Questions about Nuvi 310D **Please Help**

[bwfc0907]

Am really interested in this but don't want to waste my money

Can somebody who owns one please give an honest opinion on these questions

1) How good is the Traffic Information, Pro's/Con's
2) Does it always get routes spot on, if not, how often is it wrong?
3) Do you feel it's worth the money?

I am a family man and want it for days out. Is it the right product for me. I've spent time reading up about sat navs and not convinced by them for the money you need to spend but the 310D is the best option I think if it's of any use.

[Mr_Big]

Hi,

This is my first post on the forum, so hello to all forum users. I've been having a flick through various posts on this site and it seems worth signing up for.
I went down to Halfords today and bought myself the Garmin nuvi 310d and so far I have been extremely impressed with it. It cost £400 which included a 256mb SD memory card, mains charger and mounting bracket and 16 european countries on DVD.
I live over in Northern Ireland so I was interested on the coverage and it's very good. My only exposure to GPS before was in a hire car from Edinburgh airport so at this early stage I can't comment on the finer details.
I have carried out whatever updates were available on the website so hopefully I have did the right thing.
Haven't quite worked out how to get the countries off the DVD onto my sd card but I'm sure someone has posted an idiots guide.
So anyone thinking of taking the jump and getting one of these units I would say you have made a good move.

If I find out thats not the case over the next few weeks, I will post an update.

[bwfc0907]

Mr. Big can you answer my questions over the next week and give me regular updates of your findings please.

[RDS]

I've had a Nuvi 310 for around three weeks.
What made me chose it over other models, particularly Tom Tom 510 and 910, was its compactness and genuinely pocketable size.I can pack up the Nuvi, mount, power lead and aerial into the same space as just the Tom Tom unit on its own. Pretty important given the Police advice to remove any trace of GPS equipment when leaving a vehicle. Also, the Tom Tom x10 series have suffered from widely reported major mount and reliability isses and as yet they appear to still be addressed satisfactorily.

The Nuvi is very easy and intuitive in use and while its graphics aren't as eyecatching as those from Tom Tom they are more than good enough.
The Tom Toms probably have more whistles and bells ie choice of voices, etc however some of these extras may just have novelty value as in do you really need to have a John Cleese giving the voice prompts ?

It has to be said that no GPS will ever replace local knowledge and their routings may not always be the best available, however thanks to the Nuvi I've discovered three alternative quicker and relatively traffic free routes to regularly travelled destinations. From what I gather due to the different sources used Garmins mapping is probably more accurate and up to date than that found on a Tom Tom.

There are some reception issues currently being experienced with the GM12 TMC traffic receiver which comes with the 310D (see other threads on here) The traffic data signal reception can be quite erratic and inconsistent.This is a real pain 'cos when it works it's a great extra to have and the Nuvi will warn of traffic problems on your route and offer an alternative. However Garmin are certainly aware of the problems and are obviously trying to sort things out.It should be pointed out that Tom Tom don't yet have a TMC receiver available and haven't even got a date as to when one might be.

Whether a Nuvi 310D is worth the money only you can decide however it is certainly one of the best GPS available at that price point. There are obviously other Satnavs around which cost less and some which cost more, and as the perfect GPS has yet been made each will have advantages and disadvantages and more or less features than another.

I'd say the best advice is to rank in order of importance which features are most important to you ie price, size, TMC receiver, graphics, reliability, voices, etc. This should narrow down the choice to just one or two which you can then get your hands on at a store. A word of warning if you're going to the likes of Halfords, Dixons, Currys, etc. Try and find out as much about the models you're interested in as possible (manufacturers websites, these forums) before you go as the product knowledge shown by the staff is rarely up to much.

[bwfc0907]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Has it failed to get you to any destination yet?

[JT-Mech]

I've had my 310D about a month now and use it everyday, so far it’s been brill'. Not had a situation where it’s failed to get me to a destination, but if you take a wrong turn (deliberate or otherwise) it recalculates within seconds.

It proved its worth to me a couple of weeks ago when I had to visit the car taxation office in Reading, it took me to the door and at a press of a button guided me to the nearest car park.......beats my old system of looking up maps, writing down routes and having the Navi-Wife read them out

As said the only issue is with the traffic data part, it works but works a hundred times better when plugged into a PC at home and not in the car.

