I’m packing in the shunting after my holiday in August. I’m staying with the same company, but doing some night work. I currently use copilot truck for when I have to drive, but my phone ain’t in the best of health and I fancy a nice shiny new sat nav.
Had a look in Halfords and TomTom caught my eye, also had a look at the snooper website. Tbh, I’ll have to set the laptop up for a better look, looking at these sites on a mobile phone ain’t ideal.
What would you experienced users recommend? And before anyone suggests getting a cheapy Chinese one off flea bay, don’t bother
If you want a top flight Snooper/TomTom, I reckon there is only splitting hairs to separate them.
I like the TomTom, that’s what I’ve got and am used to. I like being able to plan/alter routes on my phone and send it to the satnav. The Snooper is faster apparently so I’d probably not feel the need if I had one of them.
The Aguri truck sat navs are worth a look come with lifetime maps and speed/ traffic light camera updates and also traffic and travel which you tether to your phone doesn’t use a lot of data either
I use a Tom Tom which I’ve had 3 years. Can’t really complain about it. Now again it can send me a short cut up some lane or residential street rather than staying on an A road for extra 2 miles, and you’ve got to really check which way it’s taking you in London. The only thing I’d be careful with for any sat nav on nights is that they won’t know the best diversion routes for motorway closures. They will more than likely send you down less suitable routes than what you’d pick yourself because the sat nav will see the way it routes you as slightly shorter and or quicker.
But yeah coupled with a good map to double check and bit of common sense my Tom Tom has t really let me down. Decent routing, spot on with bridge heights, and only tried to send me through a 7.5t weight limit once but the limit could well have been newer than the maps in which case you can’t fault it!
I have TomTom Truck and it hasn’t let me down, it won’t send you down 7.5t weight limits. This can be slightly frustrating in London when your delivery is down a weight limit because it will see a route down a residential street and pick that. As said, a good Truckers atlas is a good companion to your Sat Nav.
I seem to be faced with the choice of TomTom 520(or is it 5200?) 6200, snooper (from Argos) or garmin which Halfords highly recommends. I popped into Halfords when I got up, they stock no hgv sat navs because they say there isn’t the demand for them. Am I right in thinking that the 520 is old tech and that for the extra 20 quid I should go for the 6200? I’m not keen on the garmin, they were built in at tuffnells and they weren’t all that ( maybe it was just a crap job) but Halfords told me that the tech has come on in leaps and bounds? The snooper apparently gets tv too. I feel brain fried!
jbaz73:
I seem to be faced with the choice of TomTom 520(or is it 5200?) 6200, snooper (from Argos) or garmin which Halfords highly recommends. I popped into Halfords when I got up, they stock no hgv sat navs because they say there isn’t the demand for them. Am I right in thinking that the 520 is old tech and that for the extra 20 quid I should go for the 6200? I’m not keen on the garmin, they were built in at tuffnells and they weren’t all that ( maybe it was just a crap job) but Halfords told me that the tech has come on in leaps and bounds? The snooper apparently gets tv too. I feel brain fried!
Halfords would tell you Stephen Hawkins intelligence has been built into each and every Garmin if they thought it’d get them a sale so they could actually shift the bloody things…
Tomtom 5200 is ancient in terms of sat navs, so as Reef said the 6000, 6200 or 6250. The 6000 can be a tad slow so only worth it if decently discounted. The 6200 updates via WiFi which can be handy and the 6250 I think has some minor addition that’s not worth the extra money.
Halfords usually recommends Tomtom for all navs, but they’ll likely recommend whichever one is giving them the biggest discount today. Maybe Garmin are feeling the pinch - from what I’ve seen of their and Snoopers other navs I wouldn’t pay diddly for them never mind the one with the built in TV which btw, requires a very very good ariel.
Oddly I bought both of mine from Halfords so some stores stock them, just got to find the right one (think mine came from Mansfield). Amazon also ship them quick, just make sure it’s the version with lifetime Euro maps as I’ve seen a few rather dodgy looking ads on there from other sellers. Also make sure it is the trucker version. I’ve a feeling they did a 6000 model which wasn’t, usually much cheaper, but without the right software which is what you’re paying for.
On closer inspection, both the 520 and the 5200 are available for a very similar price. But the 6200 is only 30 quid more, and it would seem, superior in build and software.
My experience of garmin was not a positive one. And snooper is a relative newcomer. I can watch tv on my phone. So the 6200 wins.
trevHCS:
The 520 needs a phone to do the traffic etc whereas the 5200 and 6000+ have a builtin SIM so no need for any expensive data plan.
6200 i believe only comes in 6" which is much better than 5" screen. Bigger really is better for reading a screen.
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The 520 use’s about 1mb of data month if that, and do all of the updates at home too, were as the 6200 with built in SIM only has a 12mth free, then it’s subscription every year.
I looked at both, and the wireless, connected to the phone is cheapest option, when you get it out of the box, put a 4-6gb card in,connect to home WiFi, download all maps, and updates, good to go, then just use phone for traffic, and update at home… Also 520 is lifetime everything.
