Garmin - Not Impressed
Discussion
I bought a Garmin Sat Nav for the first time recently as it included European maps for a good price. I've had Navman and Tom Tom systems in the past and never had any real issues, but the routing decisions the Garmin is making are utterly stupid. It will be used a lot round London and it seems to be incapable of navigating the Capital without taking you through the centre of town.
Also, all other satnavs I've had show you the route they have decided to take before you begin your journey, but this one doesn't, so you have no idea where it's trying to take
you.
Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one? Can I return it just because I'm not happy with how it works?
Also, all other satnavs I've had show you the route they have decided to take before you begin your journey, but this one doesn't, so you have no idea where it's trying to take
you.
Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one? Can I return it just because I'm not happy with how it works?
Mine works ok, though a couple of times I've wondered what it was thinking! On mine, if you have it set to show the view from above & behind the car, if you tap the screen the view changes to show you the total route.
Also, have you played about with the navigation options for fastest v shortest, avoiding motorways etc?
Also, have you played about with the navigation options for fastest v shortest, avoiding motorways etc?
MarshPhantom said:
I bought a Garmin Sat Nav for the first time recently as it included European maps for a good price. I've had Navman and Tom Tom systems in the past and never had any real issues, but the routing decisions the Garmin is making are utterly stupid. It will be used a lot round London and it seems to be incapable of navigating the Capital without taking you through the centre of town.
Also, all other satnavs I've had show you the route they have decided to take before you begin your journey, but this one doesn't, so you have no idea where it's trying to take
you.
Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one? Can I return it just because I'm not happy with how it works?
Have to agree. I took one to Europe a couple of years ago and I found where I knew the road better, it would not change its route, at one point telling me I was 112 miles from my destination the Santandar ferry ........... a minute later it decided to update and alter its route and I was 18 miles away. Utter madness. Also, all other satnavs I've had show you the route they have decided to take before you begin your journey, but this one doesn't, so you have no idea where it's trying to take
you.
Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one? Can I return it just because I'm not happy with how it works?
Utter junk. nowhere near as good as the Snooper I had previously used.
MarshPhantom said:
I bought a Garmin Sat Nav for the first time recently as it included European maps for a good price.
Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one?
I find our Garmin (~3 years old) either likes to take the scenic route, i.e. any old dirt track preferred to a nice, straight A road. Otherwise, it likes to drive through the middle of a city rather than go round the bypass.Are they all this bad or have I perhaps got a duff one?
The only useful bit seems to be camera warnings but unless you get free updates, it ends up alarming on roadworks that were finished years ago.
They appear to all be as bad! I had a Navman Before which was brilliant until it stopped working and then the customer service was disgusting - it was if they were laughing at me. So Halfords said "Yes the customer service at Navman is legendarily bad so we recommend you going to Garmin, they supply satnavs to the aviation industry". So now here I am, I'm in the middle of France armed with a brand new Garmin Nuvi 54 and having planned my routes accidentally left the old map and notes behind - what a nightmare. This satnav added 2 days to my trip and guided me off main roads onto smaller roads and then onto farm tracks - in a 6M+ motor-home! The settings are correct and set to Fastest and actually to avoid un-paved roads yet it is taking me on them. I have checked with Garmin and they just say I have the latest maps and the route choice will be taking into account "all sorts of variables" Huh, what a croc of BS. I have blagged an old paper map of the whole of Europe and am using that instead and even though it's from 1999 I'm better off with it. Guy here has another Garmin and has ticked ~avoid tolls~ and it's still taking him on them. Then when he's got off the tolls on nice fast D roads it also steers him around in big circles down back lanes adding miles and miles to the trip. I just wonder how these things work for pilots?
