Navman icn maps - SmartSt 2005

Miles · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 9

Am I alone or just unlucky in finding the mapping quite hopeless? My first trip was to Littlehampton where the system lost me as it had not been amended for the one-way system which must have been there for many years. My second trip to a garage in Horsham close to one of the industrial estates resulted in finding myself in a semi pedestriansed area in the main square of the town - far away from the proper destination. Finally the last straw was that I relied upon the system to take me via the m25 to Chartwell - against my better judgement I ignored the signs for Chartwell and pressed on a instructed. I ended up in the Scratchwood service area harassed by a series of contradictory instructions - turn right and before i had a chance -turn left etc. Several time the system has also instructed my to take a certain turning but as soon as I take it, the system demands a U turn. All very disappointing as this system was not cheap last autumn whn I bought it and I guess there can be no way to fix it as it must surely be the software rather than the hardware???

Godfather40 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 06, 2006 Posts: 17

I have been in a long comunication with NavMan Tech support regarding how up to date their latest maps are for the ICN 510/520 and they inform me that they are about 3 years out of date, this is annoying as I have just bought the latest map package as advertised on their web site. They also informed me that I should have waited until after September to up grade as they intend to release new maps then { although they don't say how revent theses are}

Godfather40 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 06, 2006 Posts: 17

I have been in a long comunication with NavMan Tech support regarding how up to date their latest maps are for the ICN 510/520 and they inform me that they are about 3 years out of date, this is annoying as I have just bought the latest map package as advertised on their web site. They also informed me that I should have waited until after September to up grade as they intend to release new maps then { although they don't say how revent theses are}

Miles · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 9

Since posting my message I discovered that some of the difficulties were being caused by software bugs rather than the maps. I rang the helpline and was advised to update the software and since I performed the upgrade a lot of the unreliabilty seems to have disappeared - eg being asked to take non-existent turnings. On the other hand it is quite common to find roundabouts and bypasses which are simply not on the maps and one asked to return to the road on these occasions! You would have though that at least limited map updates would come with the package, but no such luck!

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

I suggest you read the numerous posts on this and other forums re map data, age and accuracy. Basiclly what it boils down to is that because of the amount of data, and the time it takes for changes to pass through the system from when the road changes to when the maps are purchased, most people have unrealitic expectations of the map accuracy.

I am not arguing if the expectation is right or not. Thats a different discussion. What am saying is that the gap between what customers expect and what the manufacturers (Not just Navman) provide is currently very large.

What to do about it - at the moment live with it as it is, or live without it and don't use GPS based mapping, because it is not going to change in a hurry.

In the future, online connections to internet based servers will mean update deployment happens faster. Add to this position tracking tecnology reporting back to a central server, and in say 10 years, a new or modified road wil be identified almost instantly.

jim67 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 27

Regarding accuracy, I saw a program only last year about the way these maps are compiled, I was amazed to find out that they are done by hand !!!! i.e two people driving round in a car and taking notes, sketches and dictaphone messages of new or altered layouts.
This is possibly why maps are out of date when they are released?

Jim.

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