Hello,
Can anyone give me advice on which Sat-nav I should get just for the UK. I am towing a caravan so I want to be kept on major roads and not down some farm track, which I have already had the misfortune to have experienced. I was looking at one in Halfords. The Tom Tom Start 20 which has been reduced but I am still not sure.
Any advice will be welcome.
Thank you.
From the link - "...Avoid detours and surprises. A bridge too low. A road too narrow. It’s the last thing you want to come across when you’re driving a camper or caravan...."
There has been a lot of debate about claims by satnav makers regarding this; a widely-held suspicion(?) is that these "selection" options do not /cannot affect the roads selected, but only alter the estimated journey times. It has been said that mapping data so far only details types of road (motorway, dual carriageway, single carriageway, etc) but does not go to the extent of width, gradient etc., thus the (every so often) reported HGV stuck in a country lane, or car stuck in a ford. One case was mentioned (rare!) where a public right-of-way path through a farmyard appeared on a satnav as a road.....
The safest thing (but a nuisance!) is to set your satnav and do a route preview before the journey, comparing with Google maps - if/when a section appears doubtful on Google maps, look with streetview and make a note/diversion if it is unsuitable. I've done this when going down to Cornwall, and it's saved me one or two awkward moments!
Gram
------------- What's the difference between a chicken?
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 21/11/2012
If the road looks narrow then dont turn down it.
Common sense MUST take priority over what the satnav says.
Not always so obvious - I once turned down what looked like a perfectly normal road and a mile down, it narrowed into single lane!
My CoPilot sat-nav on my Android phone has a very useful option to set average speed on certain road types. So I've set it to 50mph for A-roads and 5mph for anything smaller. When you route in 'fastest' mode, it works really well, sending you on much longer detours that keep you of small roads (only got this AFTER the single-lane incident mentioned above ).
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
Thanks everyone. I've got a clearer idea now what to look for and I will prowl Halfords.
This modern technolgy is amazing as I am from the age of the Steam trains.
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Topic: Sat-navs
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