Sat-Nav

P.K

hello,

ill keep it short and sweet,
I would like some general advice for a decent Sat-Nav, for someone who would have trouble with turning on a computer(not me:P).
So something easy to use, update and isnt going to cost an arm and a leg would be nice, ive a max of a about 180-200.

Theres quite alot of threads about different makes and models etc
would love if someone could point me in the right direction.

thanks
Paul K

(sorry to the mods if its not right place, feel free to move or merge)

mrmac

Hi Paul, I'd recommend a TomTom One, with UK & ROI maps.
Doesn't have bluethooth, can't connect to your mobile phone, but is very easy to use.
Plus, these can be picked up for less than 90 pounds, if you can get to a Halfords store in the north?

Link: http://tinyurl.com/6zj9te

Remember - this will not run the full European Map version, but you can take the UK & ROI map off it, and load on another, say France or Spain, and then swap back again when you return home.

Hope this helps.

R3al

I use a Garmin 310 Deluxe and find it is excellent, apparently Garmin are meant to have better maps of rep of ireland than Tom Tom

garydubh

Got a SatNav? - Have a Question or Complaint? - Stop and Read this First!
Here we are again - at that time of year when the usual complaints about SatNav’s received for Christmas or in the New Year’s sales begin.

This year I would ask you to read this post once at least before you make your complaint so that you have some background to the technology that is a SatNav. Furthermore, this is an Irish perspective and SatNav’s in Ireland have very particular Irish problems which should be taken into account.

SatNav’s are now one of the most popular consumer items in Ireland with an estimated 0.5 million in use and a projection for more than 1 million in the country by 2010. Basic SatNav’s have halved in price in the last 18 months.

This post is written by way of giving some background to SatNav use in Ireland which may help explain some of their apparent shortfalls.
SatNav’s, no matter who makes them, consist of 4 main elements – a GPS receiver, Digital Road Mapping, the User themselves and the software to bring the first three together…………..

As for the GPS receiver itself;- GPS, meaning a Global Positioning System which, by its very name, means that it can be used anywhere in the world including Ireland. However, a GPS receiver must be able to see the sky to work and if yours is not getting a position it is normally because you have located it so that it cannot see enough sky. The signal from GPS Satellites is so weak that even your hand can block it. There also may be antiglare treatment on your windscreen which is blocking the signal or, maybe you have a front window heater which can also block the signal. The first of these happens routinely when a SatNav is put into a hire car abroad. In both cases, if your SatNav supports an external antenna then this will solve the problem. If it does not, then you have the wrong SatNav for you.

If you are in any doubt about your SatNav, take it into the open air, allow it see the sky and if it gets position, then all is ok but if not;- then you have a problem which your supplier will have to solve for you.
Routinely you see SatNav’s located in the middle of a windscreen just under the mirror. This is not the place for a SatNav for several reasons. The higher a SatNav is on the windscreen, the more likely that satellite signals are blocked by the vehicle’s roof. So SatNav’s should be mounted as low down as possible on the windscreen to see the most sky above and this may also allow it to rest on the dashboard to give it additional support against vibration. Unless you are left handed, why put it in the middle of the window where it is harder to use and a significant distraction when you are trying to use it? Low down on the windscreen, preferably resting on the dashboard with easy access using your right fingers to the right side of the steering wheel is where it should be. And all the usual security warnings apply – take it out of the car when not in use, do not put your home address in it or any other personal information.

All this, of course, assuming you are using a portable SatNav and not a fixed one which costs more, requires professional installation, cannot be used when walking or in hire cars abroad and are significantly more difficult to get mapping for!

Next there is the Digital Road Mapping and the element which seems to cause most upset when using SatNavs. It may surprise many that it is only 3 years ago since detailed mapping for use in SatNav’s in Ireland first became available. Where did the mapping come from? – well not from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland as you might expect; - it came from a private company called Navteq who had spent the previous 3 years driving every road in the country. Garmin introduced this data for the first time in late 2006 and since then Navteq have had an office in Newry where a dedicated team is responsible for identifying new data and updating road mapping for the full island. It was in mid 2007 that TeleAtlas produced their own road data for Ireland without any obvious data capture campaign. TomTom used to use Navteq Data for Ireland but now that they own TeleAtlas they use it on all their SatNav’s available in Ireland. Unlike Navteq, TeleAtlas does not have a permanent mapping team in Ireland, but instead seems to be mainly using feedback on blogs and user captured tracks as its means of keeping the data up to date. To complete the picture, Navteq was purchased by Nokia for US$8 billion dollars in early 2008.

Now, before you say anything about the map detail that you have, please understand how it was created in the first place and how it is kept up to date. There is no Irish Ordnance Survey input and no formal Irish Government agency support whatsoever for SatNav related mapping. The NRA and Local Authorities who create manage and change roads in Ireland do not pass details of road additions or changes to Navteq or TeleAtlas.

