Sat Nav chat

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Corranga
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Sat Nav chat

Post by Corranga » Fri Oct 05, 2018 10:32 am

So... As per the other thread, I bought a Mini. The spec I was aiming for included Nav, but due to me wanting the JCW pack (nicer looking imo bumpers, spoiler, wheels, steering wheel...) I ended up compromising and getting one without.

Not to worry I use my old Satnav in the other cars too, but old is the word! So, I'm looking for recommendations.

Here's the main thing I like to plan routes in advance, for fun driving, not direct routes. I currently have an ancient TomTom One - probably 7 or 8 years, I go for a swim on the way to Edinburgh, and then cross various fields on the way to the airport...
I used to use Tyre with google maps, but that doesn't seem to do it anymore, so ended up using the TomTom software, setting out some waypoints and exporting to the nav.

Searching online, most seem to recommend an android phone with an app. Personally, costs look similar, I don't care one way or the other, phone or dedicated nav, chances are I'd end up buy a cheap phone, or using an old one as a dedicate to being a nav anyway.

It seems virtually impossible to find out which apps, or dedicated navs allow the sort of route tailoring, not necessarily using Google Maps, but dragging and clicking in the browser is oh so easy!!
So, any recommendations / knowledge on which do that sort of thing?

Chris
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douglasgdmw
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by douglasgdmw » Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:05 pm

Dont know if it will do what you want but I use Waze for any journeys.

Maybe worth checking it out to see what you think.

Good thing about Waze is that it gives you real time updates such as cars broken down on the carriageway or speed traps.

George

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campbell
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by campbell » Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:28 pm

Google maps lets you design online then send to your phone.

Android maybe slightly more helpful in this regard too.

Does the MINI have a colour screen? Does it support Apple CarPlay or Android Something-Link? Or be software-upgradeable to support?

That would integrate things nicely. And is how we put Nav into the Octavia.
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C7Steve
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by C7Steve » Fri Oct 05, 2018 1:23 pm

Tom Tom 5200 was good on the Frolic. :thumbsup

https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sat-nav/ca ... s/go-5200/


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woody
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by woody » Fri Oct 05, 2018 10:42 pm

campbell wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:28 pm
Google maps lets you design online then send to your phone.

Android maybe slightly more helpful in this regard too.

Does the MINI have a colour screen? Does it support Apple CarPlay or Android Something-Link? Or be software-upgradeable to support?

That would integrate things nicely. And is how we put Nav into the Octavia.

Unless it's been specd with Media from the factory, it won't support anything. As we Found out and can't apparently be modified to either.

You can buy an official mini clip on type sat nav that sits next to the behind the steering wheel speedometer. It has a name that I can't remember.

The £2k nav in my 3 series, the same as can be fitted to a mini, is rubbish next to Google maps anyway.

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greido
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by greido » Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:02 am

I’d also Recommend Waze and Google Maps, Waze also gives speed camera warnings.
I’d also recommend getting a mega mount https://megamount.co.uk

When I have a rental car I tend to use the above rather than built in satnavs as they are so much better than a cluncky interface I’m not familiar with.
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Ferg
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by Ferg » Sat Oct 06, 2018 7:15 pm

As a standalone unit my Garmin is exceptional. Doesn't need data connection etc and only needing simple updates connected to the PC. Slightly older approach compared to Waze but it is great for lane choice, complex junction navigation and does all the traffic updates and speed traps too. I got lost without a data connection once and have had a dedicated unit since. Its got a large 7 inch screen too which is nice and easy to read.

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Corranga
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by Corranga » Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:47 pm

I'll check out Waze and Google Maps then.

