Are dedicated sat-navs the new dinosaurs / new betamax to be replaced by PDAs, Phones etc which give some Sat Nav functions for a few pounds or even free!
www.dailyfinance.co.uk/2010/07/27/falling-gps-sales-hurt-halfords/
AOL report is light journalistic investigation
My ideas for decline of Sat-nav Hardware sales are
1) Many buyers have already got a m/c - they do not upgrade maps if at all and unlikely to buy new hardware
2)Many past sales were presents for mum/dad, grandpa etc - usage is minimal even if they know where the m/c is
3) Free competition from Mobile Phone Cos
4) Unreasonable charges for map upgrades £50 - £400+
What are your ideas for the decline in sat nav hardware sales?
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Phone sat navs are nowhere near as good or suited to the task (small dim displays, low volume, ability to program or use) as proper car sat navs.
Upgrade maps? I havent upgraded a map ever, I just drive through or adapt to map changes.
The market is now saturated. How many does one driver need? One.
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I think they are obsolete to some extent. Dedicated satnav units are better if you are using them all the time but for sporadic use a mobile version is adequate.
The battery on my tomtom is now dead. It is only a couple of years old. It takes ages to find satellites. I wouldn't replace it as I have a reasonable satnav in the phone. I don't tend to look at the map while driving so voice instructions are the important thing. A new map is nearly the cost of it all again. Having out of date maps is annoying in areas you don't know as you can end up taking the wrong exit off a roundabout quite easily as some road has been added since the map. Also it can make travelling through cities with complicated one way systems a nightmare if the routes have changed and the satnav doesn't know...
Modern phones have excellent screens so it isn't an issue. Volume of directions is though but I'd assume you could either plug the phone into the car stereo or use a hands free doodad to hear better.
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I think you're right F, it's largely market saturation. My wife has Ovi maps on her Nokia phone and while I'd be happy to sit next to her and use it as a guide I would not want to be driving and trying to use it as my only guide.
Then again this is sales by Halfords. You can buy them in all sorts of unlikey places now - Smiths for instance, so I wonder what is happening to overall sales.
JH
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>>
>> Then again this is sales by Halfords. You can buy them in all sorts of
>> unlikey places now - Smiths for instance, so I wonder what is happening to overall
>> sales.
Coming to Poundland soon - maybe not but a disposable item @ £20 like some phones maybe not far off.
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Saw a satnav for £45 in ASDA this morning.
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It's always possible to buy cheap. But are they any good? A friend bought a cheap satnav and bemoans the fact that it doesn't know where it is until he's 30 minutes into his journey. With a reputable brand at around or just under £100 why risk buying tat that will fall apart?
I am now going to hide :-)
JH
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Only commenting, I use a Tomtom 720, more than adequate for my geriatric roaming. And it is up to date as of two days ago and will be updated on Thursday ready for the weekend roam.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 14:21
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I think the market is saturated too. I tried TomTom on my mobile and it worked fine but the display is too small especially where the phone cradle is in the car. I went back to using a PDA for a bit and then got a TomTom 720. The TT 720 does all I need with European mapping. I also still occasionally use the phone because I've always got it with me in the car.
I bought the TomTom 720 when it came out quite a few years ago (late 2007?) and I did upgrade maps earlier this year. It was half price and the only reason I did upgrade is the full European maps finally included quite a bit of Greece.
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I have had my TT 720 for a few years, the only thing I have had a problem with was the battery which would not hold a charge so I replaced it.
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Edit:- The battery, not the TT. :-)
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My well old TT runs down as it isn't used regularly. When its flat it can take up to half an hour charging before it finds sats.
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Have you updated the GPS quickfix data? It needs to be updated on a weekly basis for instant satellite lock.
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>>Many past sales were presents for mum/dad, grandpa etc.
I was bought one for Christmas by a daughter who's trying to drag me, kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century. It's a Myguide and cost about fifty quid off ebay. I subsequently found the company went bust and assume someone bought up the old stock and flogged it off cheap.
It's great for finding an address in a strange town, but I can't update its maps and it doesn't give you any idea of the overall route it's taking. It's tried to tell me to go through the centre of London when I've been a couple of miles from the M25!
It does give you 'true' speed. Useful for calibrating speedos.
