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The speed limit on Canal Rd. is actually higher than on MacArthur Blvd, not to mention it probably has less than half as many lights (probably a quarter as many).
I think it's the one-way issue, it's incoming in the AM, outgoing in the PM, for rush hour.
Your software does sound extremely flexible, though. I have to look and see if I can enable the one-way routes.
-juice
Again, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Today is my first day back at work, where I can check the boards here
As for a free update: According to the Garmin website "If you purchased a locked MapSource product ON or AFTER the release date of an update, you are entitled to an unlock on the newer version of that product for free." I also recall that if they issue an update within 6 months of purchase, you can get the free updates.
According to the website, there will be an updated version for your unit available Oct. 15th (version 7.0). I believe that if you contact Garmin, you will be able to get the update for free, if your unit is not up to date at this time.
Hope this helps. As for myself, in a week and a half I'll be using the 2610 to travel the commercial vehicle routes between Utica and Staten Island. It's good to have the ability to route based on what vehicle type you are in.
Mark
Thx for the tip re Toyota navs and enabling "time restricted streets."
Unfortunately, I've been through all the setup screens for my 2004 TSX (with 2005 DVD update) and can see no such option for my Acura system.
Still no way that I know of to get the system to "see" Rock Creek Parkway, Canal Road, Clara Barton and the other reversing commuter routes in the DC area.
I did notice one exit that they changed, the ramp is now different and the NAV doesn't relflect that change yet. Wonder if it would by then. Not a bid deal, it still tells you to take the exit, it just thinks you're going the wrong way for a few seconds.
-juice
-juice
If there is no parallel road, the Acura system declares "Unverified Area. Unable to Complete Route." (E.g., on Rock Creek Parkway.)
-juice
The way the Garmin works is nice - in real-time it lists the places in order by proximity. For instance I didn't know there were 2 Dennys in Annapolis. Pick one and of course it gives you directions there.
We were able to see them on a map to make sure the detour wasn't too long. We had several options on what to eat and how close they were to the highway.
Very useful.
Another situation where it proved useful - we went to Sun Fest in Ocean City, MD, and the parking lot at the boardwalk was closed. We thought we'd have to drive back to the convention center and take a bus, but instead I used the NAV to find the closest parking lots.
Call the parking lots to see if there was empty spaces, and found one a couple of blocks away. Parked and saved probably half an hour of driving. That plus the parking fee was less than the bus fare.
So it saved us cash and time.
-juice
Got the C320 from costco and loaded a 1gb card with the mostly the west coast, northeast and Illinois. I think it was about 80% full.
I used for a short amount of time and thought it was actually pretty good... though this was exclusively on open highways.
Handed it to my wife (who would be the ultimate consumer).. she was not a fan of this device for a few reasons:
- didn't like the dangling cord
- didn't like having to stash it in the glovebox everytime she parked
[I find these minor inconveniences; but the big one was...
- driving in SF the device kept losing the satellites... this is where she really needed the help, as the city can be confusing.
I wish it had some type of buffer so that it could store directions.
Also, one time I was driving home and decided to go a longer (distance), but shorter (time) way home. The unit kept trying to get me to take the next exit to turnaround and get back on the initial route. It wasn't until I was 10 miles (entire trip was 40miles) to my destination that it figured out what route I was using. Note: I basically took 2 highways instead of 1.
Also, my wife's sister has an Odyssey with voice-activated nav and I think that my wife really wants that ability (no stopping to punch in a destination).
Steve, Host
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
The last I heard, not all US states specifically prohibit playing DVDs in the dash (even while the car is moving). Here's one article: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
And some people sure find the NAV screens in their dashboards entertaining!
Steve, Host
Sorry to hear about the poor satellite reception in SF, it's pretty good around here. On a couple of occasions it's been searching for a signal for about 2-3 minutes, once longer than that, but it was never so long that it didn't eventually help us out.
Maybe it's the hills and tall buildings combined?
-juice
Could be... it's too bad cause it seemed like a neat unit.
Oh, just remembered another quirk... coming out a parking lot, the unit told her to turn "Southeast". She found that really annoying and that it should have just told her left or right.
Perhaps I had something set up incorrectly...?
It's OK, though, because if you go the wrong way it will just recalculate the directions automatically.
Here is the address that MMI just could not find, the system in my buddy's Audi S4 Cabrio:
1594 Rt. 38 East
Lumberton, NJ
It could find Rt. 38 East, but not the street address 1594. What's funny about that? It was a SUBARU dealer! LOL
We went to an event where we got to meet Petter Solberg, WRC driver. And lots of Audi fans are into rally (parking lot had several Audis) so that must've tripped up quite a few of the 400+ folks that showed up.
-juice
So anyway I would be willing to bet that this display is directional such that the passenger can see the TV but that the driver cannot.
It was helpful for us to find gas and food. In fact the more I use it, the more I realize how useful the points of interest are. At least as useful as the directions themselves, in fact.
It was crazy, in some places gas was $3.34, so we kept passing stations knowing (from the NAV) that other statoins were coming up. I waited long enough to find gas for $2.99, so that information saved me $5.44 on the spot.
Funny thing was a guy at the gas station asked me where the Outback Steakhouse was, and I helped him find it using my NAV. It's portable so I popped it out of the carrier, found it, and showed him the map.
Then on Sunday we went to wedding in Alexandria and again it came in handy.
