Time to change Satnav

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Comments

  • layton1837
    layton1837 Forum Participant Posts: 109
    edited March 2019 #32

    Why not try one of these TOP! 7 Inch Truck&Car GPS Navigation Free EU UK Maps 8GB SAT NAV Navigator Touch Have used one for the last 4 years free map updates. Used for 12 months in conjunction with my Snooper (£320)  Much preferred the cheap one. Still using it .My snooper gave up the ghost  after 4 years.

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2019 #33

    Ok I have followed the update path and all it did was to download the GPS version onto my tablet leaving the caravan version untouched. I can actually run both on the tablet independently but not at the same time.

    From a quick look at the GPS version 10.10.0.648 you can define a number of vehicle profiles but not a caravan. (Note, this was probably purely cosmetic in the Caravan version anyway) You can define a motorhome and I suspect a caravan under either the HGV or MGV categories but the range of route preferences has been reduced. While you can define how you want to use toll roads and ferries I note the ability to define preferred road types has been removed from all versions, including Truck from the latest software versions i.e.10.9 onwards. I don’t know when they did this but I have not yet noted any problems with this compared to when it was available.  POI numbers and categories do not seem to have changed but the way you search them has. You select the search criteria first then the category rather than the other way round.  I have also not been able to load custom POI e.g. the Club sites but this may be due to running two different versions on the same tablet? The data appears to be in a common file but I think it must be tied to the one App somehow. Once you have carried out the update you asked to remove the old version.

    I don’t see why the latest version of GPS should not be as good as previous versions for use by leisure outfits providing customised POIs can still be loaded. The user interface is very much the same but without actual use for a time to check the navigation  it is difficult to say.

    I'll play some more.

    peedee

  • Freddy55
    Freddy55 Club Member Posts: 1,810
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    edited March 2019 #34

    What are folks opinions on the Avtex One?

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2019 #35

    I have also not been able to load custom POI e.g. the Club sites but this may be due to running two different versions on the same tablet? The data appears to be in a common file but I think it must be tied to the one App somehow. Once you have carried out the update you asked to remove the old version.

    Yup you can load custom POIs in much the same way as older version. The path to the holding file is just slightly different. on a PC it is:

    Computer\Galaxy Tab S2\Card\Android\data\com.alk.copilot.mapviewer\files\EU\save

    peedee

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2019 #36

    Sorry cannot help you as I have never owned an Avtex. Have you tried a google search, it does bring up plenty of reviews and sites which have made previous comments about Avtex including this one.

    Here are a few you might like to check out:

    U-Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opi66wGUH1U

    CT https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/information-technical-tips-advice/caravans/avtex-camper-sat-nav/ and https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/information-technical-tips-advice/caravans/sat-nav-snooperavtex-tourer-one-plus/

    peedee

  • greylag
    greylag Club Member Posts: 585
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    edited March 2019 #37

    Well done Peedee!

    Copilot may be the one!

    Thank you.

  • greylag
    greylag Club Member Posts: 585
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    edited March 2019 #38

    Peedee

    Can you choose fastest or shortest routes?

    Tomtom had a habit of sending us down narrow country lanes, from one main road, cutting across to another main road.....when we could have carried on to a main junction.

    The way you are speaking, I reckon you cannot avoid narrow roads.

    Many thanks.

  • Freddy55
    Freddy55 Club Member Posts: 1,810
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    edited March 2019 #39

    Thanks for that. I’m getting the impression that there are problems/dissatisfied customers with all these devices. I have a Ford Kuga with inbuilt satnav (Sync3), and on some occasions (especially in Wales) it tries to take us down some very silly roads (tracks).

  • greylag
    greylag Club Member Posts: 585
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    edited March 2019 #40

    With satnav we often used to say 'Why'.........

    I think they are brilliant, just beggars belief sometimes at choice of road.

    On every journey I can almost guarantee a female voice softly whispering in my left ear....'WHY IS SHE TAKING US THIS WAY, ON MY MAP THERE IS A BETTER ROUTE'!

