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ViaMitchelin x980T
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jonandmarkuk
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Joined: Aug 06, 2006
Posts: 832
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As promised here is my update having used the x980t for a couple of long trips.

Travelling from Derbyshire to County Durham the routing was really good and easy to follow. Once on the motorway if there is a lot of time before the next instruction motorway mode it activated which switches from the navigation screens too a full overview type map. Gives a much better indication of your relative location.
Once you get about 3 miles to the next instruction the screens switch back.
On motorway guidance, it can be a little confusing when it says 'at the sliproad keep right'... translates as stay on the road and ignore the sliproad, or it could mean you need to change lanes. This is just a different way of Navman saying 'keep right'.

TMC - Reception was nice and solid until we continued our journey to Alnwick, once past Newcastle the reception dried up. On a slight positive note the TMC icon on screen goes red to let you know the signal has been lost.
When road speed information is received icons are placed on the road to indicate the severity of the slow. i.e a red triangle means stationary traffic.

My only gripe is the 'recommended' Mitchelin route may not be suitable for town driving. I wanted to get from Ilkeston to Findern and the route going was reasonable, but coming back it decided it was going to get me back via the M1..... hmmmm was not expecting that at all.
When I got back home I turned off the recommended route and will only use that for long journeys.
Even checked the route on the Mitchelin website and the recommended route comes out the same as the GPS did.

Oh you can go on the viamichelin website and plan your route and then transfer the locations over to the GPS unit.

Other than the what I would call VERY odd routing via the M1 for what should have been a nice country / town drive the unit is really good and would recommend it to anyone.

Strangely the device can seem to vary on the delay before it realises you have made a turn which can be annoying on a slip road approaching a island as you are then given very little warning on which exit you need.
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michaelj2
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Joined: Oct 05, 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:18 am    Post subject: 980T Reply with quote

I have just used my 980T together with my Garmin 2820 extensively in both France and UK.

I agree with most of what has been written here, but would add the following:

980T - excellent display with good TMC in both France and UK. Good quality mount, easy to use and really excellent POI, particularly for restaurants and hotels. Really accurage forecasting of arrival times but about 100m out on turns. However, has some poor routing in some instances - tried to turn me onto non-existing roads (no sign of them at all). Battery life is very poor when used out of the car. I really like the unit despite the flaws.

2820 - Am happy with most aspects, particularly the ability to store multiple routes and waypoints, literally thousands of speed cameras. The TMC is not so accurate (must be the service provider). Very accurate routing and up to date maps. With its other functionality, I think I would stay with this unit although keeping the 980T for its great Guides.
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jonandmarkuk
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

be interested to know what version of of mapping data you have. Just received my mapping update which has changed the data from 2006.01 too 2006.07 not sure what the differences are.
Wonder if your maps show 'planned' roads Laughing Out Loud...
What I find odd is how the map data can come from the same company i.e. TeleAtlas but they can show different roads and rules. Mine did try to take me down a road that had been blocked off. fair enough though I don't think it's that long ago that the council decided to block the road off.
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radavis
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Joined: Mar 27, 2004
Posts: 132
Location: Woodford Green. Essex. UK

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Guys

I am thinking of getting an 980t very shortly, and I was interested in reading that a number of people have noticed a slight lag of about 100 metres between the gps position and the cars actual position. Is this a constant problem? I have a TomTom 700 and on the odd occasion it is slighty behind but 99% of the time it is spot on.

I would be interested to know what people think in a choice between the TomTom 910, the new TomTom one XL and the 980T (honest answers only please :D )

Thanks

Raymond
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jonandmarkuk
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The lag tends to be a problem if you set off driving before the GPS has found your position and people also say not to set a route until it knows where you are.
I always switch it on while getting the mount setup and by the time I have done that generally it's found the GPS and ready to go.
The longer you can leave it before setting off the better the 'fix' on your location is.
The display is handy in that it shows the number of satellites, the lower the number the less accurate the fix.

You maybe interested that the website now shows info on the two new 'lower' models. At the moment they appear to ship with version 6.5 software which the x980T will be upgraded too very soon.
Talk is of a version 7 being available for the new models but yet to be confirmed for the x980t (but if they ship using the same software I would think it would get version 7).

Some of the planned extra features sound really interesting.
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jonandmarkuk
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On this note "slip road approaching a island as you are then given very little warning on which exit you need."

I found that turning off the auto zoom and zooming the 3D map out a little (or using 2D) solves this problem as it gives a better view of the route ahead.
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radavis
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Location: Woodford Green. Essex. UK

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the really quick responce.

The 980T has the SIRF III chip and so should pick up signals very quickly.

If had the choice again would you buy the 980T again?

Raymond
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jonandmarkuk
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be honest, it does have some 'odd' things but I would buy it again.
I think it's so much better than the previous 2 Navman's I have owed and the bonus for me is that they are willing to support the device.
Some others i.e. Navman like to sell a model and try their best to not support it and then replace it with a newer model within months.
The 530 was replaced so quickly that I had hardly had it out the box before it was obsolete. (Funny that the Navman + T1 cost more than the x980T)

BTW.... easydevices.co.uk have a very good price on the x980t at the moment.

All GPS units have odd things, it just depends how you interpret the instructions.
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michaelj2
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:05 pm    Post subject: 980T Reply with quote

I do not know what version of map I have but will check this week.

The slippage of 50 to 100m occurs mainly in "free navigation" and I think if an external antenna is used this would be reduced considerably as it definitely improves if you slow down.

