Northern Ireland problem - please help!!

[pwallwin]

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 300 last week, but when you search for a specific house number, or even 'go to' a location selected by an icon on the screen (i.e shopping, then a shopping centre), it always sends me off course. When I type in my house number and street name, or house number with post code, it sends me down the other end of the cul-de-sac completely! My work is apparently on the other side of the road, about 100 metres further, etc etc. Everywhere is the same.

I took it back to Halfords for an exchange as I thought it was faulty, butthe guy explained this is normal for Navteq maps in Northern Ireland. Is this true??

Thanks for your help guys, I really appreciate it. :D

[mussey1]

It seems that the postcode search normally puts you in the middle of the postcode area, so if you are searching for a postcode in a rural area, you could end up miles away.

Even when I put in the postcode and number for my house in Belfast it tells me my house is on the wrong side of the street.

Just seems to be the way it is unfortunately.

Mussey1.

[seacon]

I use an i3 and a nuvi 310 in Northern Ireland. Neither are perfect at 'taking me right to the front door' when I use a postcode and house number search but they do get me close enough (and I reckon 50 - 100 m is close enough).

I presumed that this was also the case when using it on mainland UK but can't quote from experience

It can be difficult picking which postcode to use after the nuvi has brought 2 or 3 postcode options on the screen even aftering entering the house number.
Problem can be worse in a rural area.

But let's put all this in perspective - it sure beats maps!

[Skippy]

That's about as good as it gets with sat nav systems at the moment.

The Navteq maps know what the street numbers at at the intersections and the Garmin tries and figure out where each house is from that. The Halfords man is right - it doesn't always take you right to the door though sometimes it will.

If you enter a postcode without a house number then it will take you to the center of that postcode which is usually the correct street or building. Sometimes the location is just plain wrong though, this is due to faults in the postcode database that Garmin licences from the Royal Mail.
_________________
Gone fishing!

[pwallwin]

Guys - thanks a lot!
I'm relieved to hear that I'm not alone here. The other problem I have is the speedo, but after reading the threads about that here, I understand the car speedo is more or less always off.
My brother lives in England and has the same model, and says it works perfectly over there, he can get house numbers better than over here. I guess we'll just have to wait a while till Garmin sort things out.
Thanks again!!

[swing]

You may find things improve with each new map update from Garmin, as the mapping data provider gets "better" at this. There are new maps due to be released early next year, although it will be a chargeable upgrade.

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