[Melbury]

Does anyone have an opinion as to what is the best brand name with UK & IRL maps.
I didn't consider the Insignia sat nav when I ordered the car but now I am considering driving through England, so thought I need to get an off the shelf one.
I am in Northern Ireland and not familiar with Satnav!

[Gorfinkle]

Why not make the best of both worlds and get a PSP with "Go Explore"

Go Explore is a satnav system for the PSP which comes with uk and irish maps, and can be used as ahand help satnav for tourism, showing places of interest.

If you get bored, you could always play a game or watch movies on the PSP

[just4funuk]

I have a Sony Nav-U52 and I find this does what I want.

It can take a little while when first turned on to find enough satelites to locate your position but this is mentioned in the manual. But once you have a signal I can't fault it. I can enter a destination by address,town name or post code. The maps are a little out of date but its has not been a major problem yet.One of the features I like is the machine can auto update the route. So if a road is closed that it is expecting you to turn into but you have to go past it it will work out a route with out you having to touch it.

I think the most popular make is the Tom Tom but you will be paying top dallor for one of them.

[Melbury]

I have a Sony Nav-U52 and I find this does what I want.

It can take a little while when first turned on to find enough satelites to locate your position but this is mentioned in the manual. But once you have a signal I can't fault it. I can enter address by town name or post code. The maps are a little out of date but its has not been a major problem yet.One of the features I like is the machine can auto caculate the route. So if a road is closed that it is expecting you to turn into but you have to go past it it will work out a route with out you having to touch it.

I think the most popular make is the Tom Tom but you will be paying top dallor for one of them.
Thanks for that and also to Gorfinkle and any more, dont know about psp but my son has one ( I, am an OAP lol ).

[joemailey]

I think you should stick with TomTom or Garmin.

I use Garmin, But tomtom seem to be more user friendly.
I find it doesn't really matter which one you buy. Most of the models do what you need.

So just head towards TomToms or Garmins.
Buy which everone meets your budget. Most come with UK + Ireland maps as standard.

[cameron66]

I currently use a Tomtom 720, which works reasonbly well, it has the European Map so its quite useful for me. I've also had a couple of the cheaper TomTom One's and they worked very well too, very easy to add the speed camera locations onto them too.

If I did'nt want to spend too much I think thats what I would be looking at, funny enough I had a email today from Amazon who are doing some deals at the moment, including a very cheap deal offering the RAC SatNav with europe map too for the cheap price of around £55 and free delivery. Only snag I could see was feedback from users stating it was slow to grab the satelites. ie. slow to get signal.

I would go with the TT one, think you can get one for around £100 or less. Think I've seen some recons too somewhere around the £60 mark.

[john57]

Apparently there can be a problem receiving a signal if you have a
Heat-reflective windscreen, which the Insignia Elite does have, unlike the rest of the range.

As my car does not come with Sat Nav, I would have wished to add a 4.3inch TomTom to the car, however I am now worried as to whether or not it would work. I don't really wish to have an additional aerial on my car over and above the shark fin aerial.

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of an Elite working with an external Sat Nav and can advise, please. I would only need the U.K version.

Cheers
John

[john57]

Thanks for the info, Mitch

cheers
John

[cameron66]

May i just add to the points on getting signal, there is an issue with some motors, struggling more than others, one i believe was either the meriva or Zaf.
Apparently these have something in the windscreen blocking signal & will need an external aerial, not sure if the Insignia "will be of the same ilke":confused::confused:

No problems with signals on Zafira, and that was with the 1st gen Tomtom one, All the current TomToms will work with virtually all cars including those with ultra violet or HR screens. Certainly works fine on Insignia's and grabs the satelites quite fast. Usually around 30secs, and upto 10 satellites.

Most of the 3rd/4th generation satnavs should'nt really have any issues with UV or HR windscreens, which VX have rarely used anyway AFAIK.

Edit.. just noticed the poster commenting that one model of the Insignia has a heat reflective screen. As long as you use a late recent model of TomTom I would be extremely surprised if you had dificuty grabbing the satelites.

[Rockh]

My tom tom one has some issues picking up satellites in my elite, but once it's working it's ok, just takes a long time to get a lock.

[joemailey]

May i just add to the points on getting signal, there is an issue with some motors, struggling more than others, one i believe was either the meriva or Zaf.
Apparently these have something in the windscreen blocking signal & will need an external aerial, not sure if the Insignia "will be of the same ilke":confused::confused:

No problem with Signal in the Insignia either.
As per my SatNav mod which has the SatNav inside the dash I get full signal -)

[Slider]

Depends entirely on your requirement, eBuyer sell a Navigo device for approx £50, this comes with software with lane assist. These Navigo devices will take TomTom software and if you read the customer reviews they will point you in the right direction.

I only occasionally use SatNav and bought the previous Navigo version, it works perfectly in the Insignia and is a bargain at this price. Like many SatNav's acquiring the initial lock can take a few minutes, but once locked I have never experienced any drop out.

[Happy42]

Hi Folk's :)

I have the Insignia Elite with Nav but have also tested my Tom Tom 740 and don't have a signal issue.

I agree with others, most Sat Navs these days are all pretty good, and do what they say on the tin :D

Just some are a little more user friendly than others, and as I have the Tom Tom is very easy to update the maps, poi's, speed camera's etc.

Downside of the Insignia Sat Nav is the input of only 4 digit post code, whereas most portable nav's come with 6 like the tom tom.

Cheers (-

[Amos]

The Elite has a different screen to other models I needed to put my GPS Ariel for my B2 up by the mirror.

My tom tom one has some issues picking up satellites in my elite, but once it's working it's ok, just takes a long time to get a lock.