[ses]

i realize that the mapped database may not reflect the latest changes, but i have a question for those who have/use it inmajor metropolitan areas. please.....

does the nav system compensate for: one-way streets, rush-hour reversable one-way streets, long-term street closures ( like capital hill and the white house in d.c.).

does the mapped route auto-update as you drive, or does it only indicate the original plot ( from start-up). if you must detour does it update the plotted route to destination?

do you receive voice prompts (turn right, turn left) or are there only visual prompts (arrows).

if 12v battery is disconnected/discharged, are points etc retained in memory, or must you reprogram everything?

thanks

sid

 

[mrv]

detours - you can tell the navigation
sytem to detour you off of your route
some x distance. If you have the
automatic setting on, if you go off
of the initial set route the system
will compensate and redirect you
from your new location.

If you don't turn off the voice
guidance, the nice Nav lady will
tell you to turn left in 1/2 a mile,
bear right onto route #, etc. The
voice prompts are over the driver's
speaker, and the audio is lowered/muted
when she speaks.

If you were in Japan, traffic alerts
and street closings would be broadcast
to the system, but such a system doesn't
exist in the US, so for things like
the Big Dig in Boston (streets and
highway ramps may change daily) you're
on your own.

 

[Randy Rathbun]

I have the November 2002 data disc. Not sure if there is an update yet, so keep that in mind as you read this.

It also depends what metro area you are talking about. I live in Kansas City and have no problem with the NAV system. However, last month I went to Topeka, Kansas and the system shut off when I got into the downtown area. It still showed me where I was and where I was going, but would not do turn by turn routing - the data for one way roads and such was missing for Topeka. Instead it showed me an arrow that always pointed to the direction I needed to head.

A month prior to this I was in Wichita, Kansas. That area was mapped pretty well. But, Wichita is bigger than Topeka too.

You will also find this same behavior if you go way out in the boonies. I had an astronomy group get-together a few months ago and the system could not handle things once I turned onto a farm road. Had to go about two miles down this road and navigate by looking at the screen to find my turns. But the address it was showing was dead on - it just did not know what to do with the road.

It all depends where the guys at Navtech have gone also. See here for a Slashdot post about how the map data gets made.

The NAV system will also (in KC) route me different ways depending on the time of day. As I leave my office at night, there is a no left turn between 7-9 am and 4-6 pm on Monday-Friday. The system accounts for this. It *DOES* want me to try to make this turn but the lady (I call her Hyacinth, after Hyacinth Bucket from "Keeping Up Appearances") tells me that I may not be able to take the turn because of time of day traffic restrictions.

And if you go off course because of a detour or whatnot, the system does recalculate very fast. Typically it will recalc my route in under 1 second. My Garmin Streetpilot III takes about 10-15 seconds to recalc.