Which sat nav?
 

Sat nav novice here and rubbish at tech stuff. Which is easiest for me to set up and use, montana, garmin 660, tom tom rider? Don't want endless hours downloading and trying to sort complicated set up problems. Thanks

To get a better concensus, could you please provide a bit more info?
A lot depends on:
- what do you want it for? aka postcode to postcode or a real need for accuracy/reliability and so on
- your budget
- your willingness to learn navigation!

I have been using Garmin units on foot, in boats, 4x4's, in aircraft, on bikes and even on a camel for a short while! for more years than I can almost remember and recommend them. It is the most reliable brand in terms of quality of build and service back up-
They offer a very wide variety of units to suit many needs-
I am currently using the Montana 600 and the 62S

I'm not far from you so if you need help, drop me a pm

Thanks Bertrand, I want it for touring in Europe. I'm an excellent map reader, but terrible with IT. All help very gratefully appreciated.

For touring about within western Europe, set up instantly without all the interfacing with OSM or whatever, I have found my second hand, ancient Tom Tom to be more user friendly than my second hand Nuvi Garmin. It is also faster at doing its work.

However, I was brought up on map reading so all this electronic gadgetry doesn't really do much for me - sometimes I use a gps to find a place in a new-to-me city/town/other location over the last leg of the journey - maybe the last few 100 metres, or thereabouts.

Same problems
 

Hi folks, new to the community,have found a lot of info on nav from chris Scott and his books. We are visiting Morocco and would like to use cheap car based garmin and load it up with Olaf system but am worried about glitchy interface problems were not bothered by voice commands and ithe ability to see when your chewing gum will expire. Can you guys confirm that phone systems are not up to the job(pity) we want to reduce the theft risk as well. We have ordered the Michelin map and I will laminate it. All help appreciated. We are in south London so maybe an educational visit would be possible if any of you guys are near?

It depends on which cheap car based system you ate using. Most are not weather proof, and probably not very vibration resistant.

I'm using a Streetpilot 2820, which is weatherproof and which I've loaded non-Garmin maps to for touring Asia. But they were in the Garmin format.

That's an older model, but they often come up on eBay. The sticker with any car based GPS is finding a suitable mount that can take the pounding a bike gives especially on rough roads.

I've had mine from new, so the mounting hardware was easy to find.

The system has most mod cons including bluetooth, voice output and so on.

I've used a phone to navigate before, but that was an older Windows phone running Garmin software loaded on a card. If you go this route you will need a waterproof and vibration isolating housing, as well as sorting out the software / map choices.

Still probably the best unit I've tried is the Montana series. Expensive, but rugged, multipurpose, two battery options, map flexibility, easy to use, decent-sized screen and a lot more.
You can use it for marine/boating, outdoor and automotive purposes.

You may save a few hundred going with a cheap car unit, but once you sort out the mounting system and potential replacement due to rugged conditions, the savings may not be as much as expected.
And most of them are limited to vehicle use.


Sent from my chinaphone excuse the spelling

Your header of "same problem" is not exactly the case; the OP refers to western Europe as the geographic area of interest.
You will be aware that Chris S has used more than one Garmin in Morocco, including a Nuvi.

For your general statement about phone systems, there are earlier threads in here about that subject - both the hardware and software considerations - such as this one:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...armin-et-63191
Opinions vary, but there are plenty of people navigating by use of smartphones,

:welcome: to the HUBB with your first post by the way.

???
My 2 GPS work anywhere, no matter what vehicle they are mounted upon.
Maybe this refers to the power supply?

When seriously playing around with navigation Garmin (OSM) is always your best friend. (Be prepared to learn - a lot.)
When driving around europe on tarmac, TomTom will get you there every time. Simple, easy, reliable.

Correct. My 2820 has no battery, like most car GPS units . The Montana comes with a proprietary rechargeable, and AAs can also be used.

If you swap vehicle, go hiking, catch public transport or whatever, a battery option is very nice to have.


Sent from my Android chinaphone, please excuse the spelling

Sat nav or phone.Or paper maps
 

Thanks to you guys for your advice and options. The bike specific option would be nice but I don't feel too confident buying stuff second hand that I know little about. I think I will take a punt on a cheapie and get a waterproof case for it. The mounting system I can metalwork up in workshop and if it dies within three months then so be it. I navigate a boat happily off charts and hand compass so have some idea how to get home. I will keep hunting around. Do any of you know if the Samsung galaxy is any good as a nav device as my phone is due for renewal. May the Hubb be with you!
Jon.

More smartphone vs sat nav gps and maps
 

Just looked on the link above and found it all very interesting. I'm still finding my way around the site and a lot of the abbreviations are confusing. But we press on relentless.

Hi, My first posting on HU! Been meaning to do it for a long time!!

I gave up on my Zumo 550 after three years of problems with navigating glitches and memory problems. Garmin were pretty helpful but I decided last month to try out the new TomTom Rider. It is pretty user friendly but the big downside is the fading out of the screen in bright light...something the Zumo never really suffered from.