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I've got an old TT700. It is still very good and the battery is apparently OK. Works anywhere in Europe which is occasionally handy. I've updated its maps a couple of times in the 5 or so years I've had it but don't bother to do it regularly. It has an occasional seizure but there is a re-set button which seems to work. Looks quite bulky now by comparison to the modern stuff but it does its job well. I've got it mounted on a semi-permanent bracket down low next to the gear lever so it's not constantly in my line of sight and I find that I've learned to trust "Jane's" verbal instructions. ( Apparently its voice is called Jane ). I'd not rush to buy a replacement until she suffers something terminal.
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b t, ah the good old twentieth century. I'm just about getting the hang of the twenty-first, though wife tells me off for saying two thousand and ten. Apparently I should say twenty ten.
JH
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Are dedicated sat-navs the new dinosaurs?
As one of the old dinosaurs, who never had any interest in buying one of the things, I'd be amused if they were. I suspect that, as has been said, the market has rapidly reached saturation point - a bit like mobile phones. You only need one, they are cheap, so it doesn't take long before everyone who wants one has got one.
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>>As one of the old dinosaurs, who never had any interest in buying one of the things<<
ditto, haven't got a mobile phone either tehe! got a colour telly though :-)
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I still have my TomTom but updationg is expensive. I know I can flash it with different firmware as its just Linux but then it is no longer a TomTom.
I mostly use my phone now when I am in strange places but if I am driving and need help I always use my tomtom.
I think the biggest reason for a drop in sales is the vast majority only use their satnavs when going to strange places and it is only used a few times a year. We need much newer technology in sat navs such as lane guidance standard on sub £100 sat navs, that will encourage people to upgrade their old models.
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Am I the only one around still using a road atlas?
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...Am I the only one around still using a road atlas?...
No.
Halfords' sat nav sales would drop to zero if they relied on me.
I do buy new maps on a fairly regular basis.
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>>I do buy new maps on a fairly regular basis.
>>
I recently bought a new West London O/S map and to my surprise it still showed the public road crossing the aircraft taxi way at hatton Cross / Heathrow. This road has been shut for years.
I called O/S and theyt said they would sendt someone to take a look :-(
So IMO Sat Nav probably have a considerable edge for new locations/roads .
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...So IMO Sat Nav probably have a considerable edge for new locations/roads ...
Suppose it depends where the sat nav gets its data and mapping from.
There are plenty of stories of people blindly following sat nav instructions and ending up in lake, ditch, over a precipice or involved in some other motoring calamity.
I don't use the gadgets, so someone else will have to comment on the veracity of the info they provide.
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>> I don't use the gadgets, so someone else will have to comment on the veracity
>> of the info they provide.
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I treat mine as a talking, electric map. It can be inaccurate, and should be used with a large dose of common sense. I always carry a road atlas in the car when off my patch as a cross reference. I plan my routes and stops, cross check them with Google maps, and program them into the satnav before leaving home for a long journey so rarely need the backup atlas.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 19:55
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Crikey !
I just head in the general direction of where I'm supposed to be going while finishing my toast and swigging coffee from my rather careworn but once stylish battered stainless steel thermos, drag on on a fag and then bang a postcode into the TT when I'm somewhere near where I'm supposed to be while arguing with someone on the phone about when they might get around to paying their wretched bill....
Being retired must feel so organised !
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 20:00
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>> Crikey !
>> Being retired must feel so organised !
>>
>>
>> :-)
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Some military training must have registered, I was never a boy scout. :-)
It is only for 400 mile + journeys.
Being retired helps too.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 20:06
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Unless I am in a city I don't know it's main use is traffic info and arrival time estimates. It's difficult to get lost on a motorway or main road.
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>> Suppose it depends where the sat nav gets its data and mapping from.
Base data for all UK mapping for sat nav is Ordnance Survey. But the mapping companies then check this data etc. and supplement it.
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Nope, me too. And I buy them cheap from those cheap book shops too!
I have certain places that I look for to judge the level of detail. If they're not in I don't buy.
JH
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Sat Navs are most useful in unknown towns. Maps are not of much use in those cases (especially if there's no passenger in car to check map).
I do keep an atlas in car, but I use that more in general planning rather than navigation.
