sat-nav? which one?

[anm]

I have an old TomTom sat-nav that I'd like to replace with something with more storage and more features. I have run out of 'favorites', as in destinations, in fact I ran out years ago, so that's one thing I'd like bigger. But I have also gotten into the situation where my TomTom got me into some place (via back roads, dirt roads, and sometimes almost no roads) but it could not get me out! My TomTom insisted I travel on a particular dirt road, the trouble was that there was a padlocked gate across it! Nothing I did with the TomTom helped, including driving in the opposite direction for a mile or so (the actual direction I wanted to travel in!) and then trying to get it to plot a homeward course. I finally came across an old man grading some of the almost-roads and asked him for directions. Ten minutes later I recognized where I was even if my sat-nav didn't. I have updated the map BTW...

So what I need is:
1. More memory.
2. A sat-nav with the ability to back-track the last journey, do any of the sat-navs offer that?
3. A similar function would be having a sat-nav that could learn. One that after you travel back and forth for a month or two in one 'path', is smart enough to realize that there must be a road there, or if there isn't, it doesn't matter that there isn't, treat it like a road anyway.

Anyone have any suggestions? Recommendations?

 

[Duck]

Android device and Copilot GPS program. Beats all heck out of the standalone garmin units etc, with traffic updates, and the ability to optimize routes with multiple destinations after entry. Even allows quick editing of routes by dragging a section of road just like you would on google maps.

 

[anm]

Android device and Copilot GPS program. Beats all heck out of the standalone garmin units etc, with traffic updates, and the ability to optimize routes with multiple destinations after entry.  Even allows quick editing of routes by dragging a section of road just like you would on google maps.

Is Internet connectivity necessary for the maps etc? or can it operate stand-alone?

 

[highdesertranger]

so since nobody answered this I will try. the newer smart phones will do gps without an internet connection. however I have noticed several short comings with them. I don't have a smart phone but several people I know have them. you must predownload maps if you are out of your coverage area so you are limited with maps until you get back in range. another thing is when out of your coverage area they are very slow at getting a fix on your location. with my garmin I would turn it on get a fix, save my location, and turn it back off before theirs even got a fix, sometimes they would never get locked on, they would just keep searching. sometimes when they finally did get a fix it would be off by anywhere from a couple of hundred yards to a couple of miles. also when your out of your coverage area you must turn the phone part off or the battery goes dead pretty fast because they are searching for a tower. this brings up another point they are not very good at any kind of range my stupid phone out performs all of the smart phones for range. highdesertranger

 

[anm]

so since nobody answered this I will try.  the newer smart phones will do gps without an internet connection.  however I have noticed several short comings with them.  I don't have a smart phone but several people I know have them.  you must predownload maps if you are out of your coverage area so you are limited with maps until you get back in range.  another thing is when out of your coverage area they are very slow at getting a fix on your location.   with my garmin I would turn it on get a fix,  save my location,  and turn it back off before theirs even got a fix,  sometimes they would never get locked on,  they would just keep searching.  sometimes when they finally did get a fix it would be off by anywhere from a couple of hundred yards to a couple of miles.  also when your out of your coverage area you must turn the phone part off or the battery goes dead pretty fast because they are searching for a tower.  this brings up another point they are not very good at any kind of range my stupid phone out performs all of the smart phones for range.  highdesertranger

Thanks Highdesertranger.

Sounds like I don't want to rely on a smart phone. I went by Best Buys just to look at the latest satnavs, I wasn't impressed there either, in functionality they weren't any different than what I have. I suppose it's possible that maps may be better, and number of saved destinations may be greater, but none of the ones I saw used any of that as a selling point anyway. I'll have to go back and find out about the number of saved destinations. Some of them came with unlimited map updates, that may be worth getting...

My TomTom also does traffic updates...

 

[Duck]

Copilot maps are offline, points of interest etc as well.    For my shop truck I use an old nexus tablet, works great, love the big screen and fast response, stand alone units are so slow.  If you want constant  live traffic(which will offer you routes around delays) then you need a phone with data. With the widgets for Android you can have a single button click on your home screen to turn on and off data/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth etc.
For everything else, it's the same or better. If you need fast good reception in bad areas, you can get a usb or Bluetooth gps antenna that mounts on the roof, this is way better than any unit's built in reception but rarely needed.