Satnav options

[darren77]

Hi Just picked up a second hand SLK 320 and I'm looking to retro fit some satnav syetm? am i wasting my time at a merc dealer or should i consider some after market options like smartnav / roadpilot or one i like the look of tom tom go - www.lordpercy.com/tom_tom_go.htm

Thoughts?

Thanks

daz

 

[Arnie]

Hello,

Your car is compatible with the MB Audi0-30 APS and the similar Becker versions. Check this thread:

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=6876


I don't know about Tom-Tom, however, the Navman 630i that I tried was OK, but what they don't mention is that you need to buy an awful lot of memory cards to fit the maps in.

As far as the portables go, the Navman 630 is quite good, with a reasonably fast update response and excellent satellite reception. It also manages reasonably well without the advantage of Gyro and speed signal that the fitted systems have. However, the voice commands are very poor compared to the Beckers or APS. (I bought one for my dad and had a chance to test it.). Don't be tempted to get the old now-discounted Garmin Streetpilot-III. As nicely packaged as they are, these are way too slow, with an oudated processor and expensive proprietary memory cards. The Garmin 26xx series is quite nice, but the Navman has a better screen, although if you find one with an internal 2GB HD, this will save you a lot of messing around with fiddly memory cards to load the maps.

The other point to note with the portables is that the map-data takes up a lot of memory space and, for example, you need about 350MB to get the French maps loaded onto the memory card, but the 256MB cards are the maximum it will take reliably.

Therefore, although you get all the EURO maps included in the package, the 128MB card included is not big enough for anything. So, you need to buy several 256MB SD or MM cards at £37 each (cheapest price). Also, the more map areas you load, the slower it gets and if you travel abroad, needing two or three countries, the navigation routing becomes discontinuous as you have to change map cards and the system does not permit navigation without the entire route map data loaded. (On the Becker/APS systems, 10 or more countries are on each disc.)

Look at the German Ebay. Most sellers will agree to post to the UK and you should be able to pick-up a good Audio-30 APS (4716) kit for less than £400.

Otherwise, new-in-box Navmans and Garmins come up on UK ebay for around £500.

 

[gpilko]

Hi Darren

I've also got an SLK and I'm looking to fit a Satnav system. I've looked at the various options and decided to go for the Tom Tom 3 because I already had the PDA and I like the idea of being able to move the SatNav between cars.

Full UK Map should fit on a 128MB Card, a 256MB Compact Flash card is available from www.7dayshop.com for £18. I'm still waiting for the hardware to arrive (GPS Card) but the reviews for Tom Tom have been excellent.

If you look on Ebay, there are several different versions of the Tom Tom on there.

Hope this helps

Guy.

 

[darren77]

Thanks for the advice, i found someone at work running tom tom 3 and managed to borrow his bluetooth setup overnight very impressed, but decided to take the plunge and have ordered a tom tom go unit purely to avoid power cables for the PDA and the mess they create.

Ordered from www.lordpercy.com emailed them and asked a few question about POI's and using the speed camera database, they responded same day and unit should be with me next week, i'll let you know how i get on.

Thanks for the advice

Daz