My Other half is considering buying one. The only time we would use it is when towing. Any advice would be useful as I think it would be pointless, surely caravans and single track roads don't go together? Is there an option for towing on them?
Dont think many have a truck facility, if any. What i do is put the destination, on fastest route setting, in to the sat nav then follow an atlas for the planned route to see if any obvious dangers stand out. Went to Catterick last year and the sat nav wanted me to cross over the A1 when 2 miles further up i could come off the A1 and cross using a bridge. Using it on the fastest setting will keep you to the main roads most of the time. Used with a bit of common sense and planning they are brill especially if you come to a diversion.
I personally use a Tom Tom and am more than happy, has given the odd piece of duff info, but there are many others out there that prefer Garmin etc.
Have a browseon this site and on the forums and you can gather loads of info.
i have just purchased a tomtom basic model UK and Europe as we bought our first van in Oct and planning on going to France this summer. We have used it for a site near Richmond co durham in November and while it was spot on it took us round the houses a bit - quite similar to the previous poster where we could have just come off the motorway slightly later. but all our weekend trips since then the tomtom has been spot on, a very valuable buy for us.
Sarah
On most the different settings such as Truck, Bus or Car etc only make a difference on the timings of the journey. What I do is always check the route the satnav has worked out before I set off, always follow the actual camp sites directions for the last bit and if the road/lane looks to narrow dont' go down it unless its in the directions from the campsite.
Thanks all for your replies. It sounds like I can safely say to my husband 'I told you so!' but then it still sounds like something to consider. I have a feeling he is avoiding telling me my map reading is rubbish!!!
Hi, If you would like the advantages that a satnav would give you but would like more functions why not buy a PDA, This could be used as a satnav, Internet access, Word processor, Database for campsites and many more things too. Approx the same price and easier to update the satnav, Mine has tomtom installed and can connect to the internet and updates without needing a pc.
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
Quote: Originally posted by Mandymi on 03/1/2008
Thanks all for your replies. It sounds like I can safely say to my husband 'I told you so!' but then it still sounds like something to consider. I have a feeling he is avoiding telling me my map reading is rubbish!!!
Why would you say i told you so. I thought each reply on here was a positive even if you do have to do a little homework before you set off. The peace of mind given by a sat nav is well worth the money you would be spending. It certainly stopped the arguments in our car.
There are a lot of other features to a sat nav. One of our fav ones is it has a list of points of interest (POI) that can assist in where your nearest supermarket, petrol staition, train station are amongst the many we use while on holiday. How many times have you spent half an hour looking for a supermarket??
I just got the £80 binatone carrera X350, it has a van setting that avoids the narrow roads, not as much as a HGV, but enough for say a 3.5ton box van, so enough for a caravan.
Yep the points of interest are useful in there own rights, we now enter our own for the campsites we visit and car parks that we see that we can park our 6m motorhome in even if we are not parking there at that time.
The speed camera warnings are handy if you do not notice you have entered a lower limit area as our also shows you the current speed limit for the road you are on.
Although the wife can map read OK she struggled to keep up through towns, not so the satnav, and as it shows you the route highlighted on the map you can see the layout and your route through it of junctions and roundabouts as you approach them.
It also basically gives you a street map of the entire uk in the palm of your hand, handy if you are going for a walk round a town and have to park away from the centre as we do quite often with the motorhome.
You can use it to plan day trips out as you can enter two points ad get route information so you know how far a place is from your current position.
So as you can see we find ours has a lot more uses than just the navigation, but as previously said they need to be used with common snese and not just blindly followed.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Sat Nav