Sat Nav is a good invention.
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I'll go along with the weekly update even if only for the "Quick GPS Find" although I have speed cameras too. ON - was replacing the battery in your TT 720 a DIY job?
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>> I'll go along with the weekly update even if only for the "Quick GPS Find"
>> although I have speed cameras too. ON - was replacing the battery in your TT
>> 720 a DIY job?
>>
Well I managed it without killing my TT! I downloaded the instructions from a TT forum, sorry I can't remember which one. These included many pictures. It is fiddly rather than difficult. Just be very careful and patient when unsticking the old battery, the double sided tape is ferociously sticky.
I got the battery from here:-
www.batterymill.com/shop/SATNAVS/TOMTOM/40309
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 17:24
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My TT720 seems not to charge to 100% anymore but I plug it in the lighter socket anyway. Must remember to get a new windscreen mount before next May when I'll need it in Tuscany. Mine is covered in Velcro to attach it to the inside of the pop-up map compartment of the Mazda6 which has the other bit of Velcro.
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You should let your laptop / satnav / phone go flat regularly - then the battery will give good performance for very much longer (think years versus months). Most people don't do this so there's a great market in new batteries....
As to satnav sales, I suspect that the market is now saturated, as someone commented - with map upgrades costing nearly as much as a new device the rationale for upgrading maps seems flawed ?
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We still use an atlas. We had a few problems before SWMBO got her cataracts fixed but we're fine again now.
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I have a TT720. It's done, and continues to do a good job, in the Uk and Europe. I have bought a US map and its coming with me to the USA in October.
I still use maps, and google earth if required, to plan where to go, I put the destination in the sat nav, check the route is sensible, and it gets me there, no fuss no agro.
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"Sat Navs are most useful in unknown towns. Maps are not of much use in those cases (especially if there's no passenger in car to check map)."
If my maps and road atlas are not going to tell me the way, I print out a map from Google maps or some such - and might also take a look at Google Streetview to see what junctions and eventual destination look like. The rise of such things means that these days I rarely use street atlases or ask directions. But I've yet to encounter an occasion when I thought that sat-nav would be useful.
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Were I looking for a different backstreet in a strange town every day of the week, then I might consider buying a sat nav.
But in common with, I suspect, the majority of motorists, 99 per cent of my driving is along roads which I've been along before to places I already know.
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I've got a three year old Navman bought cheap from Morgans and with European mapping... we use it perhaps 4 or 5 times a year and it does the job fine... and we also have a decent road atlas for wherever we go as I still prefer to have checked out the route first...
Using 2006 maps on the satnav has amusing results when you find yourself driving across barren wildernesses from time to time when on new autobahns!
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They do make you lazy though. Nigh on 30 years ago I used to live and work in London. Not a native of the city I had to learn my way around it. While I'd not claim anything approaching a cabbies "knowledge" I guess I could have got to within a 1/4 mile of most significant locations without a map by the time I moved away.
Now though, I'm mildly unnerved in the metropolis without a Sat Nav.
Bit like calculators in that respect. You know the answer before it does but you can't help checking.
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Missed having a good old map to look at when in Belgium over last weekend with a few hours to spare.
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Shields are on full power Cap'n.
How can i admit gracefully after all my slagging off the spawn of the devil i've finally bought one.
Never needed one in all my years on the cars as i knew virtually all regular delivery points anyway, and anyone who drives a transporter relying on satnav is heading for disaster.
Thinking mitigation excuses here now i'm for rent to anyone...might get some justformen so i can requalify as rent boy...i sometimes get sent on several drops in unfamiliar areas, it's amazing just how big (and uselessly signed just as the old ones were) some of these warehousing estates are and no car dealerships on them.
I do the same as some others i don't want it to tell me how to get there, it's really for street and area location in strange towns.
Spent a fair bit though cos i bought a Garmin 1490 with a 5" screen those little screens are no good, and it's got traffic on it too which is just in time as the good old Trafficmaster signal will be shutting down soon.
One company i work for has fleet Navmans in their trucks, frustrating or what, will not accept full postcode, no touch screen so it takes about 5 or so minutes poncing about and then it lacks the ability to view the area you only get the option to go there...which means it can lead you round the back streets for no reason which it does, jolly handy with an artic.