Navteq has tried to establish informal links with those who handle roads in Ireland over the last 3 years but to date there has been limited support from these organisations, even though they have been the first to complain if a SatNav is incorrectly guiding vehicles down their restricted roads! So both Navteq and TeleAtlas have to literally find out about errors or changes from various sources including users. So if you find an error or addition – do not complain about it – report it to Navteq – Navteq Map Reporter
………………………………….or to TeleAtlas – TeleAtlas Map Insight and don’t encourage TeleAtlas’ current low cost solution of getting users to submit tracks to correct road detail errors which only leads to more errors – tell them to get an experienced mapping team on the road and do it properly – otherwise it is like the county council telling you to get out and mend the pot holes yourself!

If you have not reported errors yourself on these sites, then you have no right to complain as the Government you have elected, and who’s agencies have all the required info already, does not help in any way – it is therefore up to you to do your bit yourself!

You should also understand that any map, whether paper or digital, is out of date the day it is published. If you buy an Ordnance Survey Of Ireland tourist road map today, you will probably find that many of the new road updates are not on it – so if those who are wholly responsible for mapping in Ireland take time to produce corrections and updates, then it stands to reason that others will also be the same; and you will also have to pay for any updates released. The difference is that the SatNav manufacturer is not directly involved in updating the mapping and Navteq and TeleAtlas who are, first have to find out about it, then have to map it, then have to compile the data into an update, then they sell that to the SatNav Manufacturers who then have to change the format for their products and may only produce a Map Update once or twice a year. So when you say that the SatNav told me to take the second exit when it should have been the third, it is probably because you have not updated or if you have, then nobody has taken time to report the error in the first place – so don’t just complain – report it!

It is for all these reasons that mapping loaded on your SatNav which may be the most recent update available could still be missing new road detail created up to 18 months prior to the update release.

And why do you have to pay for updates…well because there is a cost to keeping things up to date in a coordinated and professional manner and the copyright associated with mapping is probably the most important and expensive part of your SatNav. You should also remember that generally, map updates cover all of European Roads whether you are just using Ireland and the UK or not. The ideal situation is that there is no mapping on SatNav’s at all – you would just draw down the most recent mapping from a web server using your mobile phone when you need it. In this way, it would always be up to date and you would only pay as you use – after all it is generally only the last 5-10% of some journeys that we need a SatNav for!! However, this solution, though I feel it will indeed happen, is probably a while away yet!

What about when you cannot find places when you enter an address? Again there may be errors in the mapping itself which must be reported. However, in Ireland it is more likely that spelling is the issue. As you will know from your own experience, the same Placename can often be spelled in several different ways – is it a single or double barrelled name or is it in the Irish or the English language version? So it is not the SatNav manufacturers’ fault, it is simply because in Ireland we have two languages, different spellings, variable and vanity addresses, over 55,000 townlands and 40% of the addresses are non unique. Although it is widely reported that for Ireland, Navteq do Placenames and townlands better than TeleAtlas.

Aside from the obvious immediate requirement to introduce Navigation type Post codes to solve these problems, which Garmin and GPS Ireland are working on with PON Codes, in the mean-time what you have to do is use your imagination, try different spellings and variations and a general search rather than a specific one. You can also search for the location on the map itself or, if you have time, check out Google Maps if you are using a SatNav with TeleAtlas mapping or Yahoo Maps is you are using a SatNav with Navteq - all on your PC before you leave!

And finally, with respect to mapping, what about those Irish persons that routinely buy in the US and then complain that there is no Irish or European mapping on the unit. All I want to say to these numerous folk is that if you purchased a paper road map in the US, would you expect to find Irish mapping on it?
Why are people so surprised at this or indeed, the fact that they have purchased a brand name that they have never heard of before, only to find that there is no Irish or European mapping to add to it. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot just “download” Irish mapping from Navteq and TeleAtlas and load it up and off you go. Each manufacturer formats the mapping in a manner suitable for their hardware and software – so the manufacturer has to supply the required mapping – there is no other way and if you have not heard of the manufacturer in Europe , there is a strong possibility that there is no European mapping – the GPS will work but there will be no roads!!!

From all of this, hopefully you will now be convinced that if we are to get the best use out of SatNav’s in Ireland, then there will have to be some Government or Government agency support at some stage – yet another cause to campaign for in 2009!

And now to the SatNav users themselves………..herein lies the biggest problem of all, causing some of the problems that I have already outlined above – and all generally related to expecting too much of their SatNav without understanding how it all comes together and their own responsibility for reporting map errors.

But there is more….why do people constantly complain that the SatNav “tried to take me a way I would never go” – so if you know the way why are you using a SatNav! - or that “the SatNav tried to take me down a one way street”– why ? - can’t you read the road signs and do you often do what a machine tells? and “SatNav’s are not reliable – look at all the trucks that got stuck in small roads in the UK” – SatNav is a navigation tool and all navigation tools whether at sea, in the air or on land have to be used in conjunction with all other available information and resources including the human brain. Please, please, please do not give a SatNav to someone who is always getting lost on the roads because they have no sense of direction – it will only make them worse! SatNav’s cannot do it all for you. Like all technologies, they have imperfections and they need the user to make some decisions themselves, including doing better if they know better. A SatNav will get you there if you do not know how to get there. If you do know, then there is no need for your SatNav in the first place. People fall into this trap and become over dependent, completely unaware of how they are actually going to get somewhere. If you were using a road map for navigation, then you would find the destination, work backwards identifying the route, noting the main roads, major turns and Placenames and landmarks that you will pass en route etc etc. This is called route planning and is a basic part of driving and it should be done even when using a SatNav.

