bazza_g Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 I had been looking for an in car navigation system for the VXT for a while and about 6 weeks ago ordered Route 66 : Mobile Europe 2005 I'd looked at the offerings from NavMan, Tom Tom and Mio - ranging from £350 to nearly £800. Trying to decide which to go for wasn't easy but I went for the Route66 option because : - I'm only going to need to use it two or three times a month - I didn't want another box to have to carry around after taking it out of the car (joining my headunit and Snooper) The whole map system comes on a RS-MMC card that fits straight into any Series60 Symbian mobile - a Nokia 7610 in my case. Using it - I put some velcro sticky to the bottom of the bluetooth GPS unit and attached it to the dashboard. Switch it on. Put the phone in the holder and open the Route66 application - it finds the bluetooth GPS and where you are pops up on the screen - all good so far Enter a postcode, road name or town and it takes a few seconds to calculate the route and then you're off - full step by step instructions with a 3D 'birds eye' view of the road you're on and whats coming up ahead. I was really impressed as I was expecting it to be a bit iffy for £270 (street level europe). It does the full point of interest thing - when driving select petrol stations and it shows the nearest ones, even what type they are (Shell, BP, Total etc) and you detour to get petrol ! Having used it to get around the UK I took it with me to France to see if it could get me from the airport to my office which it did with no problems at all ! The voice instructions even come through the Bluetooth headset if its connected at the same time - very helpful in a car like the VXT at motorway speeds ! The only critisism I have is that the RS-MMC card supplied is only 256mb so I can't have the UK/Ireland & France maps on at the same time - I have to use my laptop to install the other map I need - I think I'm investing shortly in a larger memory card To conclude - I think its brilliant - a great package well designed and thought out - does everything I need it to navigation wise, half the cost of a stand alone unit and most importantly I don't end up with another box to carry around. I usually leave the bluetooth GPS unit stuck on the dash - only removing it if I'm leaving the car unattended with the roof off. Any questions - give me a shout Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dq1 Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 I'm wondering if it will be worth waiting for tomtom mobile 5 to come out (the upgrade is available now) or to go with ROute 66? Following your review though bazza it looks like Route66 does everything I need it to do so I think you've persuaded me!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 What happens if you get an incoming call whilst using the nav? Does the phone interupt the nav ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazza_g Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 [ QUOTE ] What happens if you get an incoming call whilst using the nav? Does the phone interupt the nav ? [/ QUOTE ] Its quite funny because the navigation continues and the person at the other end of the phone can hear the instructions as they come through your bluetooth headset If you use any phone features like check a text message the audio for the nav also continues because the Series60 Symbian OS sort of multitasks so when you're done you hold the menu key which displays all open applications and go back to Route66 to get the map display Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdiesel Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Thanks for that. I have an XDAii, which I use as my phone in the car with a bluetooth headset. Ive been thinking of getting some nav software for it, but was unsure how it would cope with nav and phone tasks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidhodgkinson Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 A bit of a daft question, but can it be loaded with a speed camera map? Good review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazza_g Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 [ QUOTE ] A bit of a daft question, but can it be loaded with a speed camera map? Good review [/ QUOTE ] Cheers - unfortunately not, so I still have to keep the Snooper S4 with me One cool thing I forgot to mention is that during a navigation it will connect to a traffic information service to get updates on accidents/jams etc and route you around the problems !! A few times I've been going around the M25 and I've heard "recalculating your route due to traffic information" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomk Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 tomtom mobile can still use the speed cameras i think its brilliant kit ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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