Route 66 Chicago 8000...Opinions

Diggles

I've been watching this forum to try and decide which sat nav to buy. The Route 66 Chicago 8000 seems good value at the mo. Has anyone any experience or opinion on it. I need it for hols here and in Portugal.

macshadow

I have the 8000,i haven't used it much but it's easy to use with a nice big screen.
I got mine for E269 online.coverage seems v good even in rural areas.
Only problem i've had is battery goes flat if not used for a few days even from fully charged.

MuffinsDa

I was tempted to buy one myself as the maps are latest navteq (good) and I've used Route66 software on PDA before and it was really easy to use. The only thing kept me from buying it was reading about some (minor) problems people had with the on/off button and the battery. Also, TomTom One Europe with latest navteq maps from Halford is only 299, almost the same price as route66 if you add postage to it, so why bother?

jmponeill

New Garmin Nuvi 250 Full Eire Uk and Western Europe 299 in Halfords others will match price. Got one and pleased so far.

MuffinsDa

jmponeill wrote:

New Garmin Nuvi 250 Full Eire Uk and Western Europe 299 in Halfords others will match price. Got one and pleased so far.

that's a good price. Presume it's a no-frills version of 310D, positioned to compete with TomTom One Europe?

bogman

Route 66 Chicago 8000, similar to the 9000 which is excellent, no more problems with on/off button and battery lasts up to 4 hrs, a buddy of mine got one recently from Komplett and upgraded the firmware right away

ldr

hi guys, have a look at this one before buying

http://www.mio-tech.be/en/gps-navigation-products-c510e-overview.htm


plenty of features, and the irish map is spot on

Shane™

Just received my Route 66 Chicago 8000 from komplett.ie yesterday, so far looks good but wish it had a "Directory" type search like the neverlost I used in the states, couldn't find a bank by name and location :rolleyes:

Beside all that it is good and I've found out how to put that (relatively) big screen to use...

From gpspassion, French site: How to get into WInCE
1. Press the soft reset on the bottom of your Chicago (a line of white text appears).
2. Immediately press and hold the menu button (under the power button on the right) until a small gray line appears at the bottom of the screen - this is the Start bar.
3. Click on the bar to bring up the Start menu.

You can now install stuff on your Chicago. I used TCPMP which I took from the 920T guide here on boards.ie, and I installed it to "My Flash Disk". I also loaded the videos onto the Storage Card using ActiveSync from Microsoft.

This guy also has a lot to say but it's in French!

Hope this helps
Shane

tjtops

I have just received my Chicago 8000 and can;t get any further than 'Fatal aplication error (just after I calibrated the screen)..MainShell.exe has performed an illegal operation and will shut down'....ARRRGHHH,..has anyone any ideas????

qork

wipe the SD Card and reinstall the software from cd.
Qork

tjtops

Thanks Qork.....but I did what it said and wiped the SD card 'storage'...copied the filed from 'memory image' from the CD...but nada. Just the same. I do the calibration and immediately the MainShell error message comes up and I can;t even get a menu screen......

qork

tjtops, sounds like your windows operating system is corrupt...did you go messing around with it, or is it like that out of the box??
Qork

tjtops

Hi again
That's what I wondered...becasue yes it did do it straight out of the box...problem being, what to do next? I haven't got the original packaging here (too bulky to fit in suitcase)....bought it from Pixmania online... (?)

qork

tjtops, I'd get in touch with Route 66 Directly, website address is here, and see what they will say, pixmania would probably tell you the same,
Qork.

tjtops

thanks Qork...I have done.and am still waiting some constructive advice!! They seem hung up on re-formatting the memory card and copying some files from the CD, but the problem (as you say) I feel is in the device itself with the windows program (which isn't on the memory card or on the CD anyway!)...in any case, the unit behaves exactly the same whether the memory card is in it or not!

P. Breathnach

I'm tempted by this product, which is currently on offer from Pixmania for €180 (+shipping).

Is it much use for navigating in the greater Dublin area -- things like picking the best route from Marino to Maynooth?

qork

P. Breathnach, I got one of these from Pixmania two weeks ago, and I must say I am very impressed. I had a Garmin Quest before this, and compared to the Garmin the Chicago 8000 is extremely easy to use, huge screen, voice is much better, and all of europe mapping!! (The Garmin I could only load some countries at any given time. The Chicago gives me logical routes to destinations compared to the Garmin. I've since got another 4 of these from Pixmania for friends and family. I also used the hack described in this thread and am able to use it to watch videos too! For the money it is excellent value. It is still 399 euros on the Route 66 Website.
Qork

tjtops

Hi again Qork. I had to give up in the end and send my Chicago back to Pixmania for refund...the tech guys at Route 66 reckoned there must have been a basic fault with the unit as it was impossible to re-install the software. To be fair, they did try to help...both the English support team and the Netherlands equivalent, but obviously all the faffing about ate seriously into the 15-day refund period. It now remains to be seen how quickly I do get the refund, since it has had to go via my mum who has the original box (!). But I am now wondering whether to risk ordering another one (they wouldn;t send a replacement to me in Spain cos I'd ordered the original from England), or try another make...

P. Breathnach

Thanks, Qork -- but they're gone. It must be those people buying in batches of 4.

Anyway, Herself says I don't need it. I think she wants me to get lost.

tjtops

Yes Qork, I saw that too!!! So now what to buy?? Bearing in mind it has to be shipped to Spain.....what are your thoughts about the Garmin Nuvi 250 (Europe)??

qork

tjtops, the Garmin Nuvi 250 looks good, as I said in a previous post the Chicago 8000 is very good and simple, the Garmins do have some nice extra features,
Qork.