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Joined: 10/07/2003 16:21:49 Posts: 66 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:56 pm Post subject: icn550 - 6 months on
Well it’s been over 6 months since I got mine and I was wondering if anyone else has bought one too?
My report for any who might be thinking of buying one is as follows:-
Frequent software crashes – some almost unrecoverable until you find you need to disconnect the TMC unit from the USB port.
Poor GPS lock – no I do not have not have a heated or athermic screen and my icn630 was far superior.
Slow route re-calculation.
Map Freezing but still talking.
Poor support from Navman.
No software upgrades – it’s as if the unit didn’t exist, it’s not even listed in their support menus as far as I can see.
Still has the number exits problem.
To be fair the unit does work 90% of the time, and has been useful however its performance, considering the huge investment, is very disappointing and you have to keep your eye on it lest you keep going past your motorway junction.
TMC is sort of OK but the installation is clumsy.
It’s a shame, Navman seem to be being left behind as there as now some really neat units in the shops. Just a few extra features and some bug fixes would really make a difference, but at this moment in time I would not buy another Navman anything – sorry guys.
Yes, 550 is not Navman’s pinnacle. 530 fixed many problems with 550 – faster processor, flash based, better GPS chipset, TMC unit contained within the mounting cradle, stable software with some nice improvements like chattier guidance…
When maps freeze but unit still talks are you sure it’s not locked in manual mode? Tried pressing ESC a few times?
Joined: 10/07/2003 16:21:49 Posts: 66 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject:
TheM wrote:
Yes, 550 is not Navman’s pinnacle. 530 fixed many problems with 550 – faster processor, flash based, better GPS chipset, TMC unit contained within the mounting cradle, stable software with some nice improvements like chattier guidance…
When maps freeze but unit still talks are you sure it’s not locked in manual mode? Tried pressing ESC a few times?
It’s hard to compare but the 550 product was launched November 2005, not even 12 months ago, and boasted all the features you mentioned.
The Intel CPU is the same speed or slightly faster, yes the 530 has more flash but the 550 has a 4GB hard drive. As for the GPS I could not find a spec but I can say it’s not as good as my very much older icn 630! The high quality speaker is definitely much worse than the 630, female voices in particular.
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately there is no escape from the freezing map problem and is not related to manual mode. Curiously even repeated hard resets can fail. Pulling out TMC and power cable and then rebooting finally fixes it – hard to do when on the motorway and now lost!
Anyway this is only one of the many manifestations of lock-ups which I won’t go into now.
You are right that the 530 looks a much better and neater product.
I can’t help feeling like I’ve been stitched-up having paid over £550 for something that lets me down so badly.
Navman abandoned my emails for help and that is terrible. I’ve tried to be far but my patience with for this and the other GPS units I bought from them has now run out, I will never buy Navman products again.
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