For under a Tenner, Fiona is back in Business

[Horus]

I have a small portable car Satvav that I have owned for a few years now, it is a Garmin Nuvi. Then device is very compact and easily fits in just about any vehicle which has always made it popular with my kids who often ask dad for a loan of said item, especially at holiday times. It has a lovely English ladies voice, very refined and none irritating, I call her ‘Fiona’. Although I know my way around most places in the UK it is still nice to have her seductive voice telling me to “Keep Right, Keep Right” even though it is usually no more than a long right hand curve on an otherwise straight road. She is also very patient and never gets annoyed, often advising me to “Make a U turn as soon as possible” when I have ignored her advice because I know better. When I refuse to make the said U turn she never gets irritated at my cavalier attitude to her directions and just announces in a kind and understanding voice (like a mother talking to a wayward child) “Recalculating, Recalculating” and then continues to give me further directions.

The main reason I like it is for the speed camera warnings for fixed and the potential location of mobile units, a nice loud ‘bonging’ noise continues to sound whenever I ignore her advice to reduce my speed to that she is advising me is legal at the time. I usually mount mine quite high up on the screen alongside the rear view mirror and in this position it is a doddle to navigate unknown city centres without taking your eyes off the road.

So why am I telling you all this? Well I was just dusting Fiona off ready for the upcoming Summer holidays when I noticed that after fully charging it on my PC (it does have in car power and charging) the fully charged symbol dropped to drained after a few minutes when unplugged from the supply. That in itself is not a big problem as it will work perfectly well if plugged into the cars electrical system, but if you switch the engine off then it powers down. It was not that expensive when I bought it at around £100 and upon checking I was surprised that it was about 8 years old, so it really did not owe me anything. Anyway on the principle that “Google is your friend” I did a quick search and up pops a replacement battery on my favourite site ‘Amazon’ for just over £5 including free delivery. Another web link led me to a superb YouTube video showing the whole proceedure and advising me to buy the small kit of various screw drivers and plastic levering tool which I did for another £2.50.

Both arrived today and this evening I followed the video and opened up the unit, great when you know where all the hidden screws are located and the correct procedure for splitting the unit in half and of course changing the battery itself. Everything went very well even with my sausage fingers and thankfully the screwdriver set as there were also mini ‘Torx’ screws as well as tiny cross heads to remove. The splitter tool did the job with no damage to the case and it was all done and dusted in about 10 minutes flat. So it is now getting its 2 hour advisory charge before using it, although I have switched it on to test the battery and so far it all seems to work OK. So very soon for a cost of less than a tenner I will be once again listening to Fiona’s dulcet tones as I wend my merry way along the highways and byways of this fair land while ignoring her instructions to “In 200 yards, Turn Left” because I always know better.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Your Fiona sounds lovely and not too often you can get a lady with dulcet tones for a tenner!

I have one and wanted to have a mans voice but mine comes with 2 female voices. Haven't named her yet and she is actually collecting dust in the glove box. I should probably get her out, now that you've reminded me H, charge 'er up and then see if there are any updates that need to be installed.

[Kiya]

All good for under a tenner or so

Roy used to have one like a radio with built in dvd etc etc but since took it out, he uses only now his mobile plugged into the car, it seems to do the same job

[Grandad]

I got a new Garmin afew months ago H so I probably also listen to your Fiona

Lovely lady and a very clear voice What i really like about this one is the very precise instructions. If you are on a busy unfamiliar road with some complex junctions she tells you exactly where to be in the road and which lane to take. And with several annual updates you never get lost......famous last words

I previously had a Sony that was also very good and powered by Naviteq but they stopped upgrading, hence the new one. Another examle of modern science

[Horus]

@LLL, yes get that satnav out and charged up otherwise the battery may give up on you when you need to use it.

@Kiya, these young uns eh? can't use a normal satnav like the rest of us, everything has to be done with a mobile but seriously those phone ones are very good nowadays.

Grandad, regarding the updates, do you not have to pay for those after the initial update? That is my only whinge regarding mine and that is the map update as it is really expensive compared to the purchase price, it is not much less than £50 for a single update and about £75 for a lifetime one, which I reckon is expensive when you consider you can get a new one for under £100. I have in the past just updated just the speed camera file at a cost of about £20 which is not so bad, but £50 for the maps is a rip off.

[Grandad]

H, as the Sony had effectively become obsolete, I bought a mid range Garmin nuvi 2597 for £120 last September. This covers all Europe, even Iceland , and comes with lifetime free map updates.
It doesn't have all the sophistication of the top expensive models but has excellent driver guidance which is all I need. It does however have the bleep warnings if you are entering a camera trap or unusual speed restrictions like 50 which would normally be a 60 zone.

[Horus]

Grandad, just had a look at your satnav and it is very much like my own but yours is wider. It can still be purchased for a similar price on Amazon and that includes lifetime maps and traffic alerts, so that is great value. I also like the wider screen giving you an image like visual alongside of the route indicator, very useful
It does make you wonder why they (Garmin) would want to rip you off around £75 for a similar lifetime map update for an older model? it does not make any real sense, maybe they just want you to buy new all the time
One thing that did seem to be in doubt (even by those owning that model) was the "speed camera warnings" many were saying that 'Traffic Alerts' was not the same and was not included in the free updates and that it cost about £15 extra per year for those. Maybe you can tell me the answer to that, but even if they are an extra, the £15 is well worth it for that feature alone. Overall I think your model looks great with or without free speed camera warnings and if my present Fiona were to pack in I would be looking for something similar myself.

By the way my new battery replacement seems to be holding up OK

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm charging mine ....... I know I'll probably need to update the maps on it as it has been awhile since I used it.

[Grandad]

I think you are correct H in that you have to pay for things like speed traps etc. Doesn't bother me though, it is just the maps that I want kept up to date although, to be honest, road layouts don't change that rapidly. Even my old Sony that had not been updated for 7 years still always got me to my destinstion. The main problem was with new'ish postcodes that it didn't recognise.

I do really like the sat nav though and as long as it recognises my destination it gets me there within a few metres.

[Horus]

Grandad I agree with you about the maps, there is astretch down South that had a new carriage way put in some time back (it may have been the Newbury bit) and although my maps were out of date at the time the only difference it made was that Fiona kept telling me to "take the 3rd exit off roundabout etc." when it was obvious that there was no roundabout anymore, so it was not a problem. Maybe it could be a problem if say a town center had a new one way system put in place, but to be honest you would probably spot it soon enough anyway. As to the speed camera warnings, my take on that is for £20 or so it is well worth it to avoid a fine as it probably represents a third of the fine you would get if you got 'Flashed' They are so bloody sneaky with these cameras that someone not familiar with an area, especially going on holiday or the like is easy prey, you are usually too engrossed on the road and where you are going and can easily slip up and go a tad over the limit in an unfamiliar area.