AA Navigator 2006 includes FULL coverage of Ireland

MikeB

There is a new version of the AA Navigator software package available. The AA Navigator 2006 software is the first SatNav system to include the latest Navteq Maps with FULL COVERAGE of Ireland as well as the latest UK Navteq maps.

A few weeks ago Navteq announced they had completed surveying the Republic of Ireland and had full street level map data available for integration into SatNav applications. Well the AA are the first to release a product incorporating the new Ireland maps. Well done AA, this is something our users have been requesting for a long time.

Also included is a 3d Map display, improved routing, and integration with the AA hotels and restaurants POI database.

StevenGourlay · Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:08 pm Post subject:

Will be good to see how accurate the maps are, as Ireland has always been extremely poor coverage.
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Steve101 · Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:02 am Post subject:

I bought Route 66 Navigate 7 last month. It stated it had door to door navigation for Ireland, with a 100% pictorial representation of the UK and Ireland.

So, based on that I ordered myself a copy. Apart from the CD being shipped with missing files, I eventually got it sorted. Only problem is that this DOES NOT have full coverage. The east of Ireland has full coverage. The west side does not. Im on about the country as a whole here, not just the coastal areas.

Sure all the cities in the west are mapped, but small towns and back road are missing. It is very patchy and certainly is not 100%.

I would imagine that it has Q4/2005 version of Navteq maps.

Just posting this, in case some people get misled about the Navigate 7.

On a brighter note, the mapping for Ireland that I do have is very good. Very accurate mapping, and probably 99% of the streets, even the back roads all have names. You certainly won't get lost. Trust your satnav, as the road signs aren't brilliant.

Street names are a bit funny though. I know that in the UK, you turn into 1 street and the name applies to that street until you reach the end. In Ireland, (on back roads) you drive for about 150m and the name changes. You could drive along a mile long straight road and the name changes 4-5 times.

It seems as though Navteq had no choice in the naming convention. It does work, and it is accurate, but with no house numbers, you still need a mobile phone. You wouldn't know you were outside the right house or not. But that's just the way it is in the rural areas.

Overall, very impressed with the maps. I will more than likely upgrade my Copilot 6 to version 7, then I can have 100% coverage too. Navigate 7 has probably got about 80-85% coverage at the moment.

vipergrm · Regular Visitor Joined: Aug 08, 2005 Posts: 82

Hi Steve 101. You are quite right, Route 66 Navigate 7 does use the Q4 2005 Navteq maps. Although Ireland coverage is considerably better than the Q3 2005 maps (i.e Co-Pilot 6), it still doesn't seem to be complete. I am guessing that AA Navigator uses Q1 2006 maps or later. The only other product for PPC coming out soon that will use these maps is Destinator 6. The new Navigon 6 will use Q4 2005 maps. Has anyone heard anything more about Destinator 6? They said on their Press Release that it would be an end of April release. So far, no one seems to know anything about it.

trout · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject:

Having won an AA Navigator at the Basingstoke meet , I hope they have improved the speed of the map changes I got so frustrated I went back to TT5 ,also the speedcamera database had a camera on that had been removed a year before.
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irishrapter · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 3

Well after having a TomTom 700 which itself I found to be a good GPS system but the maps were very bad for Ireland, North and South I have ordered a AA Navigator 2006.

Lets see if its any better! (cant be much worse!!)

Wink

trout · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 5:57 pm Post subject: Re: Just ordered one

AlunS · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:25 pm Post subject:

Just received my copy in the post. I live in Ireland, and although the coverage has indeed improved dramatically, I have serious doubts as to Navteq's claim that they re-mapped every road in Ireland. In my immediate area there were a number of obvious mistakes ... my road is incorrectly spelt, a nearby road that's been there for decades is still "Unknown Road", a road that mysteriously stops 10 m before a road that it has a junction with etc. What's more is that my road appears to have suddenly lost it's street numbers!

I've reported them to Navteq, but have had no reply yet.

irishrapter · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 3

Well I got mine today, have not used it much but I have been messing about with it for a few hours now.

The maps are a big improvement over Telatlas maps that are on the TomTom 700 that I use to have.
I live in the Armagh area of N.Ireland and did a small test run when I was out today. I was in town about three miles from home and did a simple A to B test from the town to back home using the postcode finder.
The unit did a good job, it took me down the roads I normally take and told where to go right to my doorstep.

Need to do a bit more testing to see what its like but so far I think its a good good.

ysurya · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 6:57 pm Post subject:

Is this better than Tom Tom 5 in terms of features Question

irishrapter · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 3

ianrm · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject:

I would agree with the above - I've just purchased the AA navigator and the mapping seems vastly improved anything else I have used in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.

However, the system is signifcantly slower than my previous software (Navigon MobileNavigator 5.2) and the graphics looks like something out of a school IT project - the names of the roads are truncated in the display so you can't really tell where you are and the maps are very low resolution - it maybe I have to play around with the settings more but I would only give it 6/10 and most of that is due to the good map coverage. It does have full 7 digit postcode but no house numbers (only available when choosing by road name).

The Navigon system is much slicker looking and easier to use - but it does wind me up that rather than just providing a map update (that I would willingly pay for) they fleece you by charging for a full upgrade.

Ian

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