(Sat Nav) Satelite Navigation (GPS) (Global Positioning System) 4 your Truck, White Van Man or Car Help & Information & Contact phone numbers.Sat Nav (Satellite Navigation) or GPS (Global Positioning System) for trucks, vans, cars and all vehicles, bikers, push bikes & walkers is one of the fastest growing sales items over £100 in the UK. The price of these devices has halved approximately in the last 18 months (Dated time mark May 2006). Some brands still have quite a high price tag, but the one considered a market leader by most users is Tom Tom. Many keen users have tried other makes and eventually bought Tom Tom and praised it.
UPDATE ONE April 2008
Sat Navs are now cheaper still, I have seen them for just over £50.00 but not Tom Tom,, these I have seen for just under £100.00 but which model I did not look to see, but sure it may be good for UK use only.
UPDATE TWO April 2008 HGV & COACH (PSV PCV LGV) SPECIAL SAT NAVS THAT MARK UNSUITABLE ROADS
In the next month (May 2008) I shall be evaluating such a Sat Nav, I would think that any Sat Nav claiming to be good for Coach & HGV drivers must me desirable, given nothing is perfect including You,,,,,,,, and Me!
Tom Tom Global Positioning System has a number of models, but the lowest price one covering the UK down to street level is Tom Tom 300. Tom Tom 300 has the same UK map as the more expensive ones, other models like the 700 can have complete (it may not be 100% complete EU as it has many new countries now so check for individual needs) EU coverage also, for HGV drivers or Coach drivers who need EU coverage then this 700 model is required.
What does the Tom Tom 300 offer,, well as far as I can see just about everything you need to get from A to B. The instruction manual or book is like many others,,, produced and written by those who know how it works which isn’t a lot of good for me or granny and her dog,, but no matter you can play with it and soon see how it works, you cant hurt it so enjoy!
Actually setting it up with default values is easy, so don’t worry, you have a choice of post code and address combined, this does literally take you to the door, like 22 Blogs lane, uncle Charlie’s house,,, or just enter the address and here is the clever bit,,, where it says City you can put village, then street name and number, if you just want the village when it asks for street name and you don’t have that information just enter high street or repeat the village name again and it will take you to the centre or the church in the centre. After this you have a third choice which is called point on the map,,, this is very good because you can expand or contract the map of the uk to street level and just touch the part of the street you want to go to and bingo it will take you there,, you will be asked on all occasions if you want a fast route, shortest route, or limited speed route which takes you quite a fast way, a walking route, bicycle route, or avoid motorways route which a walking or bike route would do automatically of course.
On a test run I took a different route to the one I was instructed to take, the voice and visual display told me I needed to go back,,, it even told me where to turn around,,, but eventually it had worked out that it was better to continue down the same road I had taken,, it gave good warning before reaching junctions where you needed to turn,, in a city it will route you back on course if you get trapped in a lane and feel you have no desire to fight your way across battle hardened taxi drivers, white van men/women, and also that HGV that may be more considerate, but are you happy to take the chance,,, I mean who wants a fuel tanker joining them for a traffic merge,, with that cargo,, nope,,, better to keep going and let Tom Tom guide you back on course, which it will do without a doubt, so fear not.
If you find your self caught in a jam or road accident you can touch the screen and then touch Find Alternative, followed by Avoid Road Block, it will ask if the block is anything from 100yds away to many miles away, just enter 100yds and then take the new route,,, easy,,, (coach drivers and HGV be aware it may take you down a small lane impossible to negotiate, you have been warned) you can just take a side road as you approach and follow your nose using the Sat Nav new instructions to get back on course far enough up the road to avoid the jam you could see, that way you touch nothing.
You can also enter limited speed at 25mph (other speeds entered will give different results depending on the journey length) and it will find a different route, try it and see over a known course of some 50 miles.
Another additional facility is after you have selected the fastest or shortest route,, and ite set ready to go,,, select find alternative route,,, its well worth using this facility especially when on a long route as it will like the motorways and put 60 miles on a trip easily unless you do what I have previously mentioned or check find alternative a few times,, make a note of mileage and time each time,,, if you do more than two routes.
