Set off to the local elec shop (GG), checked out the display and decided on a 2557 model. Couldn't find any one to serve me so off to the next shop (HN). They were $10.00 dearer so back I went. Stood around like Brown's cows, finally service arrived. "Yes sir, we have one in stock but we can't find it. Howabout a TomTom, they are the best, we have lots in stock" "If they are the best, why have you sold out of Garmins and not TomTom?" was my reply. So off I went back to HN, "Yes sir, we only have the one on display in stock, would you take that one?" "Can't see why not" I said.
So off home I go, open the box only to find the UBS cable missing so can't charge battery through computer. Not to worry I'll install it in the car and go for a drive and test it out.
One hour later I still can't get it out of "Demonstration" mode. Back home, download the manual, no luck, no instructions on how to change out of "Demo" mode, so ring help line, no answer, oh well I'll fax, no answer.
Ring HN, "Sorry sir, our computers are down (read too lazy to help)"
Next day off to HN with the unit and the downloaded manual. "Not a problem sir, I'll show you how, we'll need to charge it first, the battery is low". "You forgot to include the USB cable so couldn't charge it" Blank look. One hour later, "mmm we might have a problem here, would you like to buy a TomTom or a Navsat or would you like a refund"
"A refund please" I must say they were very good about it, gave me a ream of copy paper to cover the cost of downloading the manual.
So off I go to DS. "Can I help sir" "Yep I'd like to by a Garmin 2557" "Yes sir, not a problem, we only have one in stock, it's the one on display."
"Is it in demonstration mode?" "Um, yes." "Any trouble taking it off Demo mode?" "Um, sometimes"
"Don't bother, I'll buy a map, least you can fold them away"
So my question to one and all, anyone out there with a TomTom or Navsat and are they just as good as the Garmin?
Cruising Granny said
04:17 PM May 2, 2014
I've had 2 Toms. The first one was just way out of date, so I upgraded with another Tom. Upgraded but a little out of date, but I persevered until the heat wave we had last summer seemed to have cooked the LCD (liquid crystal display).
So I changed to a Garmin 42. It's very basic and not as much detail as Tom display screen, but I'm coping.
All I've been told by the "experts" is don't do Navman. Something to do with reliability and accuracy.
MollyW said
04:29 PM May 2, 2014
I am a professional driver and I love my Tom Tom. His name is Ken he is an Australian !!
I bought him over 15 years ago and he is used regularly.
Olley46 said
10:05 PM May 2, 2014
MollyW wrote:
I am a professional driver and I love my Tom Tom. His name is Ken he is an Australian !! I bought him over 15 years ago and he is used regularly.
I was a professional driver and I have a tom and his name is Ken to and he is an Australian to he is about the same age,I wonder if they are cozens,and he has been a good boy over that time.
Lance C
nano said
09:06 AM May 3, 2014
Personal opinion only but based on experience of all three brands, my first unit was a Tom Tom, very fiddly to use and completely failed during the first day of use. Next was a Navman, ok but not very user friendly. Recently bought a Garmin 2797 which I have found very easy to use and the 7 inch display is great as It only needs a quick glance to view distances, speed limits, turn instructions etc. I bought mine from J.B. hifi, they seemed to have good stocks.
03_troopy said
02:37 PM May 4, 2014
Had a Navman My75, excellent unit until the battery finally died after a few years, so I tried TomTom. Found it to be very basic, and not as many functions as the Navman of similar price. I tried a Garmin for a day, because of the great screen display but found awkward to use and not as many functions as the Navman. Took the Garmin back and swapped it for another Navman, the MyEscape II. Works great, accuracy as good as any other and you can load your own custom POI files. I only wish it had the glass display like the Garmin though.
Kisha said
12:30 AM May 5, 2014
I was using a Garmin on my way to Jandakot airport about 2 years ago, it was telling me to take the next exit left, there was no exit left just a paddock, maybe there will be a road there in the future. Though its clarity of voice and graphics were fabulous......Kisha
scooner said
07:41 AM May 8, 2014
hi i have a navman my60 also a my85 had the my60 3yrs no problems ,my85 had 1yr no problems not got lost yet
Vic41 said
01:11 PM May 8, 2014
Regards Garmin GPS, I have the Nuvi 1450LMT with Lifetime Maps, see my thread here on General,
We used a Garmin 2455 for about 3 years and then upgraded to a NAVMAN My Escape 11 prior to heading off from Brisbane to Vic for a month. Got to Coffs Harbour and put the Navman in glove box and got out the old Garmin. Very disappointed in the Navman, reason for buying it was because you can load info such as towing a caravan and it also has 4x4 tracks loaded. Didn't get to see if those functions work! If you just want to go from A to B it would be fine, but if you need to know where next fuel or rest stop are then be prepared to manually use the touch screen lots to find this info out. Then when it does show you what is in the area it stops tracking your journey and keeps an image of where you were when you last pressed the screen. My old Garmin also shows altitude which is came in handy when towing the caravan over the snowy mountains, no such info on the Navman. I thought maybe I wasn't using it correctly so I called Navman but found out that all was working as it is intended. My old Garmin shows fuel/rest stops etc on screen as you travel, very disappointing that the My escape can't do this. I had also loaded CAMPS 7 onto my old Garmin which was another reason the Navman didn't come back out of the glove box. I suggest you write a list of what you would like you GPS to do/show you on screen and go from there.