MANXMONKEY said:
They appear to all be as bad! I had a Navman Before which was brilliant until it stopped working and then the customer service was disgusting - it was if they were laughing at me. So Halfords said "Yes the customer service at Navman is legendarily bad so we recommend you going to Garmin, they supply satnavs to the aviation industry". So now here I am, I'm in the middle of France armed with a brand new Garmin Nuvi 54 and having planned my routes accidentally left the old map and notes behind - what a nightmare. This satnav added 2 days to my trip and guided me off main roads onto smaller roads and then onto farm tracks - in a 6M+ motor-home! The settings are correct and set to Fastest and actually to avoid un-paved roads yet it is taking me on them. I have checked with Garmin and they just say I have the latest maps and the route choice will be taking into account "all sorts of variables" Huh, what a croc of BS. I have blagged an old paper map of the whole of Europe and am using that instead and even though it's from 1999 I'm better off with it. Guy here has another Garmin and has ticked ~avoid tolls~ and it's still taking him on them. Then when he's got off the tolls on nice fast D roads it also steers him around in big circles down back lanes adding miles and miles to the trip. I just wonder how these things work for pilots?
You believed a Halford's salesman? Crikey.CoolC said:
This thread is worrying me.
I've got a 3.5 year old Tom Tom which I use in Europe. It needs the maps updating, and for European maps it's quite pricy so I was looking at Garmin's with free lifetime map updates for not much more than new TT maps. Hmmmm.
Google this. It took me ALL WEEKEND to update Garmin maps. This was on a 30 Mbps fibre broadband and with a new MacBook. I've got a 3.5 year old Tom Tom which I use in Europe. It needs the maps updating, and for European maps it's quite pricy so I was looking at Garmin's with free lifetime map updates for not much more than new TT maps. Hmmmm.
CoolC said:
This thread is worrying me.
I've got a 3.5 year old Tom Tom which I use in Europe. It needs the maps updating, and for European maps it's quite pricy so I was looking at Garmin's with free lifetime map updates for not much more than new TT maps. Hmmmm.
I seem to remember updating my tomtom for free, has it not done all the maps?I've got a 3.5 year old Tom Tom which I use in Europe. It needs the maps updating, and for European maps it's quite pricy so I was looking at Garmin's with free lifetime map updates for not much more than new TT maps. Hmmmm.
I don't like Garmin either, find the screens less easy to follow.
Another disgruntled Garmin owner here.
I bought a top spec one last year with free map updates for life. I bought it before a trip to France as I would be doing a lot of driving. The thing is appaling. It has a Fisher Price interface and it is sorely lacking detail, which is essential for any navigation device. This problem is exacerbated when you are in a foreign country on the wrong side of the road and you don't know what exit to take because the big purple navigation line blocks a potential of three lanes. Also, as mentioned above, the routing is terrible. I only appreciated how bad it was when I got home and programmed routes I knew and it was all over the place.
I have a PPL and have been using Garmin's aviation GPS for years and I find it excellent. That was the primary reason I went with the road GPS. Never again!
I bought a top spec one last year with free map updates for life. I bought it before a trip to France as I would be doing a lot of driving. The thing is appaling. It has a Fisher Price interface and it is sorely lacking detail, which is essential for any navigation device. This problem is exacerbated when you are in a foreign country on the wrong side of the road and you don't know what exit to take because the big purple navigation line blocks a potential of three lanes. Also, as mentioned above, the routing is terrible. I only appreciated how bad it was when I got home and programmed routes I knew and it was all over the place.
I have a PPL and have been using Garmin's aviation GPS for years and I find it excellent. That was the primary reason I went with the road GPS. Never again!
I've used Garmins for years and am generally pleased with them!
The secret in getting these things to work PROPERLY is to choose which avoidances to enable or disable (U-Turns, Motorways, Toll Roads, Unpaved roads etc) and also to choose which type of route you want to take (fastest time or shortest distance)
HTH
The secret in getting these things to work PROPERLY is to choose which avoidances to enable or disable (U-Turns, Motorways, Toll Roads, Unpaved roads etc) and also to choose which type of route you want to take (fastest time or shortest distance)
HTH
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