At least using that Navman thing helped me to know what i did want.
Not surprised Halford's sales are down, they don't compete on price.
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Never owned a sat-nav, never felt the need to. Like gb they'd be a liability in my job if I relied on them, but for different reasons; the farm's postal address is often different to the best or easiest HGV access route, and sometimes in a different valley!
Did a bit of agency work a couple of years ago for a building supplies firm, thier truck was fitted with a sat-nav. Found it distracting and irritating, it put me off.
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>>>Never owned a sat-nav, never felt the need to.
Exactly my attitude until my new car came with an integrated one 7mths ago. Now completely hooked on them.... but... only as an aid and not an absolute authority.
I'd agree if you were going to obscure rural locations with odd postcodes there may be issues but for town, motorways and A/B roads I find it a great aid. Even to helping me know where the next corner was in some very thick fog on country lanes a few weeks back. Also a few days ago a great help on unfamiliar fast main roads at night to give an indication when some long straights were coming up for possible overtakes.
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>> I'd agree if you were going to obscure rural locations with odd postcodes there may
>> be issues but for town, motorways and A/B roads I find it a great aid.
>> Even to helping me know where the next corner was in some very thick fog
>> on country lanes a few weeks back. Also a few days ago a great help
>> on unfamiliar fast main roads at night to give an indication when some long straights
>> were coming up for possible overtakes.
>>
Thats part of the problem of people saying satnav is crap. They they can't plan beyond the end of their cars bonnet let alone a few hundred yards to a bend or a mile ahead to the next junction.
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Most corporate sat-navs are for tracking errant drivers... have a friend who works in HR who used the sat nav records to discover a regularly delayed driver was stopping at a certain address 3-4 times per week mid0shift for an hour.
It wasn't his home address either...
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An old fashioned Road Atlas for me I'm afraid.
I like to pick my own route - which will vary according to the time of day I'm travelling so as to avoid traffic congestion.
I've just (June) returned from a motoring holiday in Europe, out via France, Switzerland. Lochterberg Car-Train and Simplon Pass into Italy (Lake Orta) and back via Black Forest, Luxembourg and Belgium.
When we saw a sign for somewhere that looked interesting we detoured off for a quick butchers - the map was all we needed to keep track of where we were and where we needed to go next.
The SatNav wouldn't have added anything.
I find it really worrying that in the last few years a new generation of drivers have passed their tests and don't know where anywhere is - I recently heard about a young lad who was leaving Coventry (on the M6) - heading for Bristol , the battery went on the satnav and he was completely lost - didn't know he had to go on M42 , couldn't relate to the road signs , frantically phoning parents "where am I" etc
Get a map - a paper one.
Jacks
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Talking of young uns lost without the satnav, some of 'em arn't much better with one.
Young chap i know leaves work at Hitchin to travel to Northants, same journey every day for weeks, course he can't find his way along the same daily travelled road without the sat nav.
Punches in new course because he's stopping in one of the South Northants towns en route.
Rings my daughter to tell her he'll be late, he'd just crossed into the congestion zone......
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Daughter's boyfriend left Bedford for Silverstone. Headed towards Northampton and turned right. Wrong way up A43. Missed the event altogether.
No maps. No satnav. Three mates in the car!
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Being a sat nav user in my car and on my bike when touring, I would like to know the process, the paper map guys use when trying to navigate to somewhere unknown in a city.
Do you stop every so often to look at the map then slow down at every junction to read the street names. How about at night ?
I have a Tomtom 730 with Uk and European mapping and find it just brilliant. If I am touring and want to load up a few destinations such as hotels, I can use Google Earth and a free program called TYRE and send the exact co ordinates to the Tomtom and navigate there exactly.
Last year it took us into the center of Turin, at night, right to the front door of a Best Western Hotel and did the same for all the other destinations with no stress at all.
It also warns me of all those cash cameras and because I found some new ones, I have a free lifetime subscription to the Pocket GPS database.
Mine also works as a hands free system, blue toothing to my mobile phone.
Maps are good for looking at the relationship of places far apart but for serious, complicated navigation, there is no competition.
It,s akin to asking the pilot of an airliner using a half mill by day and the stars by night.
