Garmin nuvi 215 sat nav cannot find any Dublin towns with a post code

mcmahonc · 27-12-2009 09:27PM #1

Hi Folks,

I am hoping that someone can help.

First things first, I am totally new to sat navs etc.

I have just received a Garmin nuvi 215 sat nav as a Christmas present and I am having trouble finding a lot of Dublin towns, any town it seems that has a post code associated with it. I typed in Dundrum (Dublin) where I live and the sat nav found Dundrum, County Tipperary and Dundrum, County Wexford. I then tried Ballinteer but again the sat nav could not find anything. I then checked a number of other Dublin town’s and found that if the town is county Dublin, for example Lucan, the sat nav finds this no problem. Any town that has a post code however, like Tallaght in Dublin 24 will not come up.

Am I missing something really obvious or have I forgotten some set up? I am amazed that the sat nav can not find Tallaght given that it has a population of over 100,000?. All of the estates are listed but if I want to find, for example Dundrum village, or Tallaght village i can't seem to get it to work. Has anyone else had this problem? Am I supposed to know, up front that I need to go to Dublin 24? If this is the case how can I distinguish between the multiple places in Dublin 4 for example (Donnybrook, Ringsend, Ballsbridge).

That is quite annoying given that I live within the city zone.

I have also used the garmin web updater and it says that all of the software is up to date etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Claire

mrmac · 28-12-2009 06:15PM

Hi Clare, sorry to hear you're having problems, but it just takes a while to get used to a Sat Nav.

Try searching for addresses this way: when you see <xxxx> it means you must type in whatever is between the < >.

Where To - Address - Spell City - <Dublin> - Done

Now you will see a load of options for Dublin:
Dublin, County Dublin
Dublin, County Meath (???)
Dublin 1, County Dublin
Dublin 10, County Dublin
Dublin 11, County Dublin
etc, etc.

You can now select your postcode from this list.
Dundrum is Dublin 14, so try that one.
Then you will be asked for House Number, and Street Name. If there is more than one available, you'll be offered a choice.

If you do not know the post code, you have two choices. Use the same method as above, leave the house number blank, and at the Enter Street bit, just enter your destination, example:

Donny - will get you the choice of
Donnybrook (Close, Court, Green, Mews...)
Donnybrook Castle
Donnybrook Manor

Ring - will get you a choice of
Ring (Street, Terrace)
Ringsend (Park, Road)

Balls - will get you a choice of
Balls Lane
Ballsbridge (Avenue, Court, Gardens...)
Ballsbridge Wood

If you cannot find your destination that way, you may have to do it the "Hard Way", and use the Map.

Where To - Browse Map - <Pick your destination on the map by tapping the point on the map>

This may sound awkward, but once you've entered your destination, it will be easier to find if you need it again, as it's saved in your "Recently Found" folder.

HTH

mcmahonc · 28-12-2009 08:21PM

Hey Thanks for the reply, you're very good to take the time and effort... sounds like if you don't know the post code you are reliant on having some housing estate that bares a resemblence to the town name or knowing a street in the place you are going too. I don't think you can always gaurentee that there will be a housing estate with the same name as the town. I think this is hugely dissapointing and a very poor design! It seems much easier to find country towns as you just enter where you are going....Isn't that the whole idea of sat nav?... In this design you not only need to know where you are going, you need to know what dublin postal region this belongs to and need to know an exact street name or estate name to get there. I just can't believe that it doesn't recognise the name Tallaght for example which I believe has a bigger population than Limerick city!... I can enter Dublin 24 but this refers to Firhouse, Jobstown, Kilnamanagh, Oldbawn and Tallaght. If each postal area had a unique postal code perhaps this design could be justified but there are 9 unique towns/villages for example in Dublin 18!. Even as a dubliner I don't know all of the post codes, especially as I grew up in County Dublin (which ironically is very easy to use). I have been talking about this with some friends over the last few days, some of which are from the country and also had similar experiences in trying to find dundrum shopping centre. This design must be so confusing for anyone not from Dublin, let alone any tourists visiting the country. ...Sigh..

Thanks for the reply none the less!

Alun · 28-12-2009 08:46PM

It's not the design of the satnav software that's at fault, or even of the people supplying the maps, but the fact that although to some people (usually those who've lived there for generations) it might be obvious where all these supposed "towns" start and end, the boundaries aren't formally defined anywhere as far as I know. Remember, many of these places were once villages surrounded by green fields, and have just expanded and grown into each other over the years.

Witness the arguments that ensue when a new housing estate is built near the supposed border between 'posh suburb A' and 'not so posh suburb B' as to where exactly it's located ... if the people that live there can't even agree, how on earth are the map makers going to know?

That's why they use the Dublin postal district numbers .. at least they're formally defined somewhere (by An Post), and until we get proper postal codes like every other developed nation that'll be the best we can manage, I'm afraid.

mcmahonc · 31-12-2009 03:19PM

Hey Alun, thanks for the reply. Roll on proper post codes!...Stuff all the posh folk in Dublin 4 and Dublin 6 that object : - )

Garmin nuvi 215 sat nav cannot find any Dublin towns with a post code

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