I've used Google Maps on occasions when I don't have a nav with me, but always with a data connection, not offline.
I don't really want to have a sim for the device, probably should have mentioned that, as I'd rather not use my actual phone, if for no other reason than I have an iPhone SE because I like a small phone - but don't really want a tiny nav :)

Apple car play is only on 2018 cars that already have nav, which is a shame as there is a nice colour screen in the car (from what I gather, it's basically a version of BMWs iDrive with MINI branding)

There seem to be some aftermarket kits that allow screen mirroring from Android / Apple, but $300+ is a bit extreme when I can just use a nav / phone.
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campbell
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by campbell » Tue Oct 09, 2018 9:02 pm

My SE is my Nav in 2 of our 3 cars. My eyesight is no longer the best and it works well enough. For challenging routes it's the voice that counts anyway.

Won't be long before we are banned from having screens anyway. IMHO
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IanD
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by IanD » Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:10 pm

I use google maps on foot lots and lots, for viewing places and routes but don’t get on with it in car when driving as the sat nav. Phone lag, power use, lacking signal annoy me so bought a cheap garmin a couple of years ago (garmin nuvi 2569 with free upload and European maps which replaced a previous garmin with 5 second+ touch screen responses) .
Allows many waypoints so still clunky for preplanned routes to get it right but is possible using the sat nav only. It is possible to take google maps reformat and load but i’ve never bothered, just keep adding waypoints until the sat nav route matches google maps.
Sure there is better but in car i still prefer a dedicated sat nav than using phone.
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campbell
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by campbell » Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:55 am

I bought a Garmin after great experiences with Robin's on Spa trip 2010

Used 3 or 4 times.

The simplicity of plugging in the phone rendered it pointless.

Agree re power use but if you can plug in that's sorted.

Loss of data signal not an issue on a programmed route but I acknowledge if you want to re-prog in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales or go badly off route then it can choke.

Apple Maps has its own challenges too!
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robin
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by robin » Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:57 am

In the old days of team techno we had a 6 inch x 8 inch GARMIN GPS unit, a power cable, an old school RS232 serial cable to a Toshiba laptop, another power cable and ran microsoft maps. There was no voice guidance - you had to follow the purple line and when the GPS arrow wasn't on the purple line you had gone wrong ... or maps didn't match reality (purple line was in canyon ;-)). It took five minutes to get started before driving off, and keeping an eye on the laptop whilst driving an elise in the mountains was interesting ...

So really, you guys don't know you're born choosing between any number of, by comparison, sophisticated GPS/Nav options. What you really need is GPS Jill, but I understand she's retired.

Google maps works for me pretty well without even a mount - I just put the phone in my crash helmet or leave it on the pax seat.

But what you cannot do in google maps is drag the route about and then send the modified route to your phone - it just sends the start/end and the phone recalculates dynamically - so you have to add each waypoint as a stop. Note that as you approach the stop you get the option to remove it from the route at the bottom - this is handy if you want to add some town to force routing, but don't actually plan on driving down the high street ;-)

For more complex routes (like a Stelvio trip) you really need to take your time to get this organised into days/sections and send them all to your phone, save them on the desktop as individual routes, rather than using one mega route which is hard to manage over consecutive days.

I normally have one route for each hotel which is just "current location -> hotel"; then at any point on any day I can just hit that button and it will take quickest route to hotel. I then have extra routes which are the twisty bits that I plan to follow. For twisty bits I highlight the map and do an offline download before I leave; modern phones have lots of storage, so you can store all of the mountain sections pretty easily.

The moral of this is - google maps is great if either (a) you have data and want quickest route to hotel (b) you've put in a lot of effort up front to make sure you have the offline map and details waypoints for the fun bits ...

I have a spare Moto G4+ which can take a 128GB SD card - you don't need a SIM (just turn off mobile data); use as a mini-tablet and satnav ... £50 to the Kelly's charity fund raiser.

Cheers,
Robin
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woody
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by woody » Wed Oct 10, 2018 9:31 am

https://shop.mini.co.uk/mini-uk-respons ... l/2448753/

This is the click and drive mini accessory that fits to your Speedo and mounts a nav or phone.

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campbell
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Re: Sat Nav chat

Post by campbell » Wed Oct 10, 2018 11:56 pm

GPS Gill is threatening to come out of retirement for a big Euro Trip in 2020

#uncorroboratedsource
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