I reckon some of you "luddites" waste more on fuel getting lost, than the cost of a decent "Sat Nav"
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>> I've just (June) returned from a motoring holiday in Europe, out via France, Switzerland. Lochterberg
>> Car-Train and Simplon Pass into Italy (Lake Orta) and back via Black Forest, Luxembourg and
>> Belgium.
>> When we saw a sign for somewhere that looked interesting we detoured off for a
>> quick butchers - the map was all we needed to keep track of where we
>> were and where we needed to go next.
>> The SatNav wouldn't have added anything.
>>
>> Get a map - a paper one.
Thats all well and good if the rest of the family can mapread, Jacks... mine can't and when you are the only one who can, and the only driver, then things can get a little difficult! The Navman has been a boon over the past few years, no more arguments, we tend to get to where we want and even better we can find those Formula 1 hotels which seem to be hidden in out of the way places!
Remember that not everyone can mapread, especially the female family members!
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>> One company i work for has fleet Navmans in their trucks, frustrating or what, will
>> not accept full postcode, no touch screen
Mine is an old N40i... has full postcode and touch screen... sounds like they have 10yr old models, GB!
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>> Mine is an old N40i... has full postcode and touch screen... sounds like they have
>> 10yr old models, GB!
I haven't a clue what model they are H, bad enough to cross the make off my possibles list though, having to press direction buttons to send the cursor to letters then ok each one, then select numbers and same again...by the time i'd found the likely place i'd lost the will to live.
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>> ...by the time i'd found
>> the likely place i'd lost the will to live.
>>
Not surprised!
But I was by the make, it doesn't bear any resemblence to mine... which was bought simply 'cuase of its price... 3 years ago sub £90 with European mapping was pretty good!
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"You should let your laptop / satnav / phone go flat regularly - then the battery will give good performance for very much longer (think years versus months). Most people don't do this so there's a great market in new batteries...."
I think you have this exactly wrong IC - Lithium ion batteries have a longer life if they are never fully discharged and should be partially charged regularly.
Unlike most batteries the deteriorate from the day they are created whether they are used or not and have a useful life of 2 - 3 years.
www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
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I remember working on a project in the 90s with Liverpool schools. Finding them proved tricky despite forward planning - a lot of streets had no signs.
So approach would have been to consult the A-Z I had to plan a route only you'd be looking for a street sign to know when to turn. When it didn't exist you'd know you were close but you needed to work out exactly where you were. So you'd have to drive to find a street name (or names if you needed an intersection to find yourself on the map), check the A-Z and then work out the route then needed. Sometimes it took a few stops to get it right. Not helped by also having to drive and obey the law.
In the 80s a few friends and I went to a computer show in north London. On the way back the driver decided he'd like to try out the 'new' M25. What he didn't do was join in the right direction. A long time later he got back to the M4 for the drive home with us. We soon told him to come off and turn around but he wouldn't. Stubborn fool.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 23:34
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One car I may get next year to replace the Mazda6 is a Passat CC. It seems to come with some form of CD satnav as standard. Who knows what they will come with by then.
So another potential nail in the coffin for some sat navs will be cars finally coming with cheap(er) sat navs as standard.
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>> So another potential nail in the coffin for some sat navs will be cars finally
>> coming with cheap(er) sat navs as standard.
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only when the (er) comes close to a good standalone unit. Its still miles away, even the tomtom based ones in Renaults.
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>>>only when the (er) comes close to a good standalone unit. Its still miles away
True the integral unit in my new C5 is lacking in some areas compared with a stand alone but that is completely offset by the seamless physical and electronic integration into the car. It does everything needed as a massive aid to navigation/location... the things it lacks only affect those who wish to drive as if on a computer game.
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I have the satnav built in the Accord but only find it useful when I have to go somewhere I have never ever been before. I never forget a route when I have been there once .
I now only use it on the odd time I am going somewhere new. I put in the postcode of the destination and then ignore the satnav until I get to the general area of my destination. It irritates me that despite the satnav settings being programmed for the shortest rather than quickest route it still tries to send me up the motorway when I know the A road or back lane is quicker.
So when I ignore it and it recalculates it then tells me to do a U turn - usually both SWMBO and I end up shouting at it 'Oh shut up stupid woman'......
