Experience with 550 on recent trip

RobertV

Made a trip from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Cornwall. The 550 took us there via Manchester and turned an 8 hour trip into 10 hours and an extra 100 miles after becoming totally confused around Manchester. In Cornwall we used it to reach a National Trust site and it sent us the long way around through many one lane roads when there was a very straight forwarded route there. Oddly enough when I set up a route back home it showed the correct mileage but the instruction list indicated using the A30 to the M42. Looking on the AA maps I could find no connection between the two roads. I suspect tht it might have taken us vis the M5 even though it did not show it on the list but by then I had lost confidence in the unit and consigned it to the boot and plotted a simple route vis the A30 to the M5 to the M42 to the A42 to the M1 and home. The settings are maximize the use of motorways and minimize the use of Urban roads.

I have the traffic module, which failed to route us around any of the many traffic backups, even though it was set to automatic rerouting.

I like many of the features on the unit and it has worked ok for a number of short trips in the North but my overall experience is not good, especially since I am still waiting for the answer to a question posed to the manufacturer back in January.

Unhban · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2006 Posts: 33

Blame TeleAtlas. They do the mappings for Navman....

There's also NavTeq, which Navman used to use....

nortonbeak · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject:

I tried plotting the route from Teesside to Cornwall on my ICN 520. It came up with the not unexpected A1 - M1 - M42 - M5 etc.

I then tried Teesside - Tyneside - Cornwall. Then I got A1 - M62 - M60 - M6 M5 etc.

I don't understand why if you come from Tyneside you are expected to use the M62 and if from Teesside you don't use the M62.

This just appears to be some quirk in the route plotting software and nothing to do with the map makers.
_________________
Navman ICN 520
512 Mb Cygnet SD card
Smart ST 2005 + SP 1

imlost · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 04, 2006 Posts: 28

In the contect of SATNAV are urbun roads dual carrageways ? or simply not morowrays ? I find if I sey my 520 preference for urban roads to 75% and 25% back from quickest it usually takes the route I would have planned.
Geoff

robertn · Frequent Visitor Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 564

This technology is very new, and you have to be careful not to trust it blindly. The map data is not 100% accurate, and the routing is at best a clever computer program. Throw in a few bugs (quirks?) and it's a recipe for disillusionment.
So if you want perfection, ask your wife, because if she is like mine shes always right 8O. Otherwise use your iCN, but don't trust it. Preview each trip just to make sure it looks reasonable.
As for traffic, the traffic module is only as good as the information it recieves.

Cheers.

RobertV · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:16 am Post subject:

Thanks for the various comments. I am not turned off using satnav, having quite successfully used my Garmin Vista for navigation, even though I really bought it for treking. I am hopeful that Navman might resolve some of the issues that I and some others have raised.

TerryWalsh · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:36 am Post subject:

I have found that with all the preference sliders centred on my ICN520 it gives me the same route as on line mapping software such as Multimap. I have used it this way for several long trips (Telford to Sunderland for example) as well as touring the Lake District and it has not let me down. In fact on the Sunderland Trip we also had a Tom Tom Go 300 in the car and that wanted to go via Manchester (the best way, in my opinion is up the A38 to the M1).

Terry Walsh

NedKelly · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject:

I've just got a 530 after previously having a 610 and experiencing a similar problem.(towing a caravan and being routed down single track lanes in WSouth Wales).

My 610 was a returned unit and the settings were Urban Roads 0% and motorways at 75%, i didn't really understand what the "urban road" setting was so i left it as it was, hence the single track lane route as the unit was trying to route me away from them.(being a bit of a "thicko" i thought "urban roads" meant B roads and unclassified roads etc...)

I find that if you have Urban roads set at 100% and motorways at about 75% it works just fine.

I've just planned a route from Warrington to Quimper in Brittany via Plymouth and Roscoff and checked on my road maps and i couldn't have planned it better (towing a twin axle caravan as well).

Hope this helps

Ned

Jabbers · Occasional Visitor Joined: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 35

I recently made a trip to Portmeirion in Wales from Oldham, Gtr Manchester using my 510 with ST2005. It did fine untill the last leg of the journey, when it decided to take me the scenic rural route right over the mountains on a road that was just wide enough for me it did get me to my location but because of the route it took 45 mins longer. I assumed it took me the most direct route because I had it set at the shortest route setting? I did get some stunning scenery photographs that I would never have found the other route and it did get me there.

MR1967 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 16

Having owned my 550 (and TMC) for almost three years they get used on a regular basis for both work and personnel journeys. I find the unit to be a great navigation aid but once in a while the route suggested is not the one which local knowledge/experience would suggest you would take. My settings are 50/50 fastest/shortest with 75% for motorways and 100% for urban roads.

Can I ask any other dinosaurs (sorry 550 users) what settings they have found to work the best?

Thanks

MR
_________________
On the outskirts to nowhere,
On the ringroad to somewhere,
On the verge of indecision,
I'll always take the roundabout way.

	PocketGPS
	Web