Before you set out on your journey with a SatNav, firstly take time to identify and positively confirm the destination (either on the SatNav itself or on similar Web Mapping) – then allow the SatNav to create a route – on most SatNav’s you can review this route either by viewing a list of turns or by viewing the route on the map itself. If the route suggested is not to your liking, then you can try again using avoidances and/or via points or fastest rather than shortest routes. When you are happy, take a mental note of the route itself and related landmarks. In this way, whilst en route if there are errors or problems you can yourself make educated decisions. As you know, if you do not follow the exact guidance of the SatNav, it will catch up with you and recalculate the route to your final destination.
It is generally a complaint about SatNav’s, as they are currently designed anyhow, that they do not encourage situational awareness because they do not show adjacent features such as towns, rivers, lakes, geographic, tourist and visual features etc;- all to assist in location recognition.
In Ireland, this is partly because of the additional cost associated with acquiring this type of data from the Ordnance Survey but a solution to this may be on the way during 2009. It is important, therefore, for the driver to create some awareness for themselves so that they can make their own routing decisions if they come across a map error, a new road or road works and traffic delays. Route planning is critical to any road journey and SatNav’s do not diminish that requirement and in fact, it is my belief, that route planning should be taught as part of the driver training and licensing and is now even more important than before as a result of the widespread use of SatNav’s.

Above all else, take time to learn and understand how your SatNav works and what all the menu options do.

Finally then, what about the software that ties the GPS, the Digital Mapping and the User all together into the final SatNav solution. This is really where the pedigree of the SatNav manufacturer can be judged!

The first point to note here is that unless you are a PC expert you should steer clear of SatNav’s that are built on Pocket PC’s. The last thing you want to have to do is to maintain a Pocket PC as well as a SatNav. It is my recommendation, unless it is a very specialised application, to stick to portable SatNav’s that are dedicated to that function and do not allow other software be run on the same hardware. As indicated earlier, portable SatNav’s are a much more valuable solution than those that are permanently installed. If you are buying a new car, avoid this option and if you are buying a second hand car, especially an import, assume that you will not be able to use a pre installed SatNav, unless you physically prove the contrary yourself. Why do I say this? Well car manufactures often change installed SatNav hardware manufacturers with new car models and when the manufacturer is changed so too is the source of updated mapping. My own experience on this is that car dealers just do not want to know as it is too much hassle and you will very lucky to find a source for updated mapping!

There will always be an option to change from “Fastest” route to “Shortest” route and do not forget to choose the one you require. Fastest will keep you on the larger roads for as long as possible and Shortest will take you along any road which brings you as near to “as the crow flies” as is possible towards your destination. Use vehicle type options if provided so that if you are in a truck you will not be taken down roads with grass in the middle and select metric units for speeds and distances in Ireland. The routing engine that works out the best route is very dependent on good, fully attributed and up-to-date road mapping, so if you do not agree with it check your settings, make sure you are updated and if there is still a problem, drive the way you think is better and it will keep up with you and continue to work out the best route from your current position. If you do not need the guidance use the “STOP” navigation function or just use the volume control button – you should avoid shouting at the unit – it tends to give the impression that you are totally dependent on it!

These options are all pretty standard on most SatNav’s nowadays but for an additional cost you will find options to use it as a handsfree kit for your mobile phone, load US as well as full European or European regional mapping, use Traffic Routing Services (which are not available in Ireland and are unlikely to be in the near future). There is also a text to speech option where road names are read out during voice guidance and, most recently, lane advisories as well as 3D street view images. Most basic SatNav’s will only give guidance to one final destination with possibly one intermediate point, however for business users, you now have the option to have multiple destinations and optimised routes;- especially handy if you are in the courier or logistics business.

Most SatNav’s do allow you to find places by Latitude and Longitude but be careful, there are 3 ways of using Latitude and Longitude and if you choose the wrong option and put the figures in the wrong way, then you are going to the wrong place and possibly by a long way! Very few SatNav’s support local grid systems such as Irish Grid or the new Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) Grid but Garmin now has two with this capability available, both of which are also waterproof for outdoor use.

You can see that we have a long way to go yet with the use of SatNav’s in Ireland. Whilst other countries are talking about advanced related services which include traffic, road works and weather routing, sign post warnings, road hazard warnings etc, we here in Ireland are still talking about map detail and user awareness. However, SatNav’s are a huge benefit to those in and visiting our country. And for business and logistics users, they can result in significant fuel and time savings. It is up to Irish users to make sure they are used to best advantage and that the mapping is kept fully updated.
There are lots of things I have not covered in this post at all or have just covered briefly but hopefully you will get some benefit from what has been said.

Happy New Year!