Speed Trap Camera Detectors/Sat Nav
Discussion
What is the present recommendation on speed trap camera locators/sat nav units ? I'm getting increasingly pissed off with my Pogo Drive (poor design in many ways) and really regret re-subscribing to their service.
TBH the sat nav part is fine and I really like the way the pogo-drive warns in a SPECS camera zone, however I'm fed up with never knowing if it'll pick up a satellite, the screen reflection in the windows, the inability to turn off portable camera warnings (try driving through Milton Keynes, the whole area is just one warning), the way it warns over variable cameras (which seems to have been changed recently for the worse), the useless battery, the uncertainty if a failed update will corrupt your unit (mine has already gone back once as a result of this and I had to pay for my leg of the postage), the sat nav resetting to it's defaults each time you use it, .....
TBH the sat nav part is fine and I really like the way the pogo-drive warns in a SPECS camera zone, however I'm fed up with never knowing if it'll pick up a satellite, the screen reflection in the windows, the inability to turn off portable camera warnings (try driving through Milton Keynes, the whole area is just one warning), the way it warns over variable cameras (which seems to have been changed recently for the worse), the useless battery, the uncertainty if a failed update will corrupt your unit (mine has already gone back once as a result of this and I had to pay for my leg of the postage), the sat nav resetting to it's defaults each time you use it, .....
dapprman said:
What is the present recommendation on speed trap camera locators/sat nav units ? I'm getting increasingly pissed off with my Pogo Drive (poor design in many ways) and really regret re-subscribing to their service.
TBH the sat nav part is fine and I really like the way the pogo-drive warns in a SPECS camera zone, however I'm fed up with never knowing if it'll pick up a satellite, the screen reflection in the windows, the inability to turn off portable camera warnings (try driving through Milton Keynes, the whole area is just one warning), the way it warns over variable cameras (which seems to have been changed recently for the worse), the useless battery, the uncertainty if a failed update will corrupt your unit (mine has already gone back once as a result of this and I had to pay for my leg of the postage), the sat nav resetting to it's defaults each time you use it, .....
WTF??TBH the sat nav part is fine and I really like the way the pogo-drive warns in a SPECS camera zone, however I'm fed up with never knowing if it'll pick up a satellite, the screen reflection in the windows, the inability to turn off portable camera warnings (try driving through Milton Keynes, the whole area is just one warning), the way it warns over variable cameras (which seems to have been changed recently for the worse), the useless battery, the uncertainty if a failed update will corrupt your unit (mine has already gone back once as a result of this and I had to pay for my leg of the postage), the sat nav resetting to it's defaults each time you use it, .....
You must have either a faulty unit or your car has a front windscreen which is blocking your satellite pickup as mine has never failed to get a signal in fact its ability to pick up a signal as fast as it does is one of the reasons i got mine. I dont get your compaint about variables either they have always done things the same way and its pretty effective works exactly the same as a fixed camera on mine.
Also have only once had an issue with updates when their was some form of corrupt file in their system which locked my unit but iirc simply left it 24hrs and updated again and worked ok.
Anyway all this aside sorry to hear you are unhappy. They have changed the way they operate over the last year or so and not for the better i feel from a customer service view but i have no probs with the way the unit works.
It's the same car, in fact it doesn't matter what car I'm in, some times it just refuses to pick up a satellite for the whole trip (the worst being just under an hour long), then when I start the return leg it'll find enough straight away.
For variable cameras they've changed it. Gone are just normal alerts as you close on a ca,era gantry with the trigger set to 70, now you get a full blown noisy alert regardless of what speed you're doing (such as 40 mph through Birmingham on the M6 in the snow) - incredibly annoying.
The way they deal with potential camera sites I've already complained about to them but they're not interested in providing the ability to disable it, and the reflection issue is down to the fact the actual physical unit (which they've bought) is of a poor design.
For variable cameras they've changed it. Gone are just normal alerts as you close on a ca,era gantry with the trigger set to 70, now you get a full blown noisy alert regardless of what speed you're doing (such as 40 mph through Birmingham on the M6 in the snow) - incredibly annoying.
The way they deal with potential camera sites I've already complained about to them but they're not interested in providing the ability to disable it, and the reflection issue is down to the fact the actual physical unit (which they've bought) is of a poor design.
Yeah sadly customer service seems to have slipped somewhat over the last year and a half. Used to be i would call with an issue for ex not being able to dim the screen at night and within a week the software was updated to correct now they dont seem interested which is a shame as personally i think its one of the best units available.
Tried a roadangel and it was pants with tons of false alerts and missed cameras even though it was updated. Also took ages to pick up a signal where my pogo takes less around ten to twenty secs on average i reckon and once it has one very rarely loses it.
I would advise a bell unit or maybe garmin or tomtom if replacing.
Tried a roadangel and it was pants with tons of false alerts and missed cameras even though it was updated. Also took ages to pick up a signal where my pogo takes less around ten to twenty secs on average i reckon and once it has one very rarely loses it.
I would advise a bell unit or maybe garmin or tomtom if replacing.
