I ask the question because several sites warn of typing in postcodres which could lead you down the garden path . . . . a guy who pulled out of our site (we followed him) took the 2nd turning on the left at a roundabout. We had Satnav on, and we also were instructed to do this.
We both ended up in an outlet park . . . .!! He had `van in tow . .
------------- Peripheral people don`t have as much excitement but they sure live longer
I think Satnavs are a useful tool, I use one myself, but not the first thing I would turn to to get me from A to B. First and foremost I look at my trusty road atlas, so much info can be gleaned from that, and I do tend to stick to main A roads where lorries trundle up and down, if they can get by then so can I.
The beauty of satnav is that you can plan your route with a map but itis hard to drive and look at a map. My wife isn't good with maps. The other useful thing is saving POIs so that you can have them all loaded up ready.
I wouldn't trust only the satnav without thinking but the same can be said for maps. Roads can have temporary diversions etc. But there are such things as TMC updates but have no experience of them so don't know how useful they are.
Sat Navs are a brilliant tool. But these days another option is a smartphone. Most people take a mobile away, so upgrade to a smartphone which has google maps built in so you can navigate and have a phone at the same time.
We use a combination of tools, road map to choose the best main route, sat nav to get close once we are approaching the area, and the common sense once your on top of the site.
Sat Nav can put you in a sticky spot though sometimes, last year, we ended up stopping at a Ford which ran along the river instead of across it. Unhitched the van, span it around, re attached and went back up to the main road. The road leading down the ford was bendy and tight, we had just enough room to do what we did, not sure what we would have done otherwise.
Our Garmin before our present unit had a setting on it where you could tell it you were a truck, and therefore miss routes like the one we found ourselves in.
Not sure if Tom Tom have this setting or not, my next door neighbour bought a cheapy Garmin recently and it didn't have this setting on it.
Worth having it if your a vanner though.
This all being said, I wouldn't be without it, it helps more than it hinders.
yes they are ok although I have no intention of getting one. It will help with the last few miles when you are looking for something specific and it will be of use in cities and town trouble is people believe them and not their own eyes so thye go wrong met a guy in luxembourg who was send on a 3 hour circular tour to miss the city before ending on the campsite had he used his brain and a proper map he would have seen the road from the motorway - less than half an hour! and then a friend who ended up on the inside of the paris peripherique and enjoyed paris - not and the others who end up in odd places because they have failed to read the road ahead use it with a map, get an idea from google maps or similar and keep referring to the paper map and all should be well unles you are a gizmo lover and you'll love it and enjoy telling stories of how you got 'lost'
Once I've planned a route by combination of maps and Google earth and Michelin Route planner, I make sure it is correctly in the satnav ... and allow it to take me there ... certainly reduces the odd missed turn, and car arguments! Also allows everyone to look at whatever they want instead of being nailed to following the road map all the time.
Seldom gets it wrong, and has saved us hours in cities ... lots of maps are not great on one way systems etc ... well remember getting lost in Dijon at night after eating ... thought I knew the way back to the camp-site, but the one way system defeated me ... switched on the sat nav and we were there in ten minutes!
It is difficult to imagine life without a sat nav now! As others have said you do have use common sense when planning routes which aer best checked on maps,google maps or my preference Google Earth. Most sat nav routes can be manually adjusted.
I too wouldn't be without our Satnav. We've used our TomTom 710 towing all over the UK and Continent in the last 5 years.
As others have said it is a TOOL only - we use it but DON'T follow it slavishly.
We have Archie's campsite POIs which I find VERY accurate on campsite locations. We, also, bought "Alan Rogers - Europe" POI download a couple of years ago. We did find several inaccuracies with campsite locations with "AR Europe" - it had only just been issued then and has possibly been improved since. Last year I bought "AR France" too and that seems more accurate.
We check our route in a good atlas too and keep to main roads. We like "Phillips Multiscale Europe" and "Michellin France". We've only be misled a few times
Mine is ok too - a TomTom One... apart from in North/Mid Wales, where it doesn't seem to know which road to take for the best! LOL! I always read through the route it has planned for me against a map (usually google) and make corrections if I want to go a different way, or on a different road.
Peter I did exactly the same thing on a roundabout a year ago - it was previously a junction, I turned too soon and I had to turn around on a very busy supermarket car park towing a caravan. I went to the area where the delivery lorries go and turned around there!
Never used one, never got lost, never ended up on a hill that was a 1 in 2 unsuitable for van etc etc. Use the road atlas, always have. My own view then is that you do not need a sat nav.
Went on a business trip many moons ago with someone else driving from Hull to Sheffield and he used a sat nav.....errr M62, M1 Sheffield . I wonder if some just become too dependent on the sat nav
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
Although I do have a sat-nav I rarely use it and prefer to use the road atlas every time and study all the various codes in the front of the atlas. I have a 2012 Collins Road Atlas which indicates where all the steep inclines are around the UK which is rather useful when towing a caravan. A sat-nav doesn't provide these sort of details as it only gives you just the basic directions plus the cost of a map is far cheaper than having to pay for an electronic update annually. The accuracy of a sat-nav is not guranteed either so you're paying out for something that not quite 100% fit for purpose.
I've used one for app 10 years extensively in europe and I have never had a problem apart from the time I thought I knew better than the satnav and ignored it and ended up in the middle of Nantes.
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Topic: Is Satnav worthwhile for Caravanners?
. I wonder if some just become too dependent on the sat nav
