Best Sat Nav for use in Ireland.

S

shamrocklady

Registered User
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Could anyone advise on the best Sat Nav for use in Ireland.
One of the Daily Deal websites are advertising an R17 Sillicone Sat Nav from Sillicone 17 at a much reduced price.
Does anyone have any knowledge on this sat nav.

Thanks in advance.
 
the best option really is google maps if you have a smart phone, but if you don't then the cheapest gramin nuvi can be had for less than 100 euro and should have all the maps pre loaded. Or you might be able to pick one up cheaper on donedeal etc or second hand on amazon.
 
The best option if you have a smart phone (by a mile) is the "NavFree" app. It's better than Garmin but it eats power so only use it if your phone is plugged in.
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Never even heard of that brand. Probably for a reason.
TomTom have a very good range (have the GO730)
Do you want a full functioning SatNav or a phone app?
Don't expect too much from a basic cheap item.

Any SatNav is only as good as the maps installed on it or what it has access to.
Can the model you are looking at do that?
Roads kind of stay the same (ish). Towns and cities can change drastically.
Won't be much use to you if it can't keep up.
 
The new iPhone maps (with all the mistakes) is based on TomTom maps. That doesn't say a lot for them.
I do like my Garmin but for searchability and keeping up to date the NavFree app is better and the display is just as good.
 
Stick with TomTom or Garmin & you can't go wrong. Other come & go & your left with out of date maps. Both TomTom & Garmin release updated maps every 3 months. TomTom also have mapshare that allows you make your own map corrections & also use corrections made by other users. Their live traffic is very good as well.
 
Tom Tom maps are really bad in rural Ireland. The Garmin ones are better.

Google Maps are the best in my opinion but are do any of the sat nav devices work with them?
 
Dunno if any of them are that. Good I find all of them can be out of date. Garmin ones I've used have been more than 12 months out of date. Google maps has all the road names wrong near me.
 
ajapale said:
Tom Tom maps are really bad in rural Ireland. The Garmin ones are better.

Google Maps are the best in my opinion but are do any of the sat nav devices work with them?
Click to expand...

Yea, the one I keep plugging used google for searching and, as far as i know, uses google maps.
 
TomTom maps have improved over the last 18 months.
Tom Tom owns Tele Atlas which is the maps they use. It was Google who were using Tele Atlas, not the other way around.
They have also switched their live service from Google to TomTom places.
 
KoolKid said:
TomTom maps have improved over the last 18 months.
Tom Tom owns Tele Atlas which is the maps they use. It was Google who were using Tele Atlas, not the other way around.
They have also switched their live service from Google to TomTom places.
Click to expand...

No, TomTom maps haven't improved much over the 18 months for rural ireland. They use TeleAtlas. Google also used Teleatals (for Ireland) until they booted them out during the summer. Since then Google have been very proactive in dealing with reported problems. I know because I have reported about 50 since June and they have fixed about 48 of them often within hours.

I reported lots more to TeleAtlas and despite assurances that they had fixed the Issue they never made the fix.

TomTom are very poor for rural Ireland.

aj
 
From having used both, Garmin seems better than TomTom for overall coverage. In addition, for those advocating using your smartphone, I think a dedicated GPS unit is better over time, primarily as there is no ongoing cost to use (many units now come with lifetime map updates) and you are not reliant on mobile phone coverage to use.
 
The verdict from people who have used both seemed to be that Garmin has the better maps for Ireland, but that tomtom is nicer to use.
 
Slim said:
Is the Navfree available for the android phone?
Click to expand...

Yes. It's available on both.

I's a huge App to download because all the info is held on the phone. This reduces the cost of using it as there's no internet connection required.
 
Purple said:
Yes. It's available on both.

I's a huge App to download because all the info is held on the phone. This reduces the cost of using it as there's no internet connection required.
Click to expand...

It's one of the better ones, the downside is as there is no connection required you miss the live information that some offer like traffic, etc. Waze is a pretty good smartphone app for this as it's constantly updated buy users and the live traffic information is good (but annoying for very heavy traffic you're stuck in). Very quick on correcting routes too. As with all these user-updated apps, it needs a critical mass to make it more accurate and workable.

As to the OP, as has been indicated on the thread, the bigger question isn't so much the device but what mapping service does it use. Having a good, accurate mapping service is handsdown more important than a device that looks nice.

In my experience, if you're simply going from address to address, then most are ok for that. Garmin on devices is probably the best and Google on smartphones is probably still the best for accuracy of addresses and in what routes to take.

I've found Tom Tom has an allergy for Motorways other more direct routes and likes to take you on some very scenic routes off the main roads. This is fine if you don't mind very narrow roads that are essentially two stips of mud with grass growing in the middle as you pass under bridges with kids playing banjos on them.
 
Latrade said:
The bigger question isn't so much the device but what mapping service does it use. Having a good, accurate mapping service is handsdown more important than a device that looks nice..
Click to expand...

I agree with that Latrade.

Whats frustrating about Tom Tom is not the inaccuracies as such but their lack of ability (interest) to fix the errors in timely fashion.

aj
 
Purple said:
Yes. It's available on both.

I's a huge App to download because all the info is held on the phone. This reduces the cost of using it as there's no internet connection required.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.
 
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