit irritating with their colour scheme.
After 50k miles of use - I only had one glitch with Here and none with Navmii. As for updates I was surprised only two with each in five months. Were those map updates or app updates? Either; which doesn't give me confidence. At least with the Garmin I install a new map each month - perhaps it's only a 1% change but visiting new housing estates I want to be sure. I can turn to google maps IF there is a signal - doing a fair bit of travelling I have to say 3G cover is poor as far as I am concerned and not worth relying on... worse than postcodes!
So as a professional driver I was not so keen on relying on a smartphone but as time goes on I am sure they will get better. I wish now I had bought a smartphone without a contract SIM - to get over the phone call problem (I know this seems crazy) but I swopped the SIM cards with my old mobile. I do find all the 'bells and whistles' on a smartphone irritating. Worse still one still can't bottom post on an email so I still use the PC for emails. My old mobile is a Nokia 5110 - yes old fashioned but they were excellent phones being 'hard wired' - not software and also voice clarity is better and she's had more knocks in ten years than anything else could stand. You could say my smartphone is now only used as a satnav. The mobile network for downloading is too slow and is only worth doing on WiFi. The other reason for getting a smartphone was I was moving and knew I had about a month to wait for broadband connection.
As for the tablet - not legal for use in a vehicle as it cannot be secured. Putting it in pocket on the centre console is fine if a car has a suitable location - a Peugeot 107 had such when I hired one which was ideal. A satnav can only be put on the windscreen in the arc of the wiper blades and can only protrude as much as 40mm outside it. Not a problem in a car maybe but in a truck which can be stopped by the Police or Vosa - not worth risking. So all I use the tablet for is at home at times when I am too lazy to turn on the PC - ebay, gumtree, emails... sometimes surfing but limited.
Whichever one has satnav or smartphone - it's up to taste and after considering all... little cash difference. I do appreciate having a spare... I have had a charging USB-mini cable go u/s - I had a spare and also the smartphone as backup!
james