Best Sat Nav devices for use in Poland

Can anyone suggest a good Sat Nav (GPS) device for Poland ?

I know there are many devices here in the UK that claim to have coverage for many European countries but I'm not sure what the extent of that coverage is.

As Poland's road network isn't as sophisticated as here in the UK I'm worried about buying a Sat Nav that only displays major Polish roads.

Can anyone help ?

would suggest you go on line, since all the info on sat nav is only down loaded info, the sat nav is only as good as the info it holds...if that makes sense

You won’t get full coverage for Poland, I enquired about this myself and the best seemed to be Tom-Tom [300 sterling]- I also note they have had a software update recently so things may have got better, but 3 months ago things weren’t that good, certainly not to the extent that you could navigate Poland using the sat nav alone.

For that reason I decided not to buy as I’m pretty confident driving in the UK, and I can use my XDA to log onto the internet to get directions while on the move.

Incidentally it may well be worth looking at a XDA, you get what is in effect a mini lap top computer that can be upgraded to a GPS for less than 150 sterling. It’s also a video phone, MP3 player, camera, runs MS Word and Excel, can be set up for Voip, runs Outlook, has hand writing recognition, the list goes on.

I got mine free from 02, but I am a heavy mobile phone user [1800 sterling spent last year on mobile calls] but my brother looked into getting one and he was quoted 70 sterling and signing into a 35 sterling monthly package for 18 months. Wait ‘till after Christmas if you can, better tariff deals are due to be announced in the New Year- and obviously shop around, other operators are now releasing their versions of the XDA and may offer better value.

Thanks guys. I've trawled the internet these last couple of weeks without a great deal of success. That normally means that what I'm looking for isn't easily available.

TomTom seem to be the market leader in the UK but even if you buy one of their maps specifcally for Poland the small print states that it only offers 26% coverage which is crap !

I have come across http://www.automapa.co.uk

This seems to offer over 90% coverage for Poland but is geared towards the pocket PC market so StupidWelsh you might be bang on the money with your suggestion.

Another option I guess is to buy one in Poland the next time I am there.

I bought the tomtom go a few months ago...It got me from Germany right to my door in A small Polish city...It can get you pretty much anywhere,but in some of the smaller towns it may not be able to pinpoint the smaller streets....but in bigger towns it will bring you everywhere,including cinemas,restraunts,petrol stations....


Garmin has better coverage of the smaller streets in smaller towns...but tomtom will catch up...they are the market leaders.

Yes, get an XDA, you have everything in one package [although you’ll need a Bluetooth headset to go with it, or you look a right plank walking around with what looks like a doll sized lap top stuck to your ear, and given it‘s rarity and relative value it would be best to keep it hidden anyway]. It really is useful to have everything built in to one gadget. You can pick up email on the move, use the internet, about my only critic is that the camera isn’t very good, OK for video messaging but you wouldn’t take your holiday snaps using it.

And like I say, wait if you can because the next generation will have built in GPS, but if you can’t wait then less than 150 will get you the GPS dongle [again shop around, some are better than others] and the software to cover the EU and America.

Word of warning 02 isn’t good value for data calls, but they are updating there tariffs to compete [I get 30 mb inclusive data calls per month [in addition to 1200 European roaming minutes and lots of texts] for about 55 a month plus Vat if I remember properly- I change my tariff almost monthly, because 02 seems to bring out better tariffs almost monthly].

Bubbleberry is right about everything he has said, phone Tom-Tom in the new year because I’ve been told they have had a software upgrade and it may mean they’ve sorted out their coverage of Poland.

Thanks- I think I will wait a few months to see what comes onto the market.

Nokia have a new smartphone coming out called the N95. It will have an integrated GPS receiver and if I'm lucky also full coverage of Poland.

Becker coverage includes Poland.

Thanks but do you know the extent of the coverage ?

