Which SatNav for Russia etc?

[Bulletguy]

Which is the best SatNav to use for countries such as Russia, Belarus and Ukraine?

I have a TT GO750 but know it will not recognise co-ords. Earlier this year i was in Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. I had loads of co-ords for various places in each country but TT won't recognise as it's not been mapped.

Next year i'm planning on going into Russia and Belarus but need a SatNav capable of recognising co-ordinates.

 

[canderson]

Ouch. You just happened to pick one of the models that does not natively support lat/long destinations. I don't think TomTom will ever make that mistake again -- they got an earful for a while. All current models support coordinate entry.

As for mapping .. nobody seems to be covering all of your areas of interest very conveniently, though Garmin (at a much higher cost) covers more:

TomTom Europe map

Russia, Ukraine = largely covered but incomplete
Zilch for Albania, Serbia and Montenegro as far as I know.


Garmin's City Navigator Europe map

Serbia = full coverage
Ukraine, Montenegro = roads and major urban areas, but not smaller towns
Belarus, Albania = major roads only
Russia = not in European map, separate $120 map

 

[Bulletguy]

Yes the 750 has it's limitations and i found it's inability to 'read' the co-ords i had extremely frustrating, though i was under the impression it was due to TT not mapping these areas? (See your postings when i first queried this back in July/August). If there is a better TT which will meet my requirements then i would buy that over the Garmin as i'm more familiar with the operation of TT. I drove most of Serbia and Montenegro using 'hard copy' directions off Google Maps with my TT picking up major roadways only. Not much fun as a solo traveller!

If i have to go the Garmin route.....which model do you or any other owners recommend?

 

[canderson]

There were just a few models where TomTom neglected to support latitude/longitude destination input, and that was a bit of a pain. However, if there is no active map for the area, the device will respond with "No route possible" even if it supports coordinate entry.

If you go the Garmin route with the added Russian map cost to cover your area as best possible, just be certain that you get one that either has the requisite memory already, or allows for a uSD card to add memory to the unit.

Not knowing what other features are important to you (for example, do you need traffic data while you're in the UK???), we're down to screen size. Give us an idea of what features you need other than European mapping.

 

[Bulletguy]

I don't mind if it needs a card of whatever size to operate. Screen size and clarity of display is important though as i wear reading glasses and am on the verge of having to wear glasses for driving. Also a decent level of volume for voice commands (some SatNavs sound very poor).....even my TT volume level is set around 90% when on the road.

It's sole use will be for outside of UK so not bother about traffic data. Must to be able to support decent Eastern Europe mapping and co-ords (TT is poor and in countries such as Russia....non-existent).

 

[canderson]

It's not a matter of whether it 'needs' a card -- it will be a matter of whether the maps you need will fit into internal memory, and if not, whether the device even HAS a card slot! Some do not. So beware there.
If you're wearing glasses, the 3.5" units probably aren't for you. I'm in the same boat, and would recommend the 5" units to you for better visibility.
I don't know how the recent crop of Garmins sound on the road.

Problem: Garmin is very proud of many of their 5" units, but from your list, it sounds like you really would benefit from maps that TomTom isn't offering yet.
Problem: As noted, Garmin doesn't include Russia in Europe the way TomTom does, so you'll be out additional money for that map.

One you might consider is the Garmin 54LM. Very reasonably priced for a 5". Not much for bells and whistles, but does come with the free map subscription.

 

[mvl]

I believe all Tomtom models now support coordinates, and they added the missing feature to any left-out models via software update.

Go update to the latest application in Tomtom HOME. Should be 9.510. Then do navigate to -> latitude/longitude.

The "Europe" map for the 750 covers 60% of Russia and "connecting roads" (eg: only major highways) in Belarus.

 

[Bulletguy]

It's not a matter of whether it 'needs' a card -- it will be a matter of whether the maps you need will fit into internal memory, and if not, whether the device even HAS a card slot! Some do not. So beware there.
If you're wearing glasses, the 3.5" units probably aren't for you. I'm in the same boat, and would recommend the 5" units to you for better visibility.
I don't know how the recent crop of Garmins sound on the road.

