Proline Snooper Sat Nav

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hello.

I bought the S2000 Proline Snooper Truckmate (UK & Europe) about a month ago and thought I’d share my experiences for anyone considering buying one.

I on agency driving class 1 & 2 all over the place and have always been crap with maps. My old Tomtom 710 was okay, but tended to lead you down little country lanes and get you in a fair bit of trouble, even with the likes of low bridge POI’s.

The S2000 map is not meant to be complete yet, at least in terms of weight restrictions, however from Cornwall to as far afield London and Middlesbrough, I’ve had no problems with the map. Updates are free for the cheaper UK units until the end of the year, and are free for life with the UK & Europe ones.

It is EXTREMELY helpful. You tell it how long, wide & heavy your vehicle is and if you are rigid or artic and it comes up with a suitable route - simple as that. It will not lead you on to unsuitable roads, impossible corners, low bridges or weight restricted roads.

The camera database seems to be 90% accurate. It never misses a camera location however it sometimes does not give an audiable warning, although it still displays a visual warning. I think this is because it thinks some cameras are only on the other side of the road. The camera warnings are given for lorry road speeds, not car speeds.

The map tells you what you need to know and leaves out what it thinks you don’t. For example it won’t display some street names that you are passing if your route doesn’t require you to use those streets. This was hard to get used to after having the tomtom, but I’ve gotten used to it.

The S2000 allows you to avoid any roads that are on your route and if used with the TMC arial that is supplied, it is very good at routing you around heavy traffic.

Updating the unit is easy, just plug in to your computer and it automatically updates itself within a few seconds.

The unit cost me over £400. This is a lot of money but I have found it really helpful and it takes a lot of stress out of finding your way from A to B, especially if you are crap at finding your way around as I am. Basically it allows you to travel to a place without even thinking about your route. I don’t know about any of the other sat nav’s with lorry modes, but this unit has proved itself well worth it, so I’d certaily recommend it to anyone thinking about buying one.

Hopefully this has been of some help to anyone considering buying one. I’m pleased with the unit and would not be without it, but saying that I am utterly terrible at finding my way around without one.

Best wishes,
Paul

2

I think your intentions in bringing this to our attention are all good, and anything to make our job easier is a bonus.

But a word of caution to anyone who relies soley on one form of navigation, esp GPS.

If you put all your faith into Satnav, you will get into trouble. As coffee has pointed out on more than one occasion, simply looking where you are going reaps rewards.

I for one will allways err on the side of caution when it comes to low bridges and narrows lane or streets, and if in doubt, I will find another way or stop and walk down for a closer look, and so far it’s kept me out of trouble.

I’m the biggest techno geek there ever was and I do use Satnav. My TomTom is my main navigation aid, BUT if I put in a route that Tom takes me on an unfamiliar road or area, I consult my truckers atlas and check. If I’m not happy, I simply tell Tom to avoid that particular road.

I also use Autoroute and have Landranger OS maps on my laptop to fall back on.

I’ve heard and seen too many stories of “The satnav sent me here”

The Satnav didn’t send them there, the driver did.

Remember, Satnav is a map, a tool and is only an aid to get you from A to B.

Here’s a sobering thought. How many of you will get stuck if the Satnav breaks down?

3

thanks for the review the snooper sounds perfect but very expensive. I use a tomtom 720 and like petroski says with a little common sense you can avoid getting stuck. Having said that anything that makes my life easier has to be worthwhile.

4

there are cheeper option that are coming to market

5

It scares me that a driver with 2 years experience will come on here and tell us how crap they are, they cannot read a map and cannot find find their way around.

In your post, you said how bad you were at finding your way around the country. Did you ever think of a different career?

If you are concentrating on your piece of wonderful technology, how the hell can you be concentrating on the road? And how will you ever learn your way around.

6

YES by all means use the modern aids,
to make the job easy, BUT make sure
that ,CAN read a MAP; first and have
in the cab a reliable map,atlas ,as the
navi is not all ways right,

7

you’re being a bit harsh on him. Of coarse nobody should rely solely on their sat nav but he was only giving a little back ground to his review.
Old school drivers that refuse to use sat nav annoy me. If it makes your life easier use it, if you choose not to that’s fine but don’t get all righteous to those of us that do.

8

Lets hope it carries on as it started, I brought Snoopers first truck assist unit called Indago 10 months ago again this cost around £400 and it is the biggest pile of ■■■ I have ever had, the mapping is terrible and the so called speed limits for trucks are incorrect it very often warns of a camera and says the limit for a truck is 50 or 60 on a single carrideway road and even 40 on a motorway.

I contacted Snooper customer services and they wearn’t interested and kept insisting there was nothing wrong with their unit or information on the data base.

As most have said don’t rely on them, I tend to use them for working out jouney times and always check when it tellls me to turn, 44 tonne trucks and single track roads tend not to mix very well.