03_troopy said
08:01 PM May 12, 2014
Mark,the Navman can show fuel, rest stops, banks, supermarkets etc etc. on screen as you travel, if you select them in the setup screen, and I have camps 6 loaded on mine too. They show up as icons on the map as you travel. I used to also have Auto Parts shops, Aldi supermarkets, Big Things Australia, plus heaps of other POI's, I downloaded from various sites, onscreen too, but it gets a bit cluttered so much easier to only have them loaded but not displayed. You then use smart word search when you want to find particular POIs in the local area. Plus the with the Navman, you can setup 10 or 12 (I forget which it is) waypoints and optimise them so that they are arranged in a logical sequence to travel. Great if you like to do the garage sales on a saturday morning.
If you don't plan on using your Navman MyEscapeII, would you send it to me so I can put one in the wife's car as well. :)
Another thing, never rely on sales staff to explain the details of any In Car Navigator you buy (very few actually know what they can and can't do). Do your research, then go looking and play with them instore. They may get a bit p*ssed off at you, but if you're spending upwards of $300 on an item, you wan't to know it does what you want it to. I took a couple of different systems on the understanding that if they didn't perform as required, i'd be bringing them back to the store. JB-HiFi didn't have a problem with that.
Mark M said
03:02 PM May 13, 2014
No one would be more pleased than me if my opinion of the Navman is all wrong. So, I'm going to give it another go and start from scratch. If it doesn't workout it will be coming to your wife, via airmail.
cheers
03_troopy said
06:44 PM May 13, 2014
Mark M wrote:
No one would be more pleased than me if my opinion of the Navman is all wrong. So, I'm going to give it another go and start from scratch. If it doesn't workout it will be coming to your wife, via airmail.
cheers
Hahaha.. Hopefully you will be more impressed with your Navman on your next play with it mate. Read the documentation and play with all the functions to check it out. Good luck with it. ;)
I downloaded a heap of POI's from a site called POIDB and loaded the into the Navman, but I found that many of the POI's for things like Businesses and shops and tourist attractions were already available and could be found using "Smart word search" It's just a shame it doesn't have a better screen like the higher end Garmins, although it it quite readable unless you get full sunlight shining on it. Oh yeah, the voice operated command doesn't seem that great either, but my wife says I mumble anyway.
Set off to the local elec shop (GG), checked out the display and decided on a 2557 model. Couldn't find any one to serve me so off to the next shop (HN). They were $10.00 dearer so back I went. Stood around like Brown's cows, finally service arrived. "Yes sir, we have one in stock but we can't find it. Howabout a TomTom, they are the best, we have lots in stock" "If they are the best, why have you sold out of Garmins and not TomTom?" was my reply. So off I went back to HN, "Yes sir, we only have the one on display in stock, would you take that one?" "Can't see why not" I said.
So off home I go, open the box only to find the UBS cable missing so can't charge battery through computer. Not to worry I'll install it in the car and go for a drive and test it out.
One hour later I still can't get it out of "Demonstration" mode. Back home, download the manual, no luck, no instructions on how to change out of "Demo" mode, so ring help line, no answer, oh well I'll fax, no answer.
Ring HN, "Sorry sir, our computers are down (read too lazy to help)"
Next day off to HN with the unit and the downloaded manual. "Not a problem sir, I'll show you how, we'll need to charge it first, the battery is low". "You forgot to include the USB cable so couldn't charge it" Blank look. One hour later, "mmm we might have a problem here, would you like to buy a TomTom or a Navsat or would you like a refund"
"A refund please" I must say they were very good about it, gave me a ream of copy paper to cover the cost of downloading the manual.
So off I go to DS. "Can I help sir" "Yep I'd like to by a Garmin 2557" "Yes sir, not a problem, we only have one in stock, it's the one on display."
"Is it in demonstration mode?" "Um, yes." "Any trouble taking it off Demo mode?" "Um, sometimes"
"Don't bother, I'll buy a map, least you can fold them away"
So my question to one and all, anyone out there with a TomTom or Navsat and are they just as good as the Garmin?
So I changed to a Garmin 42. It's very basic and not as much detail as Tom display screen, but I'm coping.
All I've been told by the "experts" is don't do Navman. Something to do with reliability and accuracy.
I was a professional driver and I have a tom and his name is Ken to and he is an Australian to he is about the same age,I wonder if they are cozens,and he has been a good boy over that time.
Lance C
I was using a Garmin on my way to Jandakot airport about 2 years ago, it was telling me to take the next exit left, there was no exit left just a paddock, maybe there will be a road there in the future. Though its clarity of voice and graphics were fabulous......Kisha
Regards Garmin GPS, I have the Nuvi 1450LMT with Lifetime Maps, see my thread here on General,
http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t57513580/hats-off-to-garmin/?page=1#lastPostAnchor
If you don't plan on using your Navman MyEscapeII, would you send it to me so I can put one in the wife's car as well. :)
Another thing, never rely on sales staff to explain the details of any In Car Navigator you buy (very few actually know what they can and can't do). Do your research, then go looking and play with them instore. They may get a bit p*ssed off at you, but if you're spending upwards of $300 on an item, you wan't to know it does what you want it to. I took a couple of different systems on the understanding that if they didn't perform as required, i'd be bringing them back to the store. JB-HiFi didn't have a problem with that.
cheers
Hahaha.. Hopefully you will be more impressed with your Navman on your next play with it mate. Read the documentation and play with all the functions to check it out. Good luck with it. ;)
I downloaded a heap of POI's from a site called POIDB and loaded the into the Navman, but I found that many of the POI's for things like Businesses and shops and tourist attractions were already available and could be found using "Smart word search" It's just a shame it doesn't have a better screen like the higher end Garmins, although it it quite readable unless you get full sunlight shining on it. Oh yeah, the voice operated command doesn't seem that great either, but my wife says I mumble anyway.