Aileen Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I am about to upgrade my Garmin - any advice. I see some of those available now say that you can't specify the vehicle type therefore are not suitable for trucks or Campervans. At the same time I don't seem to be able to find one that specifies that you can set the vehicle type. Is this feature really necessary or has anyone used it. My old Garmin Nuvi 250 seemed to do fine - except the maps are completely out of date. The Garmin 275 seems to be good but says it doesn't have that feature and the 775 also seems to tick all the boxes without any mention of the vehicle feature. Aileen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dikyenfo Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Take the lifetime updates for your Nuvi and that should see you right. You can also buy separately a transport routes as a download at a small charge but really you wont often need it if you have a quick shufty at the suggested route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I think that the type of vehicle information is only used to calculate average speeds. It is not to prevent you from going down narrow unsuitable roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DESCO Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 With any Sat. Nav. it is best used only as a guide, about the only time I did not check a route prior to using it was in Scotland. I followed the route blindly only to be told , "Board Ferry" and to find the terminal was no longer in use, and had not been used for some years. With a little thought before, I could have found a road route that was only a few miles more. Since then I have always checked route out first. :$ They are very helpful but only that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Have a Gramin Satnav 760, which is generally fine, but to my way of thinking 2 serious defects - 1 no ability to specifiy size of vehicle 2 you cannot view tour actual speed and the route on the same screen.Both are there, but you need to go into a different screen, whcih seems rather odd. And if you go into the screen to see your speed, when it brings up a speed camera warning, that obliterates the actaul spped indicator!! I've recievd the recent e-mail from them to update the maps,whcih seems like a good idea, at I think a 'one off' for bour £60, or lifetime, every 3 months at £100. Not sure what to do about that, but I do find some of the surrent mapping as provided when I bought it last year a bit wrong! I do howver, take all the routes with a large pich of salt, and many thimes 'argue' with her, and go a different way when in the motorhome. By doing so, only once, so far, would I have ended up on a dead end track, but fortunately was able to do a five point turn before going onto it! Anyone who has had Satnav for a long time, with thoughts on the updating of the maps??, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I also use a Garmin 760. Have just invested in a lifetime map update subscription. Just hope the sat-nav and I keep going long enough to justify the cost. Agree with Keith that the speed is no longer on the map screen as it was with my old streetpilot. A retrograde step IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Stewart Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Keith T - 2009-04-06 11:56 AM Anyone who has had Satnav for a long time, with thoughts on the updating of the maps??, Don't know what you'd class as a 'long time' but I bought my Garmin c330 in 2005. I've just updated with the latest maps as I did in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Re the maps being 'wrong'. Bear in mind that the maps used by any satnav system are always likely to be 12 months out of date due to the time it takes to . . . I believe the expression is 'digitise' . . . them. Personally speaking, I don't see much point having 'even more' out of date mapping if it can be avoided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Ian.... interesting point. My Sat nav was purchased last year, so I assume mapping ir probably 2007 version. I am not sure hop to check, but the offer which I have from GArmin is to pay £100 for a 3 monthly upgrade 'for ever'...well as long as the sytsem lasts, I guess. Is this thte same offer as you have with Garmin? ...ot was it cheaper when you first took yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ike Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Daft question maybe but if your sat nav can detect speed cameras can you be "done" by the French police? I know they will confiscate radar equipment ( or whatever it's called) and wondered if all detection devices would be treated the same. We have tried to "install" both a Garmin and a TomTom but the suction pad won't stick to the dash and the windscreen is too far away to put it there. Any suggestions (apart from gaffer tape)? Thanks in advance for advice.ike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potjoe Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 :-D :-D :-D have the 350nav and got a free cd up date from them last year by going to there webb site and looking around it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark lambert Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 I have the garmin 550 which is for motorcycles as well as cars/vans/lorries/coach. It does give you a choice of vehicles and it does send you on a diferent route if you are on a bike, it