Please recommend a reliable SatNav

My wife and I own a two berth Nuevo EK (2010 bought new). Our Snooper S6465 Ventura Caravan Club Edition SatNav bought in February 2013 has been returned to the supplier with two significant faults. In preparation that I may need to purchase a new satnav suitable for motorhomes, can anyone recommend a replacement? I am looking for a seven inch screen with an EASY update system. This was the problem with our first model and I used to dread updating the software etc.
I have looked on the internet and have been confronted with a whole list of possibilities. The one that has caught my eye is the Avtex Tourer One Caravan and Motorhome Club Edition Sat Nav at £349.00. Any comments and recommendations will be gratefully received.

I have just bought one link below well pleased even got a camera to record in front of you.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aguri-Motorhome-Caravan-RV520-DVR-satellite-navigation-system-and-dash-cam-/192208164544?hash=item2cc07fd6c0:g:yLIAAOSwjDZYbQuV

What went wrong with the snooper? I had to fiddle the power supply on mine but it does have wobble now and again.

The Avtex Tourer satnav is based on a 7" Garmin.  My son purchased one a week ago and his wife says he still hasn't stopped playing with it !   Their verdict is "brilliant".  The underlying Garmin is clear and very easy to use. The C&MH additions are extensive and useful. They could not have included anything more .... quote.
Keith

chrisk wrote:I have just bought one link below well pleased even got a camera to record in front of you.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aguri-Motorhome-Caravan-RV520-DVR-satellite-navigation-system-and-dash-cam-/192208164544?hash=item2cc07fd6c0:g:yLIAAOSwjDZYbQuV

I will add this to my list of possibilities. Thank you for responding so quickly

Toffee wrote:What went wrong with the snooper? I had to fiddle the power supply on mine but it does have wobble now and again.

The power button failed to work after about a year. I was going to send it back but instead found a way of powering it up from the mains at home and in the motorhome or using the leisure battery.
My main problem has been with updating the software, map data and the unit itself. I have never found the instructions clear and in fact when I was talking with a member of the Technical Support team, they agreed with me that the instructions could be better. 
In my opinion, any technical instructions/booklet should be tested on 'Joe Public' first before they are printed and released. So often these sheets, manuals are put together by an expert in their field - they know what they are doing, but show little empathy for the non-technical people like me.

KMRTOPAZ wrote:The Avtex Tourer satnav is based on a 7" Garmin.  My son purchased one a week ago and his wife says he still hasn't stopped playing with it !   Their verdict is "brilliant".  The underlying Garmin is clear and very easy to use. The C&MH additions are extensive and useful. They could not have included anything more .... quote.
Keith

Thank you for your response and news about the Avtex model. If my old sat nav is beyond repair I will certainly have a look at this model.

Just to add my thoughts. When my Sat Nav was stolen out of the van I needed a replacement fairly promtly. Amazon had the latest Garmin Nuvi cheaper than any were else. Not a motorhome version but a vast update to our old one. Clear screen and very easy to use and update. It has been used abroad and seems to cope with different countries ok. We did think of the 7" but I can manage with a smaller screen fitted to the dash on our Transit.

Just a thought about Motorhome versions of satnavs.  The information they use is from local authority restrictions on height, weight and width, this will not stop you being routed down very narrow roads that are unclassified.  If you've driven through the countryside it's not uncommon to encounter very big tractors, cattle trucks, oil and milk tankers and feed lorries.  In Spain we have been routed down dry river beds, pedestrian streets and one time we did a 9 point turn in a small square to reach a site that was easilly accessible from the main road behind the houses we were looking at - all this with a dedicated motorhome satnag.  IMO it's not worth the extra spend as most reastricted roads are signposted at a junction so an alternative road can be used.  My gripe is that they always 'cut the corner' chosing any road that will save 1 minute rather than proceed to a major junction to make a turn.  Often you don't know what these short cuts are like until you're driving over speed calming measures and dodging black bins and by then it's too late to turn around, if you can find somewhere.  Now, the Mk1 satnav has a flat map on her lap and advises not to turn but stay on the main road most times.
Good luck with your choice.
Rich..

RML wrote:Just a thought about Motorhome versions of satnavs.  The information they use is from local authority restrictions on height, weight and width, this will not stop you being routed down very narrow roads that are unclassified.  If you've driven through the countryside it's not uncommon to encounter very big tractors, cattle trucks, oil and milk tankers and feed lorries.  In Spain we have been routed down dry river beds, pedestrian streets and one time we did a 9 point turn in a small square to reach a site that was easilly accessible from the main road behind the houses we were looking at - all this with a dedicated motorhome satnag.  IMO it's not worth the extra spend as most reastricted roads are signposted at a junction so an alternative road can be used.  My gripe is that they always 'cut the corner' chosing any road that will save 1 minute rather than proceed to a major junction to make a turn.  Often you don't know what these short cuts are like until you're driving over speed calming measures and dodging black bins and by then it's too late to turn around, if you can find somewhere.  Now, the Mk1 satnav has a flat map on her lap and advises not to turn but stay on the main road most times.
Good luck with your choice.
Rich..

I totally agree with you, stick to the ordinary ones and keep a map handy as well as your eyes open to spot the road ahead.

Never had a problem with my Garmin all over France.