On my comparison between the 980 and 2820 I mentioned that the 980 misdirected down non-existant roads. To be fair this only happened twice in a 300km journey. I only use it in 2D as 3D is too confusing for me!

I really like the device and definitely would buy another one - if an higher model was released. For its price it is really great and the support is quite good. I sent an email to customer support on Monday and received a reply back on Tuesday.
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radavis
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Location: Woodford Green. Essex. UK

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How do you to find the text to speech?

I have had the same problem with my TomTom of being sent down the wrong road. The other week going from London to Brighton I lost the signal for about 20 miles and in the end I had to turn it off, so I think whichever model or make youy buy there will always be problems of one sort or the other.

My TomTom 700 has an older SIRF II chip and so it can take a while to lock on. The SIRF III chip should be much better and I have found that waiting for a lock before moving off always produces the best results, my new car will have a heated front windscreen which the SIRF II will not work through the screen so the SIRF III on the 980T will be perfect.

I saw the 980t at the Expo last Saturday and I realy liked what I saw, I should be getting a new device for my birthday this week and I think as soon as I do I will be sending off for the £7 uodate fro the maps on DVD.

I dont know if you are aware but there is a new antenna being supplied with the 980T to improve TMC reception, I saw it on Saturday at the expo.

I have just sent an email to the company asking when the 980T will be getting the V6.5 update. I will let you know what they say.

Raymond
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jonandmarkuk
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

radavis wrote:
How do you to find the text to speech?

I have had the same problem with my TomTom of being sent down the wrong road. The other week going from London to Brighton I lost the signal for about 20 miles and in the end I had to turn it off, so I think whichever model or make youy buy there will always be problems of one sort or the other.

My TomTom 700 has an older SIRF II chip and so it can take a while to lock on. The SIRF III chip should be much better and I have found that waiting for a lock before moving off always produces the best results, my new car will have a heated front windscreen which the SIRF II will not work through the screen so the SIRF III on the 980T will be perfect.

I saw the 980t at the Expo last Saturday and I realy liked what I saw, I should be getting a new device for my birthday this week and I think as soon as I do I will be sending off for the £7 uodate fro the maps on DVD.

I dont know if you are aware but there is a new antenna being supplied with the 980T to improve TMC reception, I saw it on Saturday at the expo.

I have just sent an email to the company asking when the 980T will be getting the V6.5 update. I will let you know what they say.

Raymond


The text to speech is a little odd.... At times it sounds just perfect and is really easy to understand, but other times it seems to just mumble the words like it's trying to pretend to know the street name. I suspect that maybe more an error on the map as I would think the information is being read from the maps.

I hope they put the new TMC antenna improves reception as in general it has been fine, but odd areas where you need it the reception can drop (At least you have an icon on screen that goes red when the signal has gone)

Someone said the update will be available soon. I'm more interested on when the Version 7 upgrade will be released Smile I'm only assuming the x980t will get the software but as it's still the top of the range model I can't see them upgrading the cheaper models and giving more incentive to buy the other ones.

GPS units are still very new technology so each one is going to have different strengths and weaknesses.

Whatever you do make sure you cut out the barcode from the outer box before throwing it out or you won't be able to get your £7 map update.
Not sure how the 2 year map update thing is going to work yet. I get the impression it maybe a subscription thing?
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Lester_Burnham
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jonandmarkuk wrote:
Travelling from Derbyshire to County Durham the routing was really good and easy to follow. Once on the motorway if there is a lot of time before the next instruction motorway mode it activated which switches from the navigation screens too a full overview type map. Gives a much better indication of your relative location.
Once you get about 3 miles to the next instruction the screens switch back.


That sounds a truly excellent feature - especially for long journeys, I suspect something that passengers may well appreciate.
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jonandmarkuk
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Location: Derby

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a very good feature. On the 960 and 960 site it says it will announce towns and POI along the route. I know the 980 can beep for selected POI but the feature described with the 6.5 version of software sounds slightly different.

I mostly get my passenger to look at the screen anyway, but it is handy to glance at and be assured that you just stick on the same road until it switches back to the 3D or 2D navigation mode.
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michaelj2
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Joined: Oct 05, 2006
Posts: 157

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

radavis wrote:
How do you to find the text to speech?

I have had the same problem with my TomTom of being sent down the wrong road. The other week going from London to Brighton I lost the signal for about 20 miles and in the end I had to turn it off, so I think whichever model or make youy buy there will always be problems of one sort or the other.

My TomTom 700 has an older SIRF II chip and so it can take a while to lock on. The SIRF III chip should be much better and I have found that waiting for a lock before moving off always produces the best results, my new car will have a heated front windscreen which the SIRF II will not work through the screen so the SIRF III on the 980T will be perfect.

I saw the 980t at the Expo last Saturday and I realy liked what I saw, I should be getting a new device for my birthday this week and I think as soon as I do I will be sending off for the £7 uodate fro the maps on DVD.

I dont know if you are aware but there is a new antenna being supplied with the 980T to improve TMC reception, I saw it on Saturday at the expo.

I have just sent an email to the company asking when the 980T will be getting the V6.5 update. I will let you know what they say.

Raymond


I would be interested to know what they say to you as I have also asked this question. I would look at the new TMC antenna. Do you or anyone else know if you can buy an external GPS antenna for the unit and, if so, where can it be connected.

Michael
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jonandmarkuk
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Posts: 832
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm interested when the new TMC aerial will go on sale as an accessory.
As for the GPS, you should be able to get one off ebay as you just need to see what type of fitting it is and order the correct kind.
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