Problem: Garmin is very proud of many of their 5" units, but from your list, it sounds like you really would benefit from maps that TomTom isn't offering yet.
Problem: As noted, Garmin doesn't include Russia in Europe the way TomTom does, so you'll be out additional money for that map.

One you might consider is the Garmin 54LM. Very reasonably priced for a 5". Not much for bells and whistles, but does come with the free map subscription.

My 750 needs an SD card to operate. All mapping was downloaded (free as it was bought new) off TT website. I did think it was a bit silly not to include a card with a new set......a bit like we used to have to go and buy a damn plug if we bought a new television here in UK (now thankfully long since made illegal for any electrical item sold). 5" screen would be what i'd go for. Hate to admit it but the eyesight just isn't what it used to be, pretty much the same with my hearing. Getting old i suppose!

 

[Bulletguy]

I believe all Tomtom models now support coordinates, and they added the missing feature to any left-out models via software update.

Go update to the latest application in Tomtom HOME. Should be 9.510. Then do navigate to -> latitude/longitude.

The "Europe" map for the 750 covers 60% of Russia and "connecting roads" (eg: only major highways) in Belarus.

I downloaded updates earlier this year before going off to Albania etc, but it wouldn't allow input of co-ords. Came up as Canderson described, "No route possible". Best i could get was major place names such as Tirana. The same in Serbia too.

 

[canderson]

OK - need to clarify something. We have a little disconnect about "won't allow input of co-ords." There were SOME units, and I believe this included the 750 at its original release code level, that had NO provision for entering coordinates for a destination at all. No menu item for it! That's not the same as trying to enter coordinates too far from any known road, which produces the "No route possible" on ALL TomTom units. The problem you were experiencing in your post above is that there was none or almost no map data available in either Albania or Serbia, and the TomTom refuses to route to somewhere that it doesn't 'know' about. I forget the exact distance, but if you attempt to navigate to coordinates more than 1/4 mile or so away from any known road, that's what occurs.

 

[Bulletguy]

OK - need to clarify something. We have a little disconnect about "won't allow input of co-ords." There were SOME units, and I believe this included the 750 at its original release code level, that had NO provision for entering coordinates for a destination at all. No menu item for it! That's not the same as trying to enter coordinates too far from any known road, which produces the "No route possible" on ALL TomTom units. The problem you were experiencing in your post above is that there was none or almost no map data available in either Albania or Serbia, and the TomTom refuses to route to somewhere that it doesn't 'know' about. I forget the exact distance, but if you attempt to navigate to coordinates more than 1/4 mile or so away from any known road, that's what occurs.

My 750 'problem' is as you previously said on the other thread, TT simply have not mapped the countries i was travelling in (quite why is beyond me as Serbia etc has long been established as a civilised country since the troubles of the FYR and Bosnia/Serb days are now history).

But my 750 will allow me to input, and recognise co-ords of a particular spot, let's use a Campsite for example, in Slovenia.......and i can do that from here at home over 1000 miles away and it will find the location plus of course give me a route. But try the same thing in Slovenia with a co-ord in Serbia, just one hundred miles from the border and it won't recognise it....."no route possible". Even in Serbia i had co-ordinates for a site less than 50 miles away but it came up as "no route possible". I could put them in......but as TT haven't mapped that country my SatNav doesn't have a clue where it is!

Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Ukraine, Russia etc.....all are in the 750 menu and it 'recognises' that (for example) St Petersburg exists, but say i had a co-ordinate for a particular place outside St Petersburg.....it wouldn't 'know' where it was.

Something else i noticed with my 750 whilst driving in Serbia, it picked up places such as Novi Sad or Belgrade and as long i remained on major roads only, indicated the route direction......but there were no voice commands.

 

[canderson]

Again, if there are no roads known to the unit near the site selected with coordinates, it will always provide a "No route possible" message. This happens to me when I'm driving forest service roads in the mountains of Colorado where TomTom has not included them in their mapping (though to be fair, most of them ARE mapped, and we're talking roads where 'goat track' be a generous description.). In some parts of eastern Europe, only major roads are included in the TomTom maps, and those are largely only there to assure you can route through and past those countries to areas where real mapping begins again.