    With the weather at the moment, I am not in a rush to get the van out of storage, so a little more time for decision time.

     

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2019 #41

    Can you choose fastest or shortest routes?

    For Co-Pilot GPS it all depends on which vehicle profile you use. For smaller vehicles like car and motorcycle it is "Quickest" or "Shortest" but for the heavier larger vehicles it is "Practical" or "Shortest"  So if you define your outfit's profile within the heavier vehicle categories you will have the choice of  "Practical" or "Shortest"

    I have no idea what the difference is between "Quickest" and "Practical" is, I can only think the latter tries to keep to the major roads.

    With the older version you used to be able to state your road preferences for any profile. e.g. prefer major roads avoid local ones etc. but Co-Pilot are claiming the newer version has much better alogrithms and this is no longer necessary.

    There is also a function called Active Routes which supposedly uses historic traffic data to optimise your route .i.e. avoid potential traffic jams.

    peedee

     

  • trussers
    trussers Forum Participant Posts: 14
    edited March 2019 #42

    I have just bought one of the Garmin satnavs advertised in the Club magazine, and used it for the first time in caravan mode this weekend.  Ensured full outfit measurements correctly installed, and regret I am very disappointed.  On two occasions device tried to take us down B-road specifically mentioned on the club directions guide as unsuitable for caravans.  Anyone else had this?

  • greylag
    greylag Club Member Posts: 585
    Name Dropper
    edited April 2019 #43

    Well....I listened to all the good advice given on here and as I was getting ready to make a purchase, I stumbled on to the TomTom mobile phone app.  Looked interesting, considering that I have been a TomTom user for many years.  It also displays current speed on road.  The price was reasonable and the mapping looked clear and bright, so I purchased it.

    No matter what I try, I can't get the voice to work for more than short periods.  Today, after TomTom support told me how to do a system reset, the voice still does not work.

    I am trying to get a refund as the app does not do what it is supposed to, though I doubt a refund will be speedily forthcoming.

    Back to drawing board.  Still have 3 weeks before trip to Scotland.

  • LeTouriste
    LeTouriste Forum Participant Posts: 348
    edited April 2019 #44

    I started with a Panasonic satnav, but soon changed to a Tomtom.  Then I bought a later Tomtom with free lifetime updates. After this went back for repair, and began to give trouble after repair, I ditched it in favour of my earlier Tomtom, but did not update it because the cost was abortive.  Whilst still cogitating on a replacement, I changed my car to a VW Caravelle, and this has a built-in satnav.  It can be updated without cost, but the procedure is a bit comploicated.  Whilst it seems a general improvement over the Tomtom, using some of the menus is a bit daunting.  I tend to select my destinations based on GPS, and inputting these readings is a totally different method to anything I've done before. Switching on the road lights automatically changes the screen to nighttime mode, and a second view appears in the MFD, showing countdown markers and arrowed directions for left or right, etc.   I sometimes wonder how my satnav compares to those built into other vehicle makes.

  • LeTouriste
    LeTouriste Forum Participant Posts: 348
    edited April 2019 #45

    Here's a strange thing. If I want to select a destination i can use the touch screen to expand the map and scroll until I locate my intended destination and then tap it to give me a route from my current position.  For a trial, in this way I selected a destination in France.  Suddenly the map inverted, putting north approximately where south should be.  There was no way I could correct this except by collapsing the map, but the inversion recurred when I expanded it again.  The only way to stop it was to switch off the satnav and boot up again from scratch.

    This has only happened when I chose to "cross" the english Channel. To avoid problems on the day, I have decided to select my French destination only when we have docked at St Malo.  I do carry a printed route guide for back up as a precaution.

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
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    edited April 2019 #46

    I select my next stop while sitting waiting to disembark. Satnavs increasingly seem to have become idiosyncratic. All these fancy pictures of which lane to be in. Perhaps it's all getting too much for these gizmos.