TomTom also has coverage of Poland but on reading the small print I found out that only a quarter of the country is covered.

what about a trusty map, a compass and reading the old road signs, costs less and helps halt mans progression towards a cyborg existence. i'm no luddite but surely man does not live by sat-nav alone, but by his brains and a map.

I can see the scouts in a few years having their Sat-Nav badge, out with the old map reading.

Also apparently car theives are no longer bothering with radios but Sat-Nav devices. Since they are easily nickable. £300 for Tom-Tom, £300 for new window plus labour, £300 for new Tom-tom. etc etc......

I see your point Car Thief-I don't really need a Sat Nav I just feel the urge to have one

You also make a good point about the increase in theft of these devices. Even if you remove the device from view when you are parked up criminals have now started looking for the sucker marks on the windscreen as a telltale sign the car may have a Sat Nav in the glove compartment.

That's funny!

yes one that stays in poland and doesnt show how to get to the uk .

Or one that stays in your car in poland and doesn't end up in someone eslses car in England

have you tried driving inPoland ? reading road signs and a map? with traffic behind you late in a dark winters night ? If not try Krakow from the airport,or escaping from lodz in the rush hour ? maps are useful for planing and country driving,but not where the language is difficult and conditions bad

see message below

Destinator? Cheaper than TomTom. Coverage is still pretty skimpy though

Look here
pocketgpsworld.com

I have a cd that came free with a magazine in Poland (Mapa Polska)
It's great for planning a journey before you go.

Or the rac uk website does free journey planning ".rac.co.uk" that covers Poland.
Otherwise I enjoy getting lost and finding places I never would if I planned my journey.
Plus everytime I go back to Poland there seems to be new roads everywhere...

I'm resurrecting this thread to see if anyone has more recent news on SatNav recommendations for Poland.

TomTom claims to have Polish roads on it's service but when you read the small print they only offer about 30% coverage of the country !

I've heard good things about AutoMapa. Are there any others ?

We have the latest tom tom, with poland allegedly mapped.....
We realised when we drove past the same building in Zagan for the 78th time that the tom tom wasn't quite what it said on the label! We have heard that you can get an upgrade for it in Poland...but I have been too busy focussing on a shed full of beaurocracy to investigate any further at the moment. In the meantime, we are back in the dark ages....MAPS!

the Warsaw taxi drivers all say AutoMapa is the best for Poland, problem with it though is that it only covers Poland so if you travel outside the country it doesn't work.

I've tried Garmin and Tom Tom in Poland and prefer Tom Tom.

tom tom is the best for europe i think.

Automapa XL is superb. I've been using it for the last three years. The latest version covers the street addresses (i.e. building numbers) of the residences of 60% of the population of Poland. I much prefer it to the TomTom navigator I tried in the UK last Christmas.

There is also Automapa Europe which I haven't tried but will be getting for a trip round Germany, Czech republic and Slovakia next month.

Both programs run on anything running PocketPC 2003, PocketPC 2003 SE, Windows Mobile 5/6 or Windows CE .NET 5.0.

Garmin XL Europe covers UK and Europe including pretty much all of Poland. Tom Tom has limited or no coverage of Poland, only covers the main European countries.

Used my Garmin sat nav in Poland last Sept, worked spot on and had excellent coverage.

If you happen to have N95 with their N****a (spam filter :rolleyes: ) maps - these cover Poland up to street number. I did test it in Poland and it really works fine. Other then that - Eastern Europe maps for Tomtom - 46% of coverage. Maybe will not take you to some small street in centre of average town, but is pretty handy to take near your destination :)

i have that phone but cant get the maps to work :( its all too complex for me.

I just upgraded the old PL, CZ, etc TomTom map to Eastern Europe on my TT720 and to be at last there appears to be much better coverage of Poland. Our village has no arrived on the map, although with many on the smaller roads in or area.

garmin street pilot c-550 is very good reliable and much cheaper(180£ in halfords) than tom toms.it covers most of the roads in poland and works great in the uk.however if you want really good road coverage then you must to buy an additional map which is preatty expensive(450zl?~130£)