I know these sometimes miss out short cuts like A5-A14 via Catthorpe rather than M6 but I was staggered to discover they sometimes route over private property.
During planning for next year's caravanning holiday, MS AutoRoute selected a route from Lochalsh to Kinlochewe by a road which I know to be private property and only 6'6" wide. As the narrow bridges on this stretch have no sides, this would have been terminal for a 7'3" caravan!
Are SatNav or PC route planners worth the money if all routes have to be checked manually against a paper map ?
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Roger,
IMO they are not much use.
I have set in 'shortest route' and it has tried to take me off the motorway along minor B roads and through villages and rejoin the motorway later. This to save a mile or so when the motorway curves.
On the other hand if you set it for 'dual carriageways and motorways' it will take you halfway across the UK and back to avoid a couple of miles of single carriage roads.
I have set it to go via certain towns and of course it doesn't take the bypass but routes you into the town centre. To avoid this you have to get out the map and enter 'go via junction of Axxx and Ayyy.'
They are ok if you know the way!
C
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Cardew, it sounds as though it was doing exactly what you asked it to do :).
Seriously, the inability of the underlying programs to interpret what you meant rather than what you asked for is what makes these things a bit of a curate's egg. What is really needed is an algorithm that applies human common sense, which I wouldn't say was impossible because I'm sure someone out there knows better, but which doesn't seem to be part of route planning software, yet.
I have used SatNav when alone in my car to find my way across country to motorway junctions and so-on and it has worked well, although it may not always have chosen the route I would have. It does allow me to keep my eyes on the road, though, rather than trying to sneak a glance at the map every few minutes.
They will improve, I'm sure. In the meantime I won't be throwing out the map book just yet.
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Yes.
Just been to North Yorks on a two week course. Sat Nav plotted the route and never failed me. It got me to the driveway of the venue in a very very thick fog. The only time I got lost was in the grounds of the place I was staying where it finally gave up the ghost. A check with an atlas and a PC (RAC website) confirmed the route of the kit in the BMW. I have faith in it.
By the way ever driven without blinking for 4 hours ? - I did !!
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Hi
Sat Nav is not 100% reliable and will take you via odd routes, in addition sometimes it reacts too slowly during a series of turns (i.e. it tells you to turn left after the road you needed).
nevertheless it is a worthwhile back up and I use it in conjunction with a good road map.
regards
Vercin
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There was a challenge in London last month - 3 drivers instructed to navigate from Hendon to Greenwich by different methods. Black cab using "knowledge" completed the route in 73 minutes, Mini Cooper with SmartNav did it in 94 minutes, avoiding hold-ups at Brent Cross and Victoria, two guys in a Ferrari with an A-Z (I kid you not!) gave up after 3 hours...
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This is a true story (not one that happened to a mate of a mate and became mine). I once used mapblast.com and got a route from my postcode to a customer's postcode.
Followed it, and followed a road that I thought must be heading to their industrial estate. I stopped when the road turned into a boatyard on the Thames (magic!).
Phoned the customer and found that I was just 200 yards from them, only on the wrong side of the Thames. The trip up to Marlowe (the next crossing) and back cost me around half an hour.
The moral? Even if you use one of these route finders, check on a map as well.
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Slice
"Cardew, it sounds as though it was doing exactly what you asked it to do :)."
Agreed, although I am not sure that it will ever get much better. Their inherent inability to deal with diversions for road closures etc will always be their Achilles heel. - in spite of the fact that future generations will link to trafficmaster or similar.
I do not deny that they are of some use, but until the cost comes down to a couple of hundred pounds I will not invest in them.
How much does it cost to update SatNav to cater for new road layouts? - That seems to happen in London every few weeks
C
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I could cope with odd journeys which are not quite optimised but the thought of being directed on a route which would write-off the vehicle/outfit makes me think that I wouldn't rely on them, even if they were free.
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There's SatNav in the Mercedes ML I borrow from time to time. I love it, and it works pretty well. Certainly more reliably than I can read a map on the move.
The only thing about it is that you frequently arrive at your destination without actually knowing where you are and you have to use it to get back again !
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The daughters partner has just taken delivery of a 2.2d c class, a very nice car with a impressive hands free telephone system more like a conference system allowing anyone in the car to transmit and receive (uses car stereo speakers), anyway it also has a GPS system which he demostrated,the system transmits directions verbally and also by visual display,its ok but going over a familiar route i was surprised to find that verbal instructions were given via distance rather than next left etc. For example "turn right in 100m",when what i would have expected it to say is "turn 2nd right", with both right turns close together it is possible to miss a turn if pushing on.However a missed turn is flagged up and new instructions are transmitted.
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I'm o.k. with the Siemens sat-nav set up on the Omega - it works well and fast and has always got us there. Great if your passenger can't navigate.
It guided us through Paris without any hassles, very relaxing.
Some routes it selects do seem a bit strange though and sometimes circuitous - so common sense and some knowledge is best applied. Like any computer programme.
Big advantage is that I don't have to accompany SWMBO on some of her trips as she now has confidence in the system.
I've used some of the internet based route finders in the past and have found them generally useful (particularly, Mappy and Shell) - but again, you need to apply common sense.
Both methods are good for finding particular adresses in strange towns.
I've never had any problems with the Caravan.
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I use ms mappoint a fair bit, bit obviously tune the route when i see it doing something obviously stupid, like coming off the motorway to cut corners. The main reason i use it is to print out street maps of the final destination.
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Part of my job involves visiting dealerships all over the country. I do not have the luxury of a SatNav system but have used directions in the past generated by Autoroute type systems. I have got lost every time!
Now I type the postcode of my destination into MultiMap and then zoom out printing each time a colour map until you get to a Motorway Junction for example. As I approach the destination I turn the pages to get a larger scale map. You can even print an overhead aerial picture of the destination to get an idea of the lie of the land, something SatNav cannot do.
The best bit - it's all free!
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I'm thinking of getting a GPS system for my new car (a DIY one attached to a personal digital assistant). Does anyone have recommedations about best buys, please, or where I can get best buy info on the net?
Many thanks!
frmarcus
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