Other Benefits of Tom Tom are radar camera sites, fixed and mobile,, its has a directory and warns you when you approach a known site,,, please note the words,,, KNOWN SITE,,, because it wont have all the known police camera spots, Yet! but it will get better as time goes on and you update. You can set the distance from the known site for these warnings, which is good, also the alarm sound,,, the first time it happened to me I thought a police car had crept up on me at 500MPH and was sounding his alarm,,, and I was only doing 60mph plus on a motorway,, accidents on the road ahead can also be received on Tom Tom,, via your mobile phone if its blue tooth,, cos the Tom Tom talks to your phone and says,,, hey phone,,, I am here,,, don’t you know! So if you get a traffic warning for this cell area, please tell me, ok, and the phone says,,, yesss sssir Mr Tom Tom, all understood. Of course your phone needs to be set up also, but that’s academic,, or easy peasy! No problemo! errrr well I think so,,, but I am sure that once done you get familiar with it and it then becomes easy enough!
Where should you buy your Sat Nav system,,, well if its a Tom Tom,,, which does seem to be decent,, you might consider the thought,
Its not just the goods that you buy,
For the price that you pay,
Its the service available
If all becomes unstable!
or pear shaped !!
Most sellers can perform the function correctly of getting the goods to you,,, I say most! but,,,,,, and the big but comes when something goes wrong,,, this is the only way to measure a seller or retail outfit, be it at your local shop or internet or telephone sales. I suggest you attach great importance to this point,, its worth extra cash in the price,, I wont labour on about this anymore, you all know what I am saying deserves good thought in the buying process.
Ok, What seems to be the problem with Tom Tom Sat Nav GPS Systems, (Satellite Navigation) (Ground positioning Satellite).
Well what if you have a problem,,, you find the website and e mail them,, well that’s not possible,, but you can fill in a form to e mail,,, that can take a while, try it and see,,, but forms are not a real e mail,, its like having to go to the post office to get your letters each day,,, and fully identify yourself, and possibly return again if you have to send it back cos its faulty. This is not Dell type good service,,,,, you have to contact Tom Tom,, that’s not easy on the phone,,, which is all you may have,, and you cant wait around all day waiting for an answer,,, ok, you get through after some effort,, then they send a carrier around to collect it,,, NOPE! you don’t get a new one at the same time,,, the duff goods are repaired,,, and they start that process after they get it at the warehouse,, and then its returned about 5 or 10 days after that,,, so they say,,, so this is not the good Dell type after sales,, for those who have not bought from Dell, they are good,, faulty goods in the first 3 OR 12 OR MORE months get a new item and the old collected at the same time, and they are not slow about it in my experience,,,
For more information on Sat Nav there are three different pages on this site, all different articles, covering Sat Nav,, please return to the front page and select the link to another page. The Traffic Control Centres page has the last paragraphs covering Sat Nav of the future, which may or may not be of interest to you. So if you are further interested in what the future holds regards Sat Nav (Satellite Navigation) or also known as GPS Global Positioning System then you can read the report on
Traffic Control Centres in the UK which has an easy to see link on the front home page of this website in which Scotland & England are featured. This covers appreciations of what is to come. (home page link near this page bottom).
More detailed information on the Tom Tom Sat Nav can be found on again from the link on the home or front page of this site. (home page link near this page bottom). This will help you choose if Tom Tom is for you because apart from Tom Tom Go 300, which is currently priced at near £300.00 (September 2006 price has dropped to £199 at PC world but check this out first)
(UPDATE FEBRUARY 2007, TOM TOM ONE FROM £160/170 INC POSTAGE PRICES ARE FALLING)
others in the market place are cheaper,,, and what are they like,, it could be that there is one out there that is as good as Tom Tom Sat Nav but I am honestly not aware of it. If I find one as good or better I will add it to these appreciations.
