Garmin satnavs, are they the worst?

[FiF]

Sportidge said:

FiF said:

Have pretty much stopped using mine since Garmin stopped the support which allowed you to create a route in Google maps, refine it with the drop and drag, create a route file and then upload to the device. Everything now seems to have to be done in Base Camp. :hate:

I was miffed about this also.

However, you can still do it in a roundabout way;

- Plan your route on on Google Maps
- GO to gpsvisualizer.com/convert_input
- Paste the Google Maps URL into the relevant field and select GPX
- Hit Convert
- Save the file to the PC
- Transfer it to the Garmin and import

Seems to work for me so far

Cheers for that. Will have a go later.

[Garybee]

I have a very old (10 yrs +) Garmin that I've been really pleased with. The battery is still fine but as it's never been updated it is starting to get a bit of a pain due to so many new roads. I'd like to update it but it would cost nearly as much as buying a new one (which would have lifetime updates included).

It is quite a challenge to keep up with it's timings though. Over a 3hr journey it predicts about 30-40 min quicker than Google maps.

[smashy]

vikingaero said:

On most SatNavs you can change the average speeds in the advanced menu settings. So you could wind down a 60mph NSL road to 40mph average speed.

Ive never seen that??? Gsrmin and country lanes.....T
om Tom latest gos still the same

[strudel]

I have almost thrown our Garmin in the bin a few times.

Numerous times it has taken us off the main road, put us on a side road for a few miles then put us on back on the main road. Sometimes it will cut the corner off triangles by taking you off an A-road, sending you down essentially a farm track to save a few hundred metres (and sometimes less). One of most bizarre it did was this one in the Netherlands, travelling A16 south:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/51.890576,4.5615...

All it would take is the implementation of a simplicity algorithm that tries to introduce as few as possible road changes. I can understand why for a local going M4 -> Bracknell -> M25 south is perhaps quicker than straight M4 -> M25, but if you don't know the area you'd want as little stress as possible!