Inaccurate post codes for Garmin i3

dougconran

I've just received my Garmin Streetpilot i3 and the first 3 post codes I put in were inaccurate for one reason or another. My home address came up about 3 miles away from where I live and on a different road, my parents house wasn't listed although it is ten years old and a friend's house was also incorrectly placed.

I'm using V7 of the mapsource maps, does anyone else have this sort of problem?

Doug

danoli

dougconran · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 5:35 pm Post subject:

Yes, I've tested them in multimap and the addresses in Tom Tom 3. Both show the correct position.

Part of the problem with the Garmin is that there is no means (that I'm aware of) of being able to refine a selection. Either the town/village is in the database (my village isn't) or you have to rely on a full post code search.

In Tom Tom 3 (on a pda) I can get to the approximate area and then use the touchscreen to select the right spot, I can't do that with the Garmin.

Fixing my home address is not too much of a problem but if post codes are inaccurate then the whole thing is worthless.

If it works I like its form factor much more than a pda but - does it work?

Doug

MaFt · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 5:39 pm Post subject:

can you post the postcode and i'll have a look too.

MaFt

dougconran · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject:

My post code is IP29 4AF - this shows in the Garmin as in a village called Chedburgh on the A143 whereas in fact it is a smaller village called Brockley on the B1066 about 3 miles east of Chedburgh.

Thanks

Doug

MaFt · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 5:58 pm Post subject:

bizarre... the royalmail site also shows brockley... may be worth getting in touch with garmin to see if they can get it corrected with their map suppliers? not had any trouble with postcodes. are you able to put 'hedgerows, brockley and house number' in a standard address search without postcode? if so, what postcode does it give once it's been searched?

e.g. i search my address 'hill top road, thornton, bradford', and it shows the full address with postcode bd13 3qx. maybe they changed your postcode without telling you... Confused

MaFt

dougconran · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:20 pm Post subject:

When I type in the village name it finds the correct Brockley (actually it only displays one although there are 3 in Suffolk and ours is called Brockley but is Brockley Green on maps!! - that's Suffolk for you) but the road that I live in is not displayed. It is part of a new(-ish) development that is about 4 years old so I would have thought that the maps should be up-to-date (particularly as Tom Tom 3 DOES show the road!). The post code shows only the first 4 characters when it shows the address so it is difficult to see if it is correct or not.

I guess the point you make is that post code searching IS pretty accurate and I've just been (very) unlucky.

I really like the compactness of the device particularly after having a b** great pda on a stalk stuck on my windscreen. But, at the end of the day, I need to be confident that it is going to navigate me to the correct place, otherwise I might just as well use the wife.

To anyone else that has read this far - what is the general opinion of its accuracy and usefulness?

Doug

zogman · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject:

dougconran..dont forget mate you can allso use the find an address mode instead of postcode search.......my opinion on my 'gobby gabby'....great!!

danoli · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:31 pm Post subject:

KINH · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:44 pm Post subject:

dougconran

I have also had a post code problem, we live in a private courtyard which has only had its postcode allocated last year, however when i put it in the i3 it tells me i live .3 miles away ?

This is the only time i have encountered a postcode problem & i simply got round it by setting my home location from where the unit was at the time rather than from a postcode.

I checked the postcode on the royal mail site in case it had been duplicated but this wasn't the case. In fact they advised me that this was the first time this postcode had ever been used in the uk Question

Skippy · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:38 pm Post subject:

zogman · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject:

i think skippy might have a point..my postcode covers nearly my whole street thats why shops also ask for a house number and a postcode....maybe in more rural places a postcode might cover a larger area ...just a thought...

Lewy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 7

I have had a small problem with the i3, it will not find Cardiff!! until i get there, from Swansea!!!!

So I have to travel to Cardiff then input where I want to get to Confused

MaFt · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject:

Lewy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 7

yeh, but cant find it from address, it says post code or city, but will not find either till i near there!!! odd, other than that its ace.

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