Garmin v. TomTom satnavs

[hifilover1979]

The other plus of stand-alone units is position.
I have always used mine low down to my right - visually just above my right hand on the wheel. WAY safer IMO, than anywhere else, not least down in the dash somewhere. TVs that can be on while driving are illegal in the dash, but not sat' nav's.................odd.

Yup; hate the positioning of the head unit in my E39s (all of them, same with the E38s); low down in the middle, under the front middle vents etc... Means you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view the screen etc

I'ver a solid genuine Samsung 'phablet' phone holder that I've had for years now (since the dates of the Samsung Note 4 IIRC) and it's brilliant; fits the screen no issues and I have it in the middle and low as I can without it touching the dash & that's perfect for me; not in the way and not intrusive etc

 

[Tony Lockhart]

I tried using standalone sat navs years ago. Terrible things, and at the time they were prone to theft. So you either took them with you, or put them in the boot, when you left your car anywhere.
Once Google Maps appeared, it very quickly made those clunky old boxes look archaic, and my iPhone is always with me, has StreetView, instant phone calls etc etc.
in my new Passat, I can display the Google Maps sat nav on the infotainment screen. If I’m in the house and I tap in a route on my iPhone, it’ll be on my screen in the car when I start it up. The phone can be in my pocket. It costs me nothing on top of my monthly data and calls plan.

I thought this thread must have been dredged up from 2005, because I haven’t seen a Garmin or TomTom outside of Halfords since then!

 

[Vinny]

I tried using standalone sat navs years ago. Terrible things, and at the time they were prone to theft. So you either took them with you, or put them in the boot, when you left your car anywhere.
Once Google Maps appeared, it very quickly made those clunky old boxes look archaic, and my iPhone is always with me, has StreetView, instant phone calls etc etc.
in my new Passat, I can display the Google Maps sat nav on the infotainment screen. If I’m in the house and I tap in a route on my iPhone, it’ll be on my screen in the car when I start it up. The phone can be in my pocket. It costs me nothing on top of my monthly data and calls plan.

How often do you use sat' nav'?
If I use it for more than 5% of my motoring, I'd be astonished. In fact. I'd be astonished at 5%. It gets stowed on the glovebox or centre compartment for the other 95(+)% of the time.
As for size - I have never understood why anyone needs more than the smallest TomTom/Garmin/A N Other - twice the size of a mobile screen? The 2 TomToms that I have owned are not really any biger than a thick wallet.

As for not wanting to spend (far) less than two minutes with a touch-screen..................... yes, we are in the era of the terminally bone-idle. Linked to the total obsession with mobile phones.............................

The world has gone mad.

 

[Bananahead]

I am the other way round. I use my Tomtom for 95% of distance driven.