Navman iCN 630

[TimJMS]

Utterly beautiful. A small object of desire. Portable. Transferable. Reliable. Independant. Stable.

Legible. Intuitive. Precise. Unambiguous.

So far so good.

It constitutes a firm "recommend" [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[Domus]

This is just what I've been thinking of. Is this your first experience of sat-nav? Just how easy is it to use? I need it to be idiot proof (wife and daughter) and to use in different cars, Sorry to ask so many questions

[TimJMS]

Hi Domus.

Not my first experience of Sat Nav by a long way.

It is my second portable system, and is FAR more idiot proof than pocket PC based systems.

This is the best one I have come across, and the closest it gets at the mo to a DVD based unit. [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Domus]

Cheers Tim, will ask santa nicely. BTW where did you get yours from and if you don't mind how much?

[ChelseaMick]

I've had the Garmin 2610 now for just over 4 weeks. Only just released in the UK.

All I can say is top notch.
Very similar to the Navman but added touch screen and remote control.
Got it from here

[Carps]

A friend of mine has SmartNav . No fancy screen - just a very small discreet button. You press, said button, and talk to a friendly operator who can instantly call up your current location. you tell them where you want to go and a few seconds later they download the route to your car. You then get voice instructions telling you where to go.
The real beauty with this system is it takes into account realtime traffic, and constantly monitors traffic on your proposed route. If any conditions change, they call you up to let you know about it. They will also recalculate the route if they delay is more than 10 minutes.
I was sceptical, but having experienced it several times now, I'd say I am pretty confident in the info it provides.
An example: On a journey to BlueWater, the M25 was stacked up. We were diverted by SmartNav and ended up driving through some very obscure place and doubtful that this was going to be successful. Having driven down some residential roads, god knows where, we suddenly emerged opposite the entrance to BlueWater [img]images/graemlins/clap.gif[/img]

Having seen this work, I no longer see the point of SatNav without combined traffic info. It also has neat options, such as tracking if the car is stolen and speed camera alerts.

(I have nothing to do with the company, by the way. Just thought I'd share my experience...)

[JAMES]

i agree,i have also been offered this system, sounds as if it works well in practice but i was put off by the fact you had to pay for each route you recieve

[Domus]

I saw Smartnav at Castle Comb, very neat but I want a portable unit, S3, MX-5 and my daughter's Starlet. The Navman and Garmin seem very similar, but have been recomended to go down the Tomtom +PDA route. so as you can see I am a little confused [img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[TimJMS]

Garmin was the only other unit I would have considered at the moment. Not much to choose between the two. Navman has slightly larger display with more colours, but both are [img]images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Got mine from navcity

Arrived within 36 hours of placing the order [img]images/graemlins/clap.gif[/img]. Around £1K.

[TimJMS]

TomTom and PDA route is a LOT cheaper if you already have the PDA. Since you need ease of use though Domus, I would not recommend it. A dedicated unit is going to be more independent from a PC and less problematic IMO.

[JohnH]

I might be selling my ICN630 which is just over 3 months old. I really do not do the mileage to justify it so if anybody fancies making me an offer it has all the maps for Europe as well as 256Mb additional memory.

[TimJMS]

Just an update.

Version 2 software has just been released, and all the latest Tele Atlas maps have been sent out as a free upgrade to all owners of the iCN 630.

This gives a 3-D perspective of the road ahead, and greater map detail than before, which makes for even easier to understand route guidance, especially in heavily built up areas.

Mine still has'nt put a foot wrong!

[Scotty]

Tim, I have the option on a 2nd hand one. What down sides are there to it? So far I'm concerned as there are no batteries meaning it can't be fully portable and no headphone socket so I can't integrate it into the Hifi.

Any other things I should be aware of. Currently I'm thinking of waiting for the TomTom Go unit which is similar but has a 5 hour life and is touch screen.

[TimJMS]

There are 2 downsides I can think of Scotty.

As you mention, unlike the iPaq it has no internal battery so it does need an external power source. However when you have all the maps loaded in the Navman is far more PC independent the the iPaq. Additionally I found my old iPaq based (I think the Tom - Tom is as well?) Sat Nav to be extremely unreliable, and nearly unreadable unless you had the backlight enabled. This alone rendered the battery life useless, usually around 15 - 20 minutes.

Second downside is that internal memory is small. Only 64 MB which with the new detailed maps is good for only about half the UK, so you will need an additional memory card to slot in. This works seamlessly with the internal memory. A 256 MB card (I have one with mine) will give you all of northern Europe.

Better yet would be a 512MB card. I understand these are out soon. This would allow for just about all of the european maps supplied from Tele Atlas.

HTH