No harm in alternative views 
thats what its all about. I simply give my view on the RA range as having used one i personally would hate for anyone else to be put in a situation where they feel the need to brake from motorway speeds down to 30mph in the blink of an eye on a motorway due to a false warning from a speed scamera warning system.
Road angels are in my opinion crap and i say that having used one which was updated twice in 24hrs.
thats what its all about. I simply give my view on the RA range as having used one i personally would hate for anyone else to be put in a situation where they feel the need to brake from motorway speeds down to 30mph in the blink of an eye on a motorway due to a false warning from a speed scamera warning system.Road angels are in my opinion crap and i say that having used one which was updated twice in 24hrs.
I had an original Roadangel (know known as Classic) and it was large, but also very good. I upgraded to the New Roadangel as it had features I thought worth it, and it too was very good (better IMHO than the Origin BlueI), however the build quality was not so good and it did go back twice for repair. Also their customer support started to worsen. I was going to trade in my New for a RA6000, however on testing it for a weekend it went back instead, it was truly awful (I also at the time had a Navman iCN620 - from the days before they were bought out and were still top end).
I went for the PogoDrive based on reviews and at first really liked it, however on my first night drive I discovered a major design flaw with the physical unit (which Pogo buy in - it's not their design) - the screen is concave resulting in bad reflections in the windscreen and side windows - nice and distracting. Still the way it worked resulted in me forgiving this flaw and putting up with it. Over time Pogo started adding more and more. At first these were good (such as the average speed over SPECS cameras) however the mobile camera warnings were unwanted for me and so badly implemented you could not disable them. I also then discovered a flaw in the update process - it had left me with two map system files, which meant all my navigations put me ~10 east of where I was meant to be. Customer support were good in fixing this, but then forgot to back up my config files first so all my saved locations and settings were lost. I almost did not renew my subscription, but did as I needed a unit at short notice and had forgotten to look for alternatives.
Post second resub Pogo changed the way Variable Cameras were dealt with - for the worse, it was also around this time that my unit started failing to pick up satellites. Some times it would, some times it would scan the heavens and find no more than 1 or 2 and so fail. The GPS must have been working else it would not have found any. My unit is now out of warranty and it's no longer the great device it was when first bought, much down to Pogo's ill thought out updates. I no longer forgive the screen reflections at night, nor the fact it refuses to retain your sat nav settings, so you have to rezoom the screen and change the icons each time you use it.
I now have a shiny new black Garmin 1490t (5" screen being the clincher). I'll try the free 1 month trial of the Cyclops speed camera data base, and if I like that I'll fully subscribe (GB £30 for a year, Europe wide, £50). If I'm not happy, I'll look at the speed camera database on GPSPocketWorld.
I'll report back over time (if I remember) on how I find it.
I went for the PogoDrive based on reviews and at first really liked it, however on my first night drive I discovered a major design flaw with the physical unit (which Pogo buy in - it's not their design) - the screen is concave resulting in bad reflections in the windscreen and side windows - nice and distracting. Still the way it worked resulted in me forgiving this flaw and putting up with it. Over time Pogo started adding more and more. At first these were good (such as the average speed over SPECS cameras) however the mobile camera warnings were unwanted for me and so badly implemented you could not disable them. I also then discovered a flaw in the update process - it had left me with two map system files, which meant all my navigations put me ~10 east of where I was meant to be. Customer support were good in fixing this, but then forgot to back up my config files first so all my saved locations and settings were lost. I almost did not renew my subscription, but did as I needed a unit at short notice and had forgotten to look for alternatives.
Post second resub Pogo changed the way Variable Cameras were dealt with - for the worse, it was also around this time that my unit started failing to pick up satellites. Some times it would, some times it would scan the heavens and find no more than 1 or 2 and so fail. The GPS must have been working else it would not have found any. My unit is now out of warranty and it's no longer the great device it was when first bought, much down to Pogo's ill thought out updates. I no longer forgive the screen reflections at night, nor the fact it refuses to retain your sat nav settings, so you have to rezoom the screen and change the icons each time you use it.
I now have a shiny new black Garmin 1490t (5" screen being the clincher). I'll try the free 1 month trial of the Cyclops speed camera data base, and if I like that I'll fully subscribe (GB £30 for a year, Europe wide, £50). If I'm not happy, I'll look at the speed camera database on GPSPocketWorld.
I'll report back over time (if I remember) on how I find it.
Please do keep us all updated. As said on the other thread your dissapointment in the pogo operating is odd to me but we are all different. I am surprised you didnt send it back for repair or replacement on the satellite issue as they are warrantied for two years.
Biggest pain for me is the gps reciever ratchet mechanism has failed so it doesnt actually stand up though its not really an issue. Havent really noticed a reflection issue other than on the units screen but then i dont look at the screen much.
Still need to get ariound to writing to pogo about their customer service changes as they seem to have become quite blase and disinterested of late.
Biggest pain for me is the gps reciever ratchet mechanism has failed so it doesnt actually stand up though its not really an issue. Havent really noticed a reflection issue other than on the units screen but then i dont look at the screen much.
Still need to get ariound to writing to pogo about their customer service changes as they seem to have become quite blase and disinterested of late.
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