Any Garmin 3970t users? Help needed.
Discussion
I've just bought the above and when powered up the screen has some odd diagonal banding across it. It starts in the top RHS of the screen and goes all the way to the bottom centre. It appears to be behind the screen rather than a failure of pixels.
Can owners tell me whether this is normal - i.e. an artefact of the backlight or something or do I have a duff one?
Thanks.
Can owners tell me whether this is normal - i.e. an artefact of the backlight or something or do I have a duff one?
Thanks.
BHML said:
Definitely not normal - I called over a John Lewis assistant to explain the banding on a display model, he apologised and said it was a faulty unit! He offered to show me another one but I made my excuses and left
Thanks for that. I did seem too obvious to be an artefact of the backlight design. I'll send it back then. Wonder if it's a common fault; there's no references to it on Google.Update: It was a fault. New one doesn't have it. So far very very impressed with the unit. It just works and works well and there are some nice little touches that are really useful and not gimmicks. I love the fact that you can voice control your phone through it and automatically call POIs via the GPS - very handy if you're running late for a restaurant or need to call about a flight delay.
Superb bit of kit.
Superb bit of kit.
The traffic on the 3970 is free for life (unit was £250). No idea re the one you mention.
Mine came in very handy the other day when coming back along the M62. It told me there was an accident and that traffic was stopped. Next thing I know I'm being directed through Leeds in rush hour. I expected it to be a nightmare yet hardly saw another car, and was soon back on the A1. Bloody marvellous. I understand that Tom Tom's is better, but then that costs you every year; you pays your money etc.
The only issue I had was with reception for TM was poor, but then I'd not realised that a wire with a headphone plug was actually the FM aerial for the TM system. The bloody instructions do not mention it all, so I hadn't twigged. Haven't used it with it plugged in so can't tell you whether it's better now.
I have to say, the more I use it, the more it impresses me. The voice recog system is superb, and so handy if you want to change your route when your driving or find a specific garage. Hunting down optimax can be a pain when you don't know an area. You can also sync it with your phone so you have voice dialling which works very well too.
Mine came in very handy the other day when coming back along the M62. It told me there was an accident and that traffic was stopped. Next thing I know I'm being directed through Leeds in rush hour. I expected it to be a nightmare yet hardly saw another car, and was soon back on the A1. Bloody marvellous. I understand that Tom Tom's is better, but then that costs you every year; you pays your money etc.
The only issue I had was with reception for TM was poor, but then I'd not realised that a wire with a headphone plug was actually the FM aerial for the TM system. The bloody instructions do not mention it all, so I hadn't twigged. Haven't used it with it plugged in so can't tell you whether it's better now.
I have to say, the more I use it, the more it impresses me. The voice recog system is superb, and so handy if you want to change your route when your driving or find a specific garage. Hunting down optimax can be a pain when you don't know an area. You can also sync it with your phone so you have voice dialling which works very well too.
Garmin's TMC is probably their weakest feature. Other countries don't use VHF-FM for traffic, so many 'generice' multi-market Garmin systems use external TMC receivers and a cat's cradle of black spaghetti dangled over the dashboard.
Why on earth can't they produce a basic 'hideaway' FM-loopthrough, TMC and 12v-to-5v converter box that can be hard wired into the car's electrics and FM antenna, with just a single connection to the SatNav?
I prefer to set the traffic avoid to 'advise only' - some of the earlier systems were rather crude and would send you on a 30 min detour for a 3 min hold up if you left them set to automatic! I've also been sent on a wild goose chase on more than one occasion when the TMC message hasn't been properly updated - this seems worse in the UK than in Germany, for example. Also, don't forget that the more people who receive the re-route advisory, the more the re-route itself will become congested.
All in all, the best way seems to be to obtain all the information (RDS or TMC), then make your own decision based upon the quality of that information.
Why on earth can't they produce a basic 'hideaway' FM-loopthrough, TMC and 12v-to-5v converter box that can be hard wired into the car's electrics and FM antenna, with just a single connection to the SatNav?
I prefer to set the traffic avoid to 'advise only' - some of the earlier systems were rather crude and would send you on a 30 min detour for a 3 min hold up if you left them set to automatic! I've also been sent on a wild goose chase on more than one occasion when the TMC message hasn't been properly updated - this seems worse in the UK than in Germany, for example. Also, don't forget that the more people who receive the re-route advisory, the more the re-route itself will become congested.
All in all, the best way seems to be to obtain all the information (RDS or TMC), then make your own decision based upon the quality of that information.
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