hi ya
i have been after a satnav system now for a while but im after one that warns of low bridges, been busy looking for them but cant seem to find any, can anyone help ■■? 
cheers
steve… donny
You can download the ‘bridge height’ database (free I think) for TomTom so that would be a good starting point. It also depends on how much you want to spend.
I recently got a Nokia 6630 for free which has a big screen, runs Symbian OS and can support TomTom Mobile via a Bluetooth GPS reciever. Cheap way to get satnav - voila!!
What is your budget??
BTW, welcome to TrucknetUK!! 
You buy a bridge height map first then a normal map tom tom is a computer and like a woman NEVER trust it and dont listen to a word it says when its giving ditections go with instinct use a map.
tom tom go …if you go abroad in mainland europe for hols or day tripping get the 700 it has street level mapping built in…if you never go across get the 300
jammymutt:
You buy a bridge height map first then a normal map tom tom is a computer and like a woman NEVER trust it and dont listen to a word it says when its giving ditections go with instinct use a map.
well said, our dave has one of them daft things in his van, i can ■■■■ all over it without a book! it takes you down the daftest routes!
the last time i was rushed into hospital by a paramedic, the ■■■■■■■ sat nav thing was sending him in the 100% wrong way and kept trying to for ages, good job i knew where to go!
All your questions regarding sat nav,can be answered on the forum pages on the site below:
Ken.
cheers lads, think im going to get a tom tom 700 and see how many times it sends me the wrong way lol,
many thanks for your help have a good xmas / new year
steve… doncaster 
Welcome to TruckNet UK Sonic
I dont want one or havent got one, but I had a similar experience to Mal, although mine wasnt an emergency.
My bike broke down and I was recovered by the AA who took me on a scenic route to the dealer!
However, I read a test today in a car magazine. What Car or Auto Express or one of them, doing a christmas test on about 15 sat navs.
It seemed Tom Tom came out best but was expensive, but Garmin had a good report and they work on boats and the Paris Dakar
I’m always slightly sinical of those test as the testers never really know how to use them and most never put them in a car or take them out of the office not that I’m saying that the magazine in question didn’t throughly test the equipment
as for the tomtom being over expensive it depend what model they are testing a garmin i3 comes in at 150 ish pounds if you know where to shop and the tomtomone which is a base model basicly a go 300 but with a better gps receiver comes in at 279 or less at some places these models are poles apart in terms of useabillity I haven’t seen the article yet but ill have a look at it usually the garmins price come in higher than the tomtom
a mate of mine who does light haulage and removals has the tomtom but after some very expensive runs where the thing has sent him miles out of his way he’s reverted to good old map reading and only uses the satnav when he gets within a few miles of the drop!
paul b:
a mate of mine who does light haulage and removals has the tomtom but after some very expensive runs where the thing has sent him miles out of his way he’s reverted to good old map reading and only uses the satnav when he gets within a few miles of the drop!
I think that says more about your friend than the Tom Tom. Why did he follow the route the Tom Tom gave him if it wasn’t the best route? He doesn’t have to follow the first route it gives him, he doesn’t have to do exactly what the instructions tell him. I work with a guy who uses maps but will drive miles out of his way to get to a destination because he gets worried when he isn’t on motorways or very major roads. He hasn’t gone down the SatNav route because he is worried that - “it won’t let him do that.” 
I did point out to him that he controls the SatNav, not the other way round but he seems to think if he gets one he has to do exactly what it suggests at all times.
In the same way as you may plan a route with a map but discover some kind of restriction and have to re-plan you just do the same with the SatNav. The Tom Tom is just a map and your friend could use that in the same way he has now reverted to maps, it just seems strange to me he would spend all that money and then not use it.
Anyone converting to SatNav should use it in the same way they have used a map, the only differences are you don’t need to keep picking it up to check it and if you can’t take a particular road it sorts out the rerouting for you. If someone buys a SatNav and expects it to magically do all the work with no effort from them then they are going to be disappointed, it’s just a big old box of maps after all.
he’s strugled with as it’s a new venture and he’s never been a driver as such so perhaps relied on it to much as you say, me, i’ll use maps everytime, i’ll plan a route on the big road map and then if i’ve not got a detailed city or town map i’ll use micro soft auto route for a stret map. i can’t believe that no one has come up with an hgv specific satnav! surely they’d sell by the bucket load.
following on from Neil when i first got my sat nav i used it in conjunction with a map so i could get the feel of things …always check the route ends where you expect it too by following the map veiw .The other thing is to get it home and play with it
I do UK general haulage and Im away 2 to 3 days at a time, so about 40% of deliveries and collection points Im not familiar with. I have done this sort of work for over 30 + years so im familiar with getting round the UK. I now use TomTom Naviagtor on an Ipaq PDA and its a god send.
I set the next route up and check it, but I dont follow it rigidly from one town to the next, it just means if i have to go off route for any reason (road closed, heavy traffic etc) the SatNav will automatically recalculate the route for me to get back on track, I dont have to pull over and grab a map. Also if the office rings and I have to change destination I can do it instantly.
The main advantage is when I get to city centres where I dont have local knowledge and the SatNav guides me in, sure it sometimes tries to send me down roads with HGV restrictions but all you do is pass the road and it recalculates (same thing can happen if you stop to ask the local village idiot, they usually direct you as they would for a car). How about London Red Routes, saves a lot of grief there!
Its just another excellent option, I can go from city centre to city centre as if I know both places like the back of my hand.
I agree its gonna kill map reading and makes you lazy which is a shame, but I dont want to go back to roping and sheeting either, an art form.
I use a Garmin Street Pilot 111 and it has settings for
Car/motorcycle, Truck, Bus, Emergency, Taxi, delivery vehicles
not sure bout bridge heights but then I don’t need that but for me maps and A2Zs are a thing of the past
yes it does send me down some funny roads but it gets me there spot on every time
you set it as you want, shortest, fastest, off road etc
this model is now obselete but if I were to change it would go for Tom Tom, not the 700 as I don’t do European