seems to like b roads. Very expensive due to it having to be waterproof. I would suggest upgrading yours with new maps and things if they are available for your satnav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 ike - 2009-04-11 6:46 PMWe have tried to "install" both a Garmin and a TomTom but the suction pad won't stick to the dash and the windscreen is too far away to put it there. Any suggestions (apart from gaffer tape)? Thanks in advance for advice.ikeHiyes, had the same problem both on the car and motorhome. Youcan get with Garmin, at least, a very sticky round plastic disc whcih should stick to most surfaces.....though they do need to be flat.On the motorhome the I had to adadapt the rising clip board (Fiat!), and whilst not 100% steady, it works well. For the car I manged to find a nead vertical part on the front of the dashboard, and the discs stuck on immediatey.Do watch out though, once, on, they are very hard to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Ian Stewart - 2009-04-10 5:32 PM (snip) Re the maps being 'wrong'. Bear in mind that the maps used by any satnav system are always likely to be 12 months out of date due to the time it takes to . . . I believe the expression is 'digitise' . . . them. (snip) Having spent over 30 years working in IT, including digitisation projects in the 1970s when they were pretty much in their infancy, I can't think of any sound reason why that should be the case. Obviously it takes some time to create the initial database of all the roads in a given country but, as far as the UK is concerned, that was done donkeys years ago. All that is then necessary is simply updating the database with changes as they occur - which is the same process as with any other database. The claims made by the two major mapping companies: Tele Atlas: Roads change daily and we map these changes immediately… with our mobile mapping vehicles, and with the feedback we receive from our customers every day and Navteq: (map data is) Continuously updated to maintain its freshness and precision support that assumption. When I buy a printed road atlas I expect the information to be somewhat out of date because of the length of time the printing process takes. I also expect to see (as I do) indications of ongoing/planned work (such as the upgrades to the A1 which have happened over the last year or so) in order to compensate for that lead time. With map data in electronic form, as it is on sat nav devices, that lead time is dramatically lessened and could be cut to virtually zero by having downloads available when the product is first registered (as with operating systems for instance). If the sat nav manufacturers are supplying out of date maps then what is the reason? These products are not ones which have a long shelf life so there should not be all that long a period of time between writing of the map data and the device being bought. If the maps are out of date then they should provide a date of production on the outside of the packaging so that purchasers can see exactly what they are buying. To sell a product as up to date when it is not is tantamount to fraud isn't it? Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 GJH - 2009-04-12 1:33 PM With map data in electronic form, as it is on sat nav devices, that lead time is dramatically lessened and could be cut to virtually zero by having downloads available when the product is first registered (as with operating systems for instance). Graham This is of course exactly what happens if you buy a Tom Tom as they have a'Latest Map Guarantee' where you download the latest available map if it is not already installed on your device. GJH - 2009-04-12 1:33 PM If the sat nav manufacturers are supplying out of date maps then what is the reason? These products are not ones which have a long shelf life so there should not be all that long a period of time between writing of the map data and the device being bought. Graham Tom Tom maps are updated on a daily basis, if you desire, by other users and Tom Tom updates and a complete new map is issued quarterly. Therefore if a device is bought even a day later than the mapping on it it will be out of date and may be updated, if the device remains unsold for more than a quarter there will be a definate new map to bring it up to date. GJH - 2009-04-12 1:33 PM If the maps are out of date then they should provide a date of production on the outside of the packaging so that purchasers can see exactly what they are buying. To sell a product as up to date when it is not is tantamount to fraud isn't it? Graham It is not neccessary for Tom Tom to state the map issue on the packaging as the problem is covered by the 'Latest Map Guarantee' Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hello Bas, One of our sons bought a new TomTom a couple of weeks ago when his old one went wrong. He said that it has some of the alterations to the A1 roundabouts between Blyth and Peterborough but doesn't reflect some of the changes which happened several months ago. I've just had a look at the TomTom web site and see that their explanation of the "Latest Map Guarantee" is TomTom provides you with the latest map pre-installed on your new device. On top of that, if a newer map is released within 30 days from when you start using your device, you can download it for free. Note that in order to qualify for the latest map guarantee you need to check if a new map is available within the 30 day