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Threads - GPS, TomTom Again
On 15/10/2008 Peter Macinnis wrote:
I am about to mount an assault on southern NSW, the Murray Valley and
other places. It's work (of a sort), and I will be on many by-roads, so
it is time to get a GPS.
I need good text-to-speech, preferably one that does not get hysterical
and demand that I return to the road when I drive onto a property, but I
can live with that.
Currently I am looking at the Tom Tom One, but I am eager for advice,
ASAP, because I want to master the thing before we head off.
Anthony Morton replied:
I have some experience with the TomTom courtesy of a colleague who
apparently looked at all the options and settled on that as the best
one, particularly if you travel to other countries. Generally it
seemed OK and didn't protest overmuch if we departed from the route.
That said, we were using it in Denmark and Germany rather than
Australia (though it was still set up with the Aussie accent).
Wolfie responded:
Peter, I have a Navman, and I really like it.
I found that it was really easy to use and has a good clear voice.
In fact it uses celebrity voices, like John Cleese and one of the
Women from Ab Fab.
"Take the turn on the left, Sweetie"
When my American friends were here, I got Him to drive and it got
us up to Puffing Billy and Healesville Sanctury.
But on a few roads in the dandenongs, it lost the satellite and got
a bit confused.
A friend who took me to Tassie with me was showing his unit and told
me that sometimes the Americans change the signal... if there's a
threat... so what may have been a few meters away last time might show
as a block away next time.
Sometimes it was advising that we took strange overgrown roads in the
middle of nowhere too.
I'd say they're about 95% reliable.
then:
oops, I have the Tom Tom, not Navman.
Andrew Barnett commented:
I have a Navman, it has done the trick for me. The voice is very clear,
but it doesn't give road names unless they are major roads such as the
Metroad System in Sydney, and the freeways/highways. It mainly sticks
to the roads that we can drive on, however it did lead me up the garden
path one day along a road that was closed to through traffic.
Plus, I have heard that you can download updated maps for the Navman, although I haven't tried doing so.
Wolfie replied:
I think that's true of the TomTom too.
Andrew Barnett responded:
That doesn't surprise me at all. Although there is most probably a cost to get them.
Wolfie answered:
We'll laddy, there are ways 'round that thar Matey.
"pieces of eight, peices of eight"
Good lad Snowball, have a cracker on me, arrrrrr!
Alan Emmerson added:
NAVMAN has worked fine for me for some years - and I am fussy.
I
think the distinguishing selection criterion should be how well the
unit performs when you dont follow orders and when the signal is
temporarily lost. NAVMAN has been very satisfactory in those depts.
Nisaba replied:
<voice dripping with scorn> GPS devices are for people who can't read maps.
They seem particularly popular with boys.
I prefer using skills, myself.
Andrew Barnett answered:
I use a map if its a short journey. Its just on the longer journeys,
where I can't quite remember the final directions, or journeys to those
newer suburbs which my street directory can't give me directions
Wolfie replied:
I heartily agree, I tried using a map, but couldn't see the dot which
indicates where I was... as you know, there isn't one... thus, I gave up
and got an electronic thingy.
Peter Adderley commented:
I've just borrowed a Navman as I was planning to use it to navigate
through Melbourne.
That was the very thing that I was going to test it on whilst getting
used to it. I've been known to confuse a compass and still come up
knowing where I am. It's still good to keep an eye on the sun position
during the day.
As a follow-up in the thread "TomTom again", Wolfie wrote:
I was just looking at sourceforge.net and found some interesting apps
which I might try out on mine.