We will be using it this weekend on a trip to Dorset and Devon - we have booked into a hotel on Dartmoor where apparently their postcode in the Satnav can only get you within nearest 6 miles.....so I will have the atlas with me as well.
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...booked into a hotel on Dartmoor...
There's another nice big house on Dartmoor where people stay, albeit reluctantly:
www.dartmoor-prison.co.uk/
It's just on the edge of Princetown and is now also a tourist attraction with its own museum and visitor centre.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 09:53
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I've been reading this thread with interest; I like my satnav even though it's Tomtom Nav 5 on an old XDA. I can't update the maps or anything else because everything's just too old but it works well enough, even to get us across France and through Paris the last couple of years.
When Mrs H gets hold of her recent inheritance, she has promised me a flash new satnav. I might try a Garmin this time. Singlehandedly, I might reverse Halfords' flagging satnav sales ...
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>>>> It irritates me that despite the satnav settings being programmed for the shortest rather than quickest route it still tries to send me up the motorway when I know the A road or back lane is quicker.
This is true of all satnav and why human fuzzy logic needs to be the final decider.
Does the Accord have the facility to zoom in on the map with crosshairs to set a destination? My C5 does and I use this loads in the sort of location you mention for the Dartmoor hotel. Before the journey I print out a zoomed google map from the PC and walk out to the car then find that exact location on the satnav to input. Works really well.
Must just mention my system has traffic on it as well.... another big plus knowing many miles out if there is a problem on a major road.
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>> only when the (er) comes close to a good standalone unit. Its still miles away,
>> even the tomtom based ones in Renaults.
Agreed, one in the pick up works brilliantly, if you can spare 10 or 15 minutes to program the thing properly, got more menu's and buttons than you can shake a stick at.
The Garmin i now use for work even ham fisted me can punch in and be gone in around 30 seconds it's straighforward and user friendly.
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I see the next level of satnav is beginning to come to market. The new Mercedes system is integrated with the auto gearbox, so it can preselect the right gear for the road coming up apparently.
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>> The new
>> Mercedes system is integrated with the auto gearbox,
Oh goody can't wait till all cars have this, how did we manage before.
I like hearing things like this thanks CC, reinforces my long term maintenance regimes so i don't end up buying in to such rubbish, MB haven't sorted out their last generation of 7 speed boxes yet.
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It'll be wonderful when the auto box drops to second for a non existent roundabout replaced in the last map update you didn't buy because it was £500.
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In most Sat Navs (including the budget ones) you can tell it which route to follow using intermediate points.
I always tell me Sat Nav which route to follow if I find default route is not a good choice. All Sat Navs show you the entire route onset of each journey. So you can easily alter route if you like.
I do like them. It reduces stress level a lot.
>> Mercedes system is integrated with the auto gearbox,
Glad you told. I won't consider buying Mercedes in future :)
Last edited by: movilogo on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 10:36
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>> Glad you told. I won't consider buying Mercedes in future :)
Only top end models, option, not compulsory and I imagine it can be turned off.
Just reporting on an ad seen the other day is all.
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>> I see the next level of satnav is beginning to come to market. The new
>> Mercedes system is integrated with the auto gearbox, so it can preselect the right gear
>> for the road coming up apparently.
>>
Oh my God... on most of the MB's I have driven, sat nav position has been up to 20 metres out... so it may change down after the turn (if the car makes the turn!)... we really do not need carp like this!
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Perhaps they're being bought cheaper on t'internet rather than from Halfords.
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I think your right Halfords have been overcharging for a long time.
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Blaupunkt are bringing one out that has a forward facing camera on it. It shows you a live picture of the road ahead, with arrows telling you where to go. I have seen a prototype concept car ( a running one, not just a static display) where the entire windscreen is a HUD, and the direction guidance arrows appear on the screen actually overlayed on the road as you see it.
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That's the Blaupunkt Travelpilot 700. It was announced over a year ago but never came to market in the UK. It also has (had) the ability to recognize speed limits from road signs.
Rumour has it that it was withdrawn because it doesn't work in the dark...
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>> I think your right Halfords have been overcharging for a long time.