RML wrote:Just a thought about Motorhome versions of satnavs.  The information they use is from local authority restrictions on height, weight and width, this will not stop you being routed down very narrow roads that are unclassified.  If you've driven through the countryside it's not uncommon to encounter very big tractors, cattle trucks, oil and milk tankers and feed lorries.  In Spain we have been routed down dry river beds, pedestrian streets and one time we did a 9 point turn in a small square to reach a site that was easilly accessible from the main road behind the houses we were looking at - all this with a dedicated motorhome satnag.  IMO it's not worth the extra spend as most reastricted roads are signposted at a junction so an alternative road can be used.  My gripe is that they always 'cut the corner' chosing any road that will save 1 minute rather than proceed to a major junction to make a turn.  Often you don't know what these short cuts are like until you're driving over speed calming measures and dodging black bins and by then it's too late to turn around, if you can find somewhere.  Now, the Mk1 satnav has a flat map on her lap and advises not to turn but stay on the main road most times.
Good luck with your choice.
Rich..

Thanks for you input Rich.

RML wrote:Just a thought about Motorhome versions of satnavs.  The information they use is from local authority restrictions on height, weight and width, this will not stop you being routed down very narrow roads that are unclassified.  If you've driven through the countryside it's not uncommon to encounter very big tractors, cattle trucks, oil and milk tankers and feed lorries.  In Spain we have been routed down dry river beds, pedestrian streets and one time we did a 9 point turn in a small square to reach a site that was easilly accessible from the main road behind the houses we were looking at - all this with a dedicated motorhome satnag.  IMO it's not worth the extra spend as most reastricted roads are signposted at a junction so an alternative road can be used.  My gripe is that they always 'cut the corner' chosing any road that will save 1 minute rather than proceed to a major junction to make a turn.  Often you don't know what these short cuts are like until you're driving over speed calming measures and dodging black bins and by then it's too late to turn around, if you can find somewhere.  Now, the Mk1 satnav has a flat map on her lap and advises not to turn but stay on the main road most times.
Good luck with your choice.
Rich..

Thanks for YOUR input Rich. (Apologies for the typo).

We had a Snooper pre CC edition which many consider better than the CC version.  The mapping was ok but the hardware was not.  We are fortunately only around 1/2hr from Performance Products (the makers) and it went back 3 times. The. Last time the keyboard went iffy I decided to call it a day
There is another manufacturer about 5mile from PP so I decided to give them Falcon a try.   It's ok but nothing special
When we changed the car, the new one did not have an inbuilt one so I needed a smaller one and chose a Garmin on the grounds of their excellent customer service.  This is a lot quicker to program and   Easier to use, lifetime updates, so have started to use it in the van.
So,, there is a falcon going for anyone interested, works ok am open to offers

I'm a big fan of Garmin, and in particular their free mapping program, Mapsource, or if you prefer, Basecamp.
There both a bit of a s*d to get the hang of, but well worth learning.
Recently returned from three weeks in France, and got into the routine of plotting the next route on a Michelin (paper) map, they give you the width of the roads... Recreating the route in Mapsource, then simply download it to my Zumo 660.
No mishaps at all, no motorways or toll roads used, had a great time on largely empty roads.
Just to add, no data connection required either.

We've got a TomTom camper satnav and it's been very good. I don't think it's ever taken us down unsuitable roads. 

We had a Gatmin built into our last car and I hated it.

Nora

RML talks a lot of sense. The dedicated "Large Vehicle" satnavs can only be as good as the information contained in their mapping databases, and none of them is anywhere near perfect!

Just got back from the South of France and our satnav was virtually faultless. It wasn't too accurate on showing the speed limits, but it looked as if there have been a lot of fairly recent changes. That's not a primary function of a satnav anyway, so of little consequence.

It costs us about £11 per year, with free map updates, Live Traffic etc., and works very well, simultaneously on an old mobile phone and Mrs Gromit's tablet. She likes to see "where we are on the map" and if we hit a Route Barree she zooms out and navigates us past it.

One very useful feature comes with the free TomTom support program for the PC, "My Drive". It's a bit slow and cranky, but if you add or remove a "Favourite" on any one of your gadgets, it goes to the TomTom Cloud and the changes are automatically added to all your other gadgets next time you log on. I think the App can be used on up to five at once.

I can only state our personal experience and preferences, but it suits us perfectly.

https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sat-nav/sat-nav-app/go-mobile/

Don't waste unnecessary money on SatNav...we have travelled all over europe for the last 7 years and have always used a £99 TomTom...it has NEVER let us down!
Alternatively, Google maps is superb as too is Navmil (Free AP for Android or any Apple ipad or iphone).

Doesn't Google Maps require a data connection?

No: you don't require a data connection if you do this: When in a wifi zone (e.g. at home before you go) you can download to your phone the relevant map from Google Maps, and then, when needed, you can turn off data roaming but the GPS still works and, using the downloaded map, itwill direct you to your chosen destination as normal, complete with vocal instructions.

Very happy with our tom tom allows you to put in two way points and has a facility to check route road by road so you can avoid narrow lanes.  Always check road map and write out list of roads we will use

gef wrote:Very happy with our tom tom allows you to put in two way points and has a facility to check route road by road so you can avoid narrow lanes.  Always check road map and write out list of roads we will use

Many thanks to the members who have offered advice. There is much to think about. Once again - many thanks.

We use here maps made by nokia, free, it does traffic updates and you can install all the maps for offline use. It does like cutting corners on smaller roads though.