Main advantage of GPS over maps is that when you cant take the turning you want due to a weight limit or low bridge you dont have to stop to look at the map again, most GPS will re-calculate the route straight away for you. I have used a laptop with “Navigator” and it did wonders for me on the containers, plus the advantage of being able to play games and watch a dvd on it, I was about to get a usb tv card for it before I came off of the road, and all this for less then a tomtom, but it is more bulky if all you want is gps.
A Blatand advert here (Sorry Mods but I think it would be better here than in the For Sale section)
I bought a GPS reciever a couple of months back, but the connection is the USB connection which was the wrong one I needed 
I paid £70 for it and its brand new in the box and will connect to any laptop with a USB port so if anyone wants it I’ll take £60 and throw in the P&P free of charge. email me for full details 
good point jayhoe. these things are obviously a lot more advanced than i realised. its down to personal preference at the end of the day but i never did like an easy life so i will stick to my maps with all the pretty coloured roads 
kindle530:
here here scanny. i think in the years to come, map reading will go the same way as roping and sheeting! people refusing to go up the road if all they got is a load of maps and no gps
scanny77:
i have over £400 ■■■■■■■ in my own maps. i wont use gps at all. i feel that map-reading is one of the skills in this job
Welcome to the 21st century! Dont knock modern technology just because it isnt the traditional way of doing it! Whilst I am proud of the fact that I can rope and sheet, I wouldn’t choose a flat for a load that could go in a curtainsider, just for that sake of sheeting it up. Using a sat-nav doesnt mean you have top throw all your maps out of the window and forget how to use them! But they are a very usefull tool, allowing you to get on with the driving, instead of having to keep stopping to look at a map.
I think using a map yeaches you where places are rather than programming a destination and not caring how you get there.
If I have to deliver to somewhere I have never been, I can find it on a map and that instantly gives me a direction and a route. Maybe the village I am looking for is next to a big town that I know well.
Nothing wrong with technology but since they invented calculators nobody can do a simple calculation
I’ve got a very basic GPS. Garmin eTrex Legend. Very nice little thing. Alas it is an US model but despite that I can create routes on my PC and upload them as when I goto work I usually have 1 place to goto only, and even then I have a map for the rest.
It’s good enough for me. Someday I might upgrade it to a UK spec model, but not at the moment…
One thing to remember is the aerial/receiver needs to have a clear view of the sky to work…
I’ve got the power/data cables to use on my PDA/Laptop/Etc anyway…
Wheel Nut:
I think using a map teaches you where places are rather than programming a destination and not caring how you get there.If I have to deliver to somewhere I have never been, I can find it on a map and that instantly gives me a direction and a route. Maybe the village I am looking for is next to a big town that I know well.
Nothing wrong with technology but since they invented calculators nobody can do a simple calculation
My next investment will be a laptop. There are some reasonable spec’ed units going at reasonable prices on e-bay at the mo’.
My reasons are partly to lighten my load 
. I have invested in good maps for a long time now. I have probably got the best part of £200 worth, if not more. Most of them now need to be replaced due to wear or age. And they weigh what feels like a tonne, when I have to try and get the bag they are in out of my cab (or back in). I am planning on getting a good map programme on the laptop, which I can update as I go. It will need to go down to street size for getting in to my delivery and cover the whole of Europe. I don’t intend getting a satellite dongle for it. Just reading the map as I do now, but it will hopefully find my destination for me without me spending a lot of time looking up indexes. I also want to be able to mark things of interest on the map as well as delivery points. My points of interest would be, low bridges, truckstops, cafes etc.
alli tom nav 3usa but go for nav 2 as its better software but for the us id go for copilot truck which runs on a laptop www.alk.com simon an icn like coffees will be cheeper and better especially for euro work
scanny you say you prefer maps how many near miss have you had whislt read the map while driving an be honest here because that is where gps sytems win
sorry officer didnt see that child i was look for my place on the map
Hi. Only skim read most other posts but not many people mentioned coverage. One person mentioned “Copilot 5 from ALK”
I use this myself with a Mitac Mio 168. Its a pda with built in aerial. Comes complete with windscreen sucker, aerial extension thing and 12/24v in car/lorry charger and an 125mb memory card. I use it in conjunction with a good large scale atlas of the uk…
Costs now £350 ish.
Im pleased with the map content as it seems very up to date, m6 toll etc, congetstion charge and new islands on the A5 near Cannock. plus other stuff.
It reads out the streetnames to you which i find useful (tom Tom doesnt) .
It also has, apparently full coverage of all of Ireland. (even the new motorway road thats only just finished by my mums house.)
You can put in 6 or 7 ish stops and get it to arrange them in order for you though this can get it thinking for a short while…
One downside is that it doesnt do a postcode search past the first number of the second part… ie LE10 0■■ But this still gets you very close.
Ive never tried any of the others but i dont regret buying this .
Some people have moaned about it but im pleased with it . this link has a list of reviews…
copilot has had mixed reactions but i still prefer tomtom as i find the routeing bit better but its still a great product
AS A NEW DRIVER C2 INK STILL WET ON CERTIFICATE 21 ST DEC O4
I HAVE TOM TOM 3 ON MY PDA BUT I PREFER MAPS AS SAT NAV TENDS TO TAKE ME ON CAR ROUTES HANDY FOR CALCULATING DISTANCE /TIME
AND FOR THE NOVELTY VALUE
Hairy, Have you got a shift lock key on your keyboard too? 
Stick to maps, it is a dying art by the sound of things
would that be CAPS LOCK by any chance wheelnut 
just realized i was shouting sorry for deafening you all
hairy if your using navitagor 3 then go to the properties select avdvanced the change the speed setting to hgv speed as this will change the routeing algorythm ie itll route you better
The TomTomGo seems to have some sort of learning function on it as well, if you prefer to take the major routes, then it picks that up and directs you down 'em - IE doesn’t send you down B roads if you don’t need to. It doesn’t take long to check the route annd recaulculate if your not happy with it, just use it with the same commonsense you would use a map with and your laughing .
thanks fellas for your suggestions
much appreciated … just been on the phone with one of the guys i work with apparantley out of 120 drivers only 20 are needed … but have a few calls to make tommorow will be work out there somewhere thats agency work i guess
kindle530:
here here scanny. i think in the years to come, map reading will go the same way as roping and sheeting! people refusing to go up the road if all they got is a load of maps and no gps
You mean you actually know how to rope and sheet Carl?
I know you can wash and polish for England in the Olympics,but…
Alix776.
That ALK copilot looks the right thing, if it has reasonable cover of Europe.
I don’t want a PDA with GPS for the simple reason of personal preference.
For one thing, I want a screen I can see. Although I have no doubt that a PDA can handle all the things I want my laptop to do, they are, by definition, small.