RM300-2 units, 2 problems :/

cudaboy_71 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2005 Posts: 2

hi all.

i got myself an RM300 for christmas, and out of the box there was a colorsync error in the screen--that is, intermittently it would lose one of its color channels and display would have a greenish hue over it. (if anyone's ever had a component video monitor and pulled one of the components you'll know what i'm talking about.) talked with magellan tech supt. and they confirmed i should return the unit.

but, in the 3 weeks it took amazon to ship me a replacement, i got to wring the defective unit out. and, i am very impressed. this particular unit would aquire its location within seconds of booting, and routing often took less than 10 seconds for trips in town.

often, i wouldnt even put up the antenna because i saw no increase in performance while routing/acquiring.

and, what's more--after 3 weeks of use the 'color sync' problem seems to have almost completely worked itself out. i dont know if it was just a hardware burnin issue, or if i'm just lucky at the moment.

ok, that's all i have to say about unit 1.

unit 2 arrived yesterday, and i got it all updated with the exact same map info and address book from unit 1. so far, there is no indication of the 'color sync' problem, which is good.

both units shipped with an original location somewhere in mendocino, ca...i guess where they were last running. unit 1 required me to go out to the car and turn on the unit. almost immediately a litte hourglass popped up and within 30-60 seconds it showed me in my driveway.

unit 2 just sat there for 5 minutes in mendocino. no hourglass or any other activity. so, i started driving around my neighborhood. about 3 minutes later the hourglass came up, and after about 3 minutes it acquired its location. but, this only after i raised the antenna.

flash forward to this morning. i want to further test this unit so i use it for my 30 minute commute across town to work. 10 minutes into the drive, the unit finally pops up the hourglass icon and starts trying to find its new position (it still shows me sitting on my driveway from last night)

it finally acquires its location and routes my trip in 10 seconds or so.

further testing its ability to acquire, i power cycle the unit. again, it takes about 5-10 minutes to acquire its location and reroute. (it does several routing progress bars, but always shows my current location at the point where i powercycled). when it finally acquired i was 1 block from work and did not have a chance to further investigate.

this is obviously unacceptable. i'm just curious if anyone has any similar experiences and/or suggestions.

i think if my unit 2 had been my unit 1 i may have just accepted that this was normal behaviour because this is my first GPS unit. i also would have probably returned it without exchange.

now i'm debating whether i just keep my unit 1 and hope the screen doesnt die prematurely or try for a unit 3.

mikeossy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2005 Posts: 52

I dont have an RM300 but i have used most of the units which appear on all these forums, and on using some I can elaborate a little on what maybe wrong.
The aquiring satellites definatly sounds as if your car has either a heated screen or has a UV protection coating, which will be 'scrambling' the gps signal, and causing the unit to 'hickup'. If your car does have one of these two screens then a re-raidiating aerial is the onlyway you will be able to get and maintain a direct signal with the satellites.
If you car doesnt then it sounds as if Unit 2 has a hardware problem and on the face of it using unit 1 i would send it back and go for 3rd time lucky.

Hope that helped a bit Rolling Eyes

Mike
_________________
TTG 720 with TT Home edition 2.0
Nokia N95 for GPRS Weather and Traffic updates.

cudaboy_71 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2005 Posts: 2

thanks for the reply.

it has been about a month since i originally posted. the bugs have all been worked out, and everything is running well now.

while i still had both units in my possession, i took them both out on the road simultaneously. and, for about 30 minutes of testing, i had the same problem with unit 2 aquiring until *something* happened---the flippin' aerial fell off and rolled under my seat. my jaw dropped.

upon examining the aerial though, it is just a plastic pressure fitting. i guess it was never seated properly or fully. by firmly pressing the aerial back into its connector unit 2 now performs equally as well as unit 1 (which has now been returned for refund).

i am very happy with this unit now.

mikeossy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2005 Posts: 52

Glad its sorted fantastic unit unit for the price.
_________________
TTG 720 with TT Home edition 2.0
Nokia N95 for GPRS Weather and Traffic updates.

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