go 720 route planning

Bubinga · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 26, 2009 Posts: 8

Hi I am very new to all this and it’s a bit of a learning curve. I took my new Go 720 from North Wales to London and back and was very pleased with the identification of cameras especially going into London. However the route planner was very frustrating I wanted to go via m6, m5,m42,m40. But it did not allow me to choose a route in the end when I did not go on the designated route it rerouted and that was fine. On the way back it was dreadful it keep wanting me to go off the motorway and across country. I re-set it and it did work better and eventually agreed with the route that I think is the best.
This is ok when you know the roads but if you don’t can you trust these devises? I got it for the speed camera and joined up with PGPS which is working well. I have looked into the manual and it speaks of Itinerary planning I must be a little dumb as I cannot find it in the go 720 if anyone could enlighten me I would be very grateful.
Thanks B

Andy_P · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:48 pm Post subject:

Hi... it's not you being dimb, its just the current SatNavs have very small brains and can only make very simple decisions.
On the TomTom that basically means "fastest" or "Shortest".
Although they ARE getting better with things like "Traffic" and "IQ Routing" to improve the choice of route, there's till no "Most sensible" route, because that involves us in a huge amount of intuition thet we take for granted but machines just can't do (unless you're talking super-computers maybe).

Anyway, the best way to think of current generation SatNavs is "they will get you there". If you disagree with them or you think you know a better route, then you are probably right! They are simple tools...

Anyway, Itinerary planning should be there on your 720 on page 3 of the main menu on the bottom row in the middle. Isn't it there?

Daggers · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject:

Any device will get you to your destination, so it can be trusted. It may not choose the route you would have done, but it will ensure that you arrive.

Now, what have you got set under Planning Preferences? Shortest Route or Fastest Route? If it chose the shortest route, then that may explain why it wanted you to go cross country.

Also, are you using any of the traffic warning systems? It may have been trying to re-route you around a traffic problem. Or alternatively, the time of day when you were travelling may have caused the IQ routing to have selected an unusual route, because part of the regular journey is often very slow at the time of day you were travelling (e.g. the M5/M6 junction), and it was trying to avoid that.
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Garmin DriveSmart 50 LMT-D

Bubinga · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 26, 2009 Posts: 8

Thanks Andy I have now found it on page 3 I do claim the dumb label and Dagger you where right I must have chosen the shortest route and then rerouted it to the fastest. I do not have traffic set up, it was on a Sunday and a very empty roads. If I make POI on routes that I drive then I could make it defer to my chosen route. I like to see how many miles there are to go and the estimated time of arrival and if I can avoid it rerouting it would work better.
Thanks guys B

mikealder · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject:

Another way to influence the route the device uses is to plan your route using the normal NavigateTo/ Address/ Postcode etc but when the device has planned the route you get the Route Summary screen displayed tap the "Find Alternative" followed by "Travel Via" Point on Map and position the cursor accuratly on the map at a location you want to drive through eg:

Sat at home you would choose NavigateTo/ Address/ City Center and pick London, hit the Find lternate button then Travel Via/ Point on map and position the cursor on the Southbound part of the M40 then press "Done" this adds a single via to your route but forces the Nav unit to go the way you want to.
I use this technique regularly when driving from Blackpool to Coningsby, I like to use a specific B road near Humberside airport, byt adding a single "Travel Via" I get the route the way I want.

There are plently of different options to choose from, as you get used to the device they will become more apparent - Mike

Bubinga · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 26, 2009 Posts: 8

Hi Mike thanks for the tips I will try them all. I have to go to west sussex next week and have been putting in POI's. I will try all the different way and get used to it when I have had more trips.
thanks guys for all your help. B

Alabama978 · Lifetime Member Joined: Mar 29, 2009 Posts: 67

Is Tyre software worthwhile for this sort of thing? I have played with it a bit but not yet tried it out in anger on a real long journey. I'm just wondering is it really worth using google and Tyre if the method Mike just indicated works well?

Rick-uk · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 6:00 pm Post subject:

I would create an itinerary in Tyre for this purpose if you have a longer journey that you would rather customise.

Using the Travel Via method is ideal if you just have one "detour" from the TT route but if you try to add a 2nd point it deletes the 1st (unless I am doing something wrong).

Using Tyre you can add numerour waypoints to fully customise your route.

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