Garmin / Navman Satnav users....

I'm looking for a satnav which covers Europe and has bluetooth. As the TomTom's strangely don't support my Sony Ericsson Phones I've narrowed it down to either a Garmin or Navman. They both look sleek and efficient and have the larger screen that I am looking for. They both have postcode search and bluetooth compatability. So if any of you uses a Satnav from either of these makers, could you give me an opinion? What do you think of the build quality, userfriendliness and reliability? Anything that helps narrow down the choice would help. At the moment it's between the Navman S90 and one of the Garmin Nuvi's. Unless anyone suggests something else that is! :? Thanks for the help.

I've got the Garmin Nuvi 250. Smaller screen, European database, no bluetooth. I bought it specifically to tour France, Germany, Belgium and Holland this September. It had all the hotels and addresses I needed, never went wrong or failed, and I travelled point to point every day without a problem. Didn't use a map at all. Many of the hotels were in city centres, all were in the poi database and I arrived at all their front doors without problem. However its the only satnav I've had so I can't offer a comparison or any comment on the phone compatibility.

Thanks David. Was there just one lead to the lighter to power it or did you need other ie: aerial connected as well?

Hi, I've got a Nuvi 660FM - great piece of equipment Bluetooth phone seems to work OK, although it will not pick up the address book from my Windows Mobile phone One cable to the power socket, this also has the TMC antennae attched Build quality seems good, main reason for choosing this over the Tom Tom's were the various software glitches I read about. I think the Garmin is more user friendly than the Tom Tom, but that may just be familiarity - it is certainly OK on that point, as my non Techno wife operates it with ease. As mentioned European database is very good - we travelled through France and Italy with no problems - had all the hotels pre-installed. We also subscribed to the Frence speed camera database, which saved my bacon...... TMC info can be a bit patchy - not sure if this is the Sat Nav or the base information source - we travelled down the A1 last weekend, and it re-routed due to a jam, we decided to ignore this... and the jam disappeard from the screen, although it was certainly there when we got to the spot [ ] Had a couple of TMC false alarms where it has shown a jam, but nothing there when you get to the scene Also had a smaller Garmin in a hire car in Denmark recently - did not like the smaller screen, and the unit itself seemed slower to respond (slower processor?) but everything else was the same Hope this helps Pete

I have a Garmin Quest 2. Principally for the motorbike, but I take this abroad for hire cars and it is brilliant. Also has approx 8hrs battery life which means it can be used without being plugged into a lighter socket. Despite the screen size it is more than easy ot read.

Was faced with same dilemma due to my S.E. P990 and bought the Garmin 660 I can't give you any useful comparison with the Navman, because I haven't used one, but whilst there are some software compromises against TomTom, there a number of advantages. 1. Works perfectly with P990. Accepts an enormous address book. Sound quality is possibly not as good as the Tomtom, but it does the job 2. As you say the Garmin is sleek and looks good. It will fit in your pocket (If you see a tomtom advert showing a bulbous tomtom 910 being dropped into a shirt pocket, it is a con. close inspection of the picture shows that the item going into the pocket is a different machine) 3. The mount is good. The cables plug into the mount, rather than the nav unit, making release and refitting of the unit a doddle. 4. I opted for the 660 rather than the 670 because I didn't need all the mp3 hard disk and stuff. The 660 is wide screen like the 670, and it comes with a lifetime subscription to TMC (which does actually work and has provided some useful avoidance). 5. One particular feature of the 660 which I like is the fact that "she who must be obeyed" reads out the road names e.g. "in X yards turn left onto Acacia Avenue". Very useful. 6. You can import your own POI's onto the Garmin e.g. scameras and shell garages etc (don't know whether you can or not on the Navman) 7. Downside is that it has a habit of trying to route me off the M3 to go across country when I don't want to, but as I know best I have just ignored it. And slightly annoying is the fact that to input a destination, it seems that you have to waste time typing in "England". Good news for the continental commuters, but a pain for us "locals" All in all I have been very pleased with the experience over the last 8 months. I have probably missed out some salient points, but just ask if you have any specific questions about the Garmin

Thanks, this is all very helpful. My choice is really now between the Garmin 660 and the Navman S90. From the positive comments on here, plus the fact that its cheaper, I'll probably go with the Garmin. Could someone just confirm though, how easy is it to update the maps? Is it done via an SD card or PC or similar?

Tim, Google the Garmin Nuvi 710 and 760. Both go on sale from 1/11/07. This is of course the very latest kit. Regards, Clive

I have a Garmin Nuvi 660. Great "thingy". The bluetooth works well. phone wise. Then when it read a text to me it was highly amusing! Although I decided to listen to it yesterday and it took me on the most bizarre route through country single track roads!! Instead of via normal A roads!! I have played with a few others and this seems a common fault!????! The speed (oops safety) camera alert seems fab too.... I looked at lots and read reviews and this seemed the best one!

Following my earlier comments on Garmin (and I don't know if this applies to other makes or not) I forgot to mention : During the course of any phone conversation via bluetooth you do not receive any audible directions for your journey. It's not an issue in my porsche, as I already have a bluetooth Parrot system, for the phone, hardwired and routed through the sound system, so callers and satnav can both talk. But in the other car I rely upon the Garmin for the phone, and thus it is either phone or voice command - not both.

Couple of things I forgot 1. I used the Nuvi 250 as a pedestrian walking round, self contained, 5 hours battery life and a specific pedestrain setting. 2. I bought this for it http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GARMIN-PORTABLE-DASH-MOUNT-SUITABLE-FOR-NUVI-STPILOT_W0QQitemZ290173538715QQihZ019QQcategoryZ139836QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem which I have to say works perfectly. No vibration, never slips, and no rings on the windscreen. Also means I can just carry it from one car to the other and literally throw it onto the dashboard and plug it in.

I don't have a satnav, but I did have no end of problems with my SE K750i Bluetooth compatibility,. Despite also downloading various firmware patches on the phone, it kept dropping bluetooth connection randomly between 15s and 5mins after connecting. Happened to both a plantronics headset, sony ericcson (!) car hands-free and my Becker Grand Prix. In the end, I gave up with SE and upgraded to a Motorola KRZR, which has been rock solid. The point is, it may not be the tom-tom at fault, but rather the SE.

Hi, You plug the Garmin unit into a mini USB cable connected into your PC, there are two types of update, which is a bit irritating You can update the maps and speed camera database via the My Garmin web site (although I don't think I have received any actual map updates yet, not sure how often they will be updated) There is a downloadable application to update the unit firmware - only update received so far was to enable TMC in Canada Pete

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going for the Garmin Nuvi 660 in the end, enough people seem to rate the make and it ticks all the boxes, plus saves me having to get any more bluetooth stuff for any of the cars as I can move this from one to another.