period, and are only entitled to one free map download. All that is saying is that you can get whatever happens to be the latest map they have released - which is not the same as them saying you can get an up to date map. From their statement it also appears that the customer has to keep checking within the 30 day period until an update is found or the period elapses, rather than the system flagging up a new release (which they seem to find easy enough if they want to sell you something extra :-) ). As they only release maps once a quarter (i.e. approx every 90 days) that means that people buying early in the quarter will have a map no more than 30 days old, those buying late in the quarter will be able to update once for free but those buying in the middle of the quarter will fall between. What TT (and other suppliers) should really be doing is indicating the latest data collection date against each map release. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hi Graham, I take your points but it does still mean that you will have the latest map available within that period and of course if you decide to subscribe you get the quarterly updates for around £8 per quarter thereafter, this is currently free for two years on two of the models currently on sale. Can't speak about the A1 but certainly the new A120 is shown correctly as are some other later alterations in that area around Stanstead. Also you have the ability to report innacuracies in the mapping each time you log on after which time they are supposed to check them out so I wonder if people have been notifying as not everyone does or subscribes (free) to the Tom Tom map update service. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadows Engine Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hi I have had garmin sat navs for about severn years starting with the Streetpilot 2160 and then a 2820 they do a non slip pad that locates the unit on the dash it works very well Regarding maps being out of date the latest map shows the A65 in France which hasn't been built yet! I know I programed my route on it using map scouce (very good) and found it wasn't there (just north of Pau) when I got there!! Happy routing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 ike - 2009-04-11 6:46 PMDaft question maybe but if your sat nav can detect speed cameras can you be "done" by the French police? I know they will confiscate radar equipment ( or whatever it's called) and wondered if all detection devices would be treated the same..... ike Ike, if the speed camera "detection device" is no more than a SatNav using a "Mapping" approach, whereby the SatNav knows the positions of fixed cameras (a little like POIs), then this is perfectly legal, as I understand it. Garmin and TomTom SatNav units (and most others) use this approach. If, however, the detection device uses a passive radar detector, or any other similar technology, then this is very illegal in some countries. I'm not sure about RoadAngel? Does anyone else know? Does RoadAngel have a radar detector? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Meadows Engine - 2009-04-12 9:25 PM Hi I have had garmin sat navs for about severn years starting with the Streetpilot 2160 and then a 2820 they do a non slip pad that locates the unit on the dash it works very well Regarding maps being out of date the latest map shows the A65 in France which hasn't been built yet! I know I programed my route on it using map scouce (very good) and found it wasn't there (just north of Pau) when I got there!! Happy routing!!! I use my " Friction Bean Bag Portable Dash Mount" from my old 2610 with my Nuvi 770 and it works a treat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Basil - 2009-04-12 8:12 PM (snip) Also you have the ability to report innacuracies in the mapping each time you log on after which time they are supposed to check them out so I wonder if people have been notifying as not everyone does or subscribes (free) to the Tom Tom map update service. Bas Sorry Bas, only just seen your reply. For some reason I missed the updates of the thread before today :-) The way I read the TT web site is that people can report updates each day but the checking out can take significantly longer and no guarantee when they will be included in official quarterly map releases. Having done a fair bit of checking into various options I've decided to carry on using a combination of the old TT, web sites like Multimap and paper atlases for a while longer :-) Probably a good job because the exhaust went on the car on Tuesday and it was the bit with the cat 8-) :'( Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 GJH - 2009-04-17 10:17 AM Probably a good job because the exhaust went on the car on Tuesday and it was the bit with the cat 8-) :'( Graham Ouch!! Deep pockets full with cash I hope! Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Basil - 2009-04-17 1:30 PM GJH - 2009-04-17 10:17 AM Probably a good job because the exhaust went on the car on Tuesday and it was the bit with the cat 8-) :'( Graham Ouch!! Deep pockets full with cash I hope! Bas Not any more they're not (lol) It didn't actually cost as much as I thought it would. Luckily we use a decent company and it seems that they make an allowance for the scrap value of the old bits rather than charge full price and then make extra for themselves. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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