If you asked me would I like my money back??? even given it may try and send you up a one way street now and again,,, NO! is the answer,,, Sat Nav is in its early days yet for being 100%,,, but then what is perfect in this world including you and me!
I have included the phone numbers for the TomTom help line here because If you try and find them on the TomTom website you may give up in disgust,,, you are not to be blamed for this as its the weak point for Tom Tom Sat Nav systems,,, and in my opinion if another provider brings out an equally good or near equally good Sat Nav,, then they will move into first place for choice,,, for those who are even reasonably knowledgeable purchasers... So be aware that I should not really have to print this information here for you, if they did there job properly. As an extra point of interest, if your TomTom screen goes blank there is a reset pinhole in the electrical docking connection area, it says RESET and you push the biro or slim object into the pin hole and at the SAME TIME press the switch on button at the front. Then all should be returned to the default values
From the UK 08451610009 Monday - Friday: 09:00 to 20:00 GMT
From outside the UK +31208501004 Monday - Friday: 10:00 to 21:00 GMT+1
Sverige/Danmark/Norge Phone numbers Opening hours
Sverige 0776620010 Monday - Friday: 10:00 to 17:00 CET
Danmark 35256514 Monday - Friday: 10:00 to 17:00 CET
Norge 81556710 Monday - Friday: 10:00 to 17:00 CET
Français Téléphone Horaires d'ouverture
France 0811025124 du lundi au vendredi de 10h00 à 21h00 CET
Belgique 078250157 du lundi au vendredi de 10h00 à 21h00 CET
Suisse 0844000016 du lundi au vendredi de 10h00 à 21h00 CET
Deutsch Telefonnummer Öffnungszeiten
Deutschland 0180 5003 842 Montag bis Freitag von 10.00 bis 21.00 Uhr MEZ
Schweiz 0844000016 Montag bis Freitag von 10.00 bis 21.00 Uhr MEZ
Nederlands Telefoon Openingstijden
Nederland 0204469443 Maandag t/m vrijdag van 10.00 tot 21.00 CET
België 078250156 Maandag t/m vrijdag van 10.00 tot 21.00 CET
Español Numero de telefono Horarios de apertura
España 913496508 Lunes-Viernes: 10:00 - 17:00 CET
Portugal 808781222 Lunes-Viernes: 10:00 - 17:00 CET
Italiano Numero di telefono Orari di apertura
Italia 0245281004 lunedì-venerdì ore 10:00 - 17:00 CET
Svizzera 0844000016 lunedì-venerdì ore 10:00 - 17:00 CET
Copyright Information
Below are a selection of photographs of trucks and drivers all over the UK, they have no connection with Sat Nav systems other than they may have one fitted. The various photographs are in keeping with the spontaneity and love of transport. I hope you will enjoy them wherever you are, but please remember that they are copyright to http://www.transportcafe.co.uk Permission to use these photographs for business purposes is granted free to educational establishments and governments. Copyright applications will be sent on making a request to the Webmaster. Use on personal computers at work or home is permitted, provided no copy/copies made or distributed. Please refer friends direct to the website. Thank you!
ALL photos are copyright http://www.transportcafe.co.uk ,, but,, free to use on personal or workplace computer as desktop wallpaper
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-- HJ Calver en route south bound on the M6. Perhaps you know the driver?
-- Calgow Transport with JOLLY on the front of the Cab.
-- Alford Traffic Services Lincolnshire snapped as he took a required break.
-- Cobley Transport Lutterworth on a break.
-- Bergen Mellors Road Trafford Park Manchester makes this page.
-- Benton Transport Boston Immingham I think these chaps were on an overnight.
-- Eddie Stobart_ & Bibby Route One plus many more with their backs to me,, are you in there.
-- Sainsburys Transport smart and clean before that rainy mucky day
-- Le Jones Ruthin bringing in the food from Welsh Wales.
-- Gregory and Malcolm seen here with others on the M6 in rush hour, brakes are everywhere on this streatch
-- R Whittaker & Sons heading north on the m6