9

Mr B:
you’re being a bit harsh on him. Of coarse nobody should rely solely on their sat nav but he was only giving a little back ground to his review.
Old school drivers that refuse to use sat nav annoy me. If it makes your life easier use it, if you choose not to that’s fine but don’t get all righteous to those of us that do.

Not being harsh at all, 3 times he said how crap he was, he is also an agency driver! so what happens when he gets to a client who doesnt have a working cigar lighter socket in the truck, or has to drive a truck with a minor electrical fault?

Map reading is one of the most important “basics” in this job. If only to save mileage and fuel.

A sat nav is only an aid to map reading like spectacles or a torch. I am not so old school, that I havent got a sat nav, but what are you going to do when it tells you to turn right in a little village in France? or the technology blows a fuse. If you dont know where you are, you cannot ask for directions very well.

10

Wheel Nut:
Not being harsh at all, 3 times he said how crap he was, he is also an agency driver!

Is it the fact he’s a fairly new driver or he’s not too confident or an agency driver that makes you jump on him?
I think you was harsh especially since he’s a new member here.

11

i also have this sat nav, and i’ve been using it for bout 2 months now, and up till today i’ve had know trouble with it.
I’m in bath today, just sat in a layby on the A4 between bath and bristol, and all i can say is what most of you guys have been saying, always use a map then just use the sat nav as a helpin hand, the bloody thing tried sending me down country lanes all the way up to bath from southampton!
It’s lucky i always check my route with a street atlas otherwise i could of got in trouble :blush: .
so what i’m tryin to say is that it’s a good sat nav, but i still don;t trust it.

12

i have the uk one of these and i find it very helpful also, only problem i have come across is on the A40 just passed the Ross on Wye roundabout it wants you to go via hereford on the A49 because there is a 7.5t limit on a road running next to the A40 at the top on Pencraig hill so it gets a little confuddled but other than that cant fault it. Only thing i wish you could do is add more voices

13

Mr B:

Wheel Nut:
Not being harsh at all, 3 times he said how crap he was, he is also an agency driver!

Is it the fact he’s a fairly new driver or he’s not too confident or an agency driver that makes you jump on him?
I think you was harsh especially since he’s a new member here.

No, I think the fact that he has driven class 1 for over 2 years, and still will not or cannot read a map is the main reason.

14

some people are just no good with a map, i use both to double check the route

15

Nice that prichardson took the trouble to write the review. I thought it was both helpful and enlightening, but did find the reply posted by Wheel Nut -

In your post, you said how bad you were at finding your way around the country. Did you ever think of a different career?

a bit self righteous. So someone is good at reading maps - you need to be if nobody will give you correct directions :wink:

16

Oh come on Wheen Nut man…

Of course I can read a map, but as a seasoned trucker yourself surely you have been in the situation of driving through an unknow city with a tight deadline. A truckers map is a must, but having to pull over to consult a map every few minutes can be a major problem, especially if traffic flow is good and stopping at the side of the road is not practical. Have you ever been on a motorway in the middle of the night just following an accident when no diversion has been put in place and you have to drive through god-knows-where to get yourself back on the motorway?

Satnavs are a fantastic AID, and maybe I did not make that clear. Saying that, I shouldn’t have had to, because I was giving my own personal review of the unit, and certainly didn’t expect to take your insults.

Yes Wheel Nut, I do drive with a truckers map have done okay in the last few years without this Satnav, however I’m sure that even YOU have been in the situation of not knowing EXACTLY how to get from point A to point B in the most efficient of ways through an area you have never been in before, especially when faced with road-closures & diversions.

As a matter of historical interest, I’m ex-army Para so my map reading skills are fine. Reading a map whilst driving is certainly not a good idea and I believe that this is where a Satnav comes in quite handy.

No doubts you’ll want to barrage me with more insults Wheel Nut, and fair enough mate, I can take it. I’ll never profess to being anything other than a driver with just a couple of years experience, so I’m happy to use anything that can help, be it Satnav, Autoroute or whatever else.

Paul.

17

You dont need to, just read your original post again.

I suggested that you or anyone else should not rely on an electronic map if you cannot read a paper map, now you decide you can read a map and the army taught you.

Every other post agrees with me about not relying on sat nav, maybe in more polite words, but in agreement and even your PM doesnt say anything different.

And yes. I have been in a strange place with only a map to help me. A map will be of more more use than a sat nav.

18

Okay mate, maybe we should drop the thread. Message boards can be a bit bitchy, but I’d of expected something better from here.

Paul.

19

as a trucker its our reponsibility to get a load from a to be intact & in the safest way possible & i dont see it matters how we achieve this, whether its by using a map or satnav or both as i do. aslong as the job gets done without any problems who cares…each to their own