NAV is great when you go to an address you've never been to before.
-juice
No question. It's a lot like Tivo, I don't want to go back to my previous life without this device.
I don't generally use a GPS to give me directions - I prefer to see a current map and navigate using that. I use the GPS to warn me to get in a turnoff lane etc. I also use the data fields (Speed, distance, altitude, time, etc). Kind of an enhancement to the vehicles instrumentation. One reason for this is Canadian GPS maps are inadequate.
I purchased a Garmin Streetpilot III, but am not impressed! Poor sensitivity and less features than the GPS III+ (though it does have voice direction).
So, I'm going to "build my own", using a PDA, CF GPS module, and my choice of program. I purchased a Toshiba Pocket PC e830W (has both WiFi and Bluetooth as well as the ubiquitous infrared). I'm still learning what it can do, and in the next month I'll be getting the other two components. I have identified a Garmin 1620 CF module/program and a separate CF module and the iGuidance software as two probably compatible possible choices.
I will also have to get a mounting device (the Garmin comes with one whereas the other choice doesn't). Some mounts include a built in GPS module and a power supply. Neat!
I'll keep you informed as to how it goes.
If anyone has suggestions, please speak up!
Little by little I'm getting my money back for that thing. LOL
-juice
You can view photos of my cordless, portable GPS installation at:
http://groups.msn.com/ToyotaAvalon/regis2006avalon.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=41
There are 5 photos so just choose next or previous to view all. I should mention that this will only work if your GPS has an internal battery like that in the Garmin c330. This would work even better on a c320 at your battery has 8 hours duration. I keep my Garmin c330 attached to my PC when not needed so ir's always charged fpr 5 hours. Also my c330 has voice navigation so I rarely have to look at the screen.
Not true! Maybe the original c330 had no SD slot but my c330 purchased Sept 30th/05 has a slot.
My buddy Dennis has one, maybe the early models didn't? He said some owners were upset because they could not upgrade. Maybe he was talking about a different model and I got them mixed up. Thanks for setting me straight.
Nice dash mount. I should get one so we have one for each of the two cars we usually use it with. How much?
-juice
-juce, the dash mount you see is just the standard windshield suction mount that came with the unit. I disconnected the power chord so it's a cordless installation this way. I hate the look of a chord dangling over my dash. With the Garmin's 5 hour internal battery, it negates the need for a power chord for almost all my trips. For the "rare" time I am on an extended trip exceeding five hours, I purchased an optional, weighted dash mount but have not needed it yet. I keep the Garmin attached to my PC via USB so it's always charged for use when needed.
So I'd have to purchase a seperate mounting bracket. The cable doesn't really bother me.
-juice
Or purchase a mount without a chord for $10
http://www.gpscity.ca/item-npi-garmin-streetpilot-c3xx-holder/ramholga19.htm
Steve, Host
Hmmm? Strange that when I checked after posting, the photos displayed fine. They were all reduced to less than 80k. Maybe it was the combined size of the four photos that caused the problem since the same photos displayed fine in another forum. Anyway, thanks for the fast reply Steve and I'll try reducing the size of these photos even more.
The cable is easily detachable by removing the two little screws (photo below)
The suction mount attaches to your windshield, minus the chord. I purchased a chorded dash mount for the rare trip that would exceed 5 hours but have not needed it yet.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Thanks qbrozen. This is very helpful. It seems my photo hosting provider is the culprit. I was able to post these photos on another forum at the same resolution so go figure. Anyway, I reposted at a reduced size (Post 891). Were you able to view these?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Post #391 is displaying beautifully for me; nice pictures! I wonder if some folks are having problems due to their Web browser, etc, etc? Just a thought... Mike
I still can't see the pics in IE6 or Firefox on my XP machine.
Thanks for the screenshot, qbrozen.
Steve, Host
tidester, host
Could it be that the security settings of those browsers that can't access photos are set too high . . . or settings of anti-virus software or . . .??? Would be nice to get a handle on this since sharing photos can be very helpful. Interesting that the Avalon 2005+ forum does not appear to have the same photo sharing problem,
Steve, Host
In any case, smaller is better - for now!
tidester, host
-mike
P.S. And I'll keep em small for our dial-up people.
And why buy the C320 if you also need to buy a 1GB SD card that costs $75 when the difference in price between the 320 and 330 is only about $130 on Amazon?
Do the Garmin units show reversible commuter (also called "time restricted") roads or are they left out of the databases? (See the discussion about 20 messages back about the difference between the Toyota (included) and Acura (not included) Navs.)
1MB SD cards are about $55 all over the internet and on auction sites. I paid $54 with shipping for a Lexar card. The C330 is nice since it requires no computer set-up initially or thereafter to change the states that are loaded. The C320 has advantages in that with no hard drive, the battery life is longer and it should be more reliable. Hard drives can fail, and the automobile is not an ideal environment. Already some C330's have failed initially when they could not access the hard drive, requiring warranty replacement.
I could find no documentation on the reversible commuter roads, so assume they aren't supported.
Just to be current, the newer Garmin model c330 batteries are rated for 8 hours, the same as the c320.
Compare various garmin models at: http://www.garmin.com/mobile/compare.jsp
I called their tech support, and they suggested adding a custom POI to warn you that the road ahead may be open at certain times of day. But it would still route you elsewhere, so this only serves as a reminder to the operator that the route may indeed be open.
Strange, I know.
-juice