>>
Halfords are just a motoring themed supermarket, my local Tesco are cheaper for engine oil and car cleaning consumables. I haven't checked Tescos satnav prices but would expect them to be competitive.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 17:56
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Halford do not overcharge, in fact no-one overcharges,.
Overcharging is where the MRP is exceeded.
Halford will charge what their market segment will stand. Very few can match the buying power of Tesco (who in truth provide a limited range of such items) or the on-line only retailers, with all the lack of overheads that brings.
You are in effect paying for the ability to go to a shop, browse and handle the devices and get some advice. It dont come for nothing. If you dont like their prices, dont moan about it, just shop elsewhere.
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>> dont moan about it,
Where's the fun in that ?
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>> >> dont moan about it,
No one's moaning about their pricing, but the thread is about halfords not selling as many satnavs, one of the main reasons being they don't compete on price.
I checked halford's prices to see if they could come within a reasonable margin of Amazon's. not a hope, meanwhile Amazon and others are selling them by the truckload.
PS you should see Amazon's new warehouse at Peterborough, it's the size of a small village.
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I bought my TomTom 720 in Halfords. It was cheaper there than anywhere at the time (or at least the same). In store it was a lot more but you bought it online to collect in store. You even paid in store.
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>> PS you should see Amazon's new warehouse at Peterborough, it's the size of a small
>> village.
Seen it. Amazon is being clever these days tho, much stuff is not shipped from Amazon but from suppliers warehouses. That really kicks the costs down.
>I checked halford's prices to see if they could come within a reasonable margin of >Amazon's. not a hope, meanwhile Amazon and others are selling them by the truckload
As I said, few retail outlets can compete with the online sellers due to lower overheads. The real reason Halfords sell less is because in relative terms a sat nav is now a cheap device, and people are happy to spend on such without any advice, or they have friends or family examples to be guided by. I bet amazons sales of Satnavs have dropped too, so Its probably not price thats driving down sales in halfords.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 19:00
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Google have a (reportedly) fabulous free navigation package for Android phones based around Google Maps. It even brings up Google Street views at major intersections to show you a drivers eye view of the junction in question, overlaid of course with direction arrows.
But they won't release it in the UK! AAARRGGHH!!
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It needs to download the data over 3g, so it costs money to use.
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Not if you already have an Android phone with a data inclusive 3G contract. As I do.
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Your data is not unlimited. And your screen is not as good as my Iphone 4
so BLAH :P
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 19:36
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Heh heh :-P
My screen's OK. Clarity and touch response quite high on my list when I was CHOOSING the phone hardware I wanted, and data competitiveness when I CHOSE my service provider. :-)
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whats to stop you pretending you are a us user and downloading the app?
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It's only available through the Android Market (the equivalent of the App Store) and "they" know which country you are in. I'm sure there's a way round it, but I haven't spent enough time looking.
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Oh yes there is, you need to go through a proxy server. V easy.
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The market is a self contained app which runs direct from the phone. It's not browser based.
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but the store app runs over wifi? yes? you dont download your apps and widgets over GSM all the time. The Iphone can get its apps through Itunes or the app store on the phone.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 20:15
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I don't know what either of you are talking about, but...
When I use my dongle to log on to the National Lottery website, I get a message about being out of the country and therefore ineligible to play.
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you need a proxy. I could never get the BBC iplayer at work because I was connected to an American network, the proxy disguises this.
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...you need a proxy...
Go on then Zero, explain what a proxy is if it's not too complicated.
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your internet address goes in one end (complete with its tell tale country of origin) and comes out the other end as a different IP address (and another country of origin)
In simple terms
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Is this proxy a website or a piece of software, or is it somehow set-up on the computer?
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Its a server you connect through, google "proxy server" for how to connect and use
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...Its a server you connect through, google "proxy server" for how to connect and use...
Thanks - that's all I need to know.
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Proxy ? Nah she's a very accomodating young lady who hangs about Linthorpe Road in Middlesborough of a fine evening. Got a sister called Chardonnay.....
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The Aitch is silent - Kar-dunai
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...Got a sister called Chardonnay...
"Get yer coat on pet, you've scored."
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Amazon currently lists 734 items in the category of "Car GPS".
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Have you checked all 734 items to see if they are all actual Sat Nav units?
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Halfords reports drop in sat-nav sales - Zero
