Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 What Sat Nav?

I use the Tom Tom app on my iPhone and very happy with it both in NZ and two trips to the USA where covered the West Coast in 2012 (LA, Vegas, Yosemite, SanFran, San Diego, LA) and last year (New Orleans, Orlando, Savannah, Washington, New York) Next year we're doing Yellowstone, Oshkosh, Chicago, St Louis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Chicago and will use the Tom Tom App again.

The only thing that caught us was accepting an update, then finding out that hotel, mecca's, cafe WIFI's wouldn't let us complete the 50meg download so for a few days we had to use Google Maps which cost a bomb in roaming charges. Now we buy a USA sim.

If you have mobile phone iPhone or Andriod why by Sat Nat kit, just an extra bit of electronics. Get the Co-pilot app, it's £34 for all the EU maps, it's very accurate and has Safety Cameras (regularly update). Get Steelie car mount looks neat and is simple, can get extras for other cars. If your car has stereo with Aux input or Bluetooth you can send the map voice to it and you will here the directions easily.

Simples!

I'd look for one that you can plan a trip with waypoints rather than one that purely plots a route from A to B which the cheaper ones tend to do. Nice to sit down at a PC and plan a route to download to a sat nav but it's handy to be able to do it on the hoof away from one.
I've been on a number of European bike trips where I've seen guys carrying a laptop with them just to plan routes

I don't find much to choose between Garmin or TomTom. I currently use a Garmin Nuvi 2598 for the cars which has lifetime updates, has lane guidance which I find useful and a host of things I probably won't use. It's slim enough to fit in the Morgan without taking up space, unlike my old TomTom Rider which with its hefty cradle was just too bulky. And that's the problem with motorcycle satnavs...the bulky cradles.
In the Z4, I prefer to use CoPilot GPS on my iPhone which neatly sits in my ash tray!

PS. Just seen Adrian's post....he must have slipped it in whilst I was writing mine!
I was going to mention the mount but couldn't remember it's name! He showed it to me a few months ago and I've been meaning to get one...it is very neat and quite unobtrusive.

Adrian, a question. How does one keep the display "on" when using navigation on an iPhone 5? Mine goes dark after a few seconds, even when connected to power.

Co-Pilot downloading as I type & Steelie Car Mounts en route from Amazon.
Thanks for the advice!

Guys, I have a happy relationship with cars and fixing them but am a total Luddite when it comes to PC's and Interwebbythingy stuff so forgive this question which I suspect is totally stupid. I am also looking at should I change my Tom Tom, happy with it and don't care about out of date maps as nowhere I go has moved much and new roads are a chance for fun ;-). However it has battery issues, I have 'rescued' the battery a little but the writing is on the wall. I have an iPhone 4S on a cheap monthly contract that limits call minutes (I have plenty) and data to 300MB a month (I normally use 30-40MB max of my allowance). Very interested in downloading an App but which one? How much data do they eat? I can buy an additional data package and have no objection to do that but what I keep coming back to is by the time I have bought the App, a mount, an updated data package per month am I not close to the less than £100 for a new Tom Tom from Halfords? I don't need EU coverage as I don't drive there anymore?

Just purchased a Garmin 2569lmt - d for a 2,500 mile trip round France and Spain, very pleased with results, it comes with free lifetime updates. Mounted under the dash with a sticky suction pad. Phone apps are great if you have a full signal and not going to Europe or off the beaten track. I had both, but used the Garmin all the time, only once found a road not on satnav.

The TomTom app doesn't use cell data when you're driving. Only for the occasional update which you can hold off until you have wifi.

Does it need to be waterproof for M3W use? Consider lifetime map updates, Garmin allow one off purchased updates or a purchased lifetime updates for those that are nor free. Does it need Bluetooth for an earpiece as you will not hear the built in speaker above 30 mph? Do you want traffic info, FM traffic is non subscription but not as good as one using a data connection.

Have a look at http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/where you will find reviews but unfortunately you cannot tell what's recent so check if one you are interested in is there. You can get a subscription for points of interest (speed camera).

TomTom have been offering free lifetime map updates for a long time now. You only pay for speed camera updates and this function is illegal to use in most EU countries. I believe that if caught using a speedcam detector in France the police can shoot you dead at the side of the road.

The google maps free app for ios and android devices is free and gives excellent navigation instructions. Once the maps are freely downloaded no data connection is required so it's free to use as well.