[bwfc0907]

Does it speak instructions?

[RDS]

Honestly, the Nuvi hasn't yet failed to get me to where I've been wanting to go.
As long as a destination is in its database most GPS should be able to get you there. The difference being that one might take you on a slightly different route to another. Also as satnavs work logically they won't always know the roads better than a local ie. avoid a particular road on Tuesdays because of market day, etc. but I feel the pros vastly outnumber the cons
As said previously the Nuvi mapping is slightly more up to date and accurate than those used by TomTom. Although I may be wrong I believe most mapping data is updated no more than annually at most so it is quite possible for roads, houses, etc. constructed within the previous 18 months to be absent. Even so, like most other satnavs, as long as you know where any destination is you can still get there, or at least very near, by using the map feature to pinpoint it.

With the Garmin you can search for an intended destination in several ways including postcode (the 310 will do the full 7 digits, others may only go to 5), address and browse map.You can also save your own favourite destinations and Points Of Interest (POI's)

One slight disadvantage is that if you are planning a route with several stops (waypoints) the Nuvi will only allow one, whereas Tom Tom, and possibly others, will allow more.Although I haven't yet found this to be a problem as when reaching one stop I just put in the next stop as a new destination.

Each model of satnav will have it's own unique quirks but in regular use you can soon adjust to them.
As the 310 was my first GPS I found one of the biggest hurdles was being able to 'trust it'. Initially I occasionally wondered why it was taking me away from a route I had regularly driven.Often the temptation to still go my own way was overwhelming however by following the Nuvi route I do now have several quicker traffic free trips.

[bwfc0907]

Again thanks for the reply. Can you give me a little more info on the erattic TMC. How have you found it personally?

[RDS]

The Nuvi 310 does have voice instructions ie 'turn left', 'enter roundabout and take second exit', but it doesn't have TTS (text to speech).

Amongst other things TTS is where the GPS can also provide road names ie 'turn left onto High St'
The Nuvi 360 and Tom Tom 910, have TTS however these do cost more.
Also some users have said it isn't always as useful a feature as it might seem. I generally find the voice instructions on the 310 to be just fine and feel that there can be such a thing as too much information.
Again I would check out the TTS capability in a shop and see what you think.

Finally, remember there is no such thing as the 'best satnav'. Each model does it own thing in its own way. Some may prefer one manufacturer or model to another and for them it's 'the best'.For others with different needs or preferences it maybe the complete opposite.

To be totally honest I'll be happy when Garmin finally sort the TMC receiver issue but just in case I'm still keeping an eye on how Tom Tom deal with the problems surrounding the 510's and 910's and also when they might have TMC receiver available.

[RDS]

The main problem being experienced with the GM12 TMC receiver is lack of consistancy of receiving data(check out the active threads on this forum)
Basically a good signal could be received at home when the Nuvi is powered from a laptop but in the car on your driveway you might get nothing.Or you can get information when on a motorway but nothing elsewhere.

There's various theories as to what's causing the problem, grounding of aerial, lack of sufficient power from the car power lead or lack of power in the signal being transmitted by Trafficmaster.
However Garmin are more than aware and hopefully will be coming up with a solution soon.

Also, if you want TMC, as I do, the options from other manufacturers are extremely limited.

[bwfc0907]

Thanks for all your help. Called to Halfords and had a play. Seemed quite good, but am not convinced for £400 its worth it.

I really appreciate all your help, I'll keep making enquiries and watch the TMC outcome, considering it's included in the price its not acceptable!

[ililh]

[RDS]

If you say your Nuvi 310 has Text To Speech (TTS) capability either you have a 350 or 360 in disguise or it's unique. The Nuvi 310 doesn't come with TTS. Check out the Garmin website.

Although all the Nuvi 300 range has a verbal prompt feature ie 'Turn right', 'Exit roundabout', etc, amongst other things Text To Speech is a refinement where the GPS will also announce the street names ie 'Turn Left Onto High Street'

Finally, the Nuvi 300 and 310 are essentially the same unit, the main difference being that the 310 is the later model and has bluetooth.

[ililh]

RDS, I'm from Australia and my 310 says, "Turn left into Smith Street". I would have thought 310's were the same in all countries but apparently not.

http://www.ja-gps.com.au/garmin_nuvi310.aspx

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