I have just returned to Southern Ontario from a trip to Key West, about 6000 Km (nearly 4000 miles). During the trip I had some strange experiences, with the nuvi, that I thought may be of interest to some of you.
The initial part of the trip down through the I-75 corridor was no problem. Of course, Emily (the voice I use) had her usual quirk of wanting me to use the collectors through Toronto, instead of allowing me onto the centre core of the expressway. After telling me off a few times for not following her directions, she seems to get a real attitude into her voice. However, she got me where I wanted to go with no problem.
The next day we ran into a problem just north of Knoxville,Tn. From the POIs I had programmed in the Econo Lodge in Caryville. Emily got me to where the hotel was supposed to be, but, it wasn't there! OK, perhaps the location was a little wrong, so I started looking around. Nothing. Ever tried convincing a GPS voice that the hotel isn't where she thinks it is? Finally I had to agree with her that we had indeed arrived and then programmed a new route into another hotel in Knoxville. Fortunately that one was there.
When I checked out the hotel chain on the Internet, it turns out that there is no Econo Lodge in Caryville.
Lesson learned: whenever possible check that the POI does indeed exist before you program it in.
Next day, southern Georgia, I noticed the touch screen was slow to react. No real problem, since I don't use it much.
Third day in Jacksonville, Fl. not only was the touch screen slow but the nav began to freeze up and I had to reboot. Everything was OK. btw, I bought a dashboard mount (about $40) in Best Buy, Jacksonville. It works well, no movement at all. The Best Buy is in a huge Big Block Mall. Emily told us we had arrived, but, the entrance to the mall was a side street off a busy main road. I didn't see the mall sign! Ah well, after many more telling offs by Emily I got into the place. Usual problem with mall directions. Still, it got me there. I would have been much more difficult without the gps.
Speed limits shown on the nuvi were in close agreement with the posted limits, except for construction zones and areas where the posted speed were greater than the nuvi limits. It looked as if these were recent highway upgrades which would explain it.
It was amusing in Key West. I was standing at the dock and trying to determine my location. Yes, I found my location OK, but, my altitude was -22 feet. -22', and i was still dry!.
It was on the way home that the troubles really started. Coming north, on the Florida turnpike, the touchscreen slowed down and then froze, however the nav was OK so I left it alone. Then the nav began to fail and eventually it lost satellites. Tried to reboot but it would only boot so far and then stop. Removed the battery, left it out for about an hour. Would still not reboot, wouldn't get past the first screen, with the indicator stripe only going about 80%. Ah well, I've got home from Florida many times without a gps, so it's not a disaster, merely annoying.
Of course the MP3 player wasn't working so I had to go back to my old-fashioned 13 disk Cd player.
That night in the hotel I was thinking about the nuvi behaviour and it seemed similar to a computer slowing down due to memory overload. I knew that I had been almost continuously playing my MP3s, on shuffle. That uses up memory. Anyways, I removed my SD card and tried to reboot. No problem! Easy reboot, quick satellites location, plotted routes quickly, screen OK.
Next day, still no problems. Continued to use the CD player and for the rest of the trip the nuvi performed perfectly.
Since I have been home, I have used the MP3 player in the nuvi, together with its nav system. So far the problems have not recurred.
I have just returned to Southern Ontario from a trip to Key West, about 6000 Km (nearly 4000 miles). During the trip I had some strange experiences, with the nuvi, that I thought may be of interest to some of you.
The initial part of the trip down through the I-75 corridor was no problem. Of course, Emily (the voice I use) had her usual quirk of wanting me to use the collectors through Toronto, instead of allowing me onto the centre core of the expressway. After telling me off a few times for not following her directions, she seems to get a real attitude into her voice. However, she got me where I wanted to go with no problem.
The next day we ran into a problem just north of Knoxville,Tn. From the POIs I had programmed in the Econo Lodge in Caryville. Emily got me to where the hotel was supposed to be, but, it wasn't there! OK, perhaps the location was a little wrong, so I started looking around. Nothing. Ever tried convincing a GPS voice that the hotel isn't where she thinks it is? Finally I had to agree with her that we had indeed arrived and then programmed a new route into another hotel in Knoxville. Fortunately that one was there.
When I checked out the hotel chain on the Internet, it turns out that there is no Econo Lodge in Caryville.
Lesson learned: whenever possible check that the POI does indeed exist before you program it in.
Next day, southern Georgia, I noticed the touch screen was slow to react. No real problem, since I don't use it much.
Third day in Jacksonville, Fl. not only was the touch screen slow but the nav began to freeze up and I had to reboot. Everything was OK. btw, I bought a dashboard mount (about $40) in Best Buy, Jacksonville. It works well, no movement at all. The Best Buy is in a huge Big Block Mall. Emily told us we had arrived, but, the entrance to the mall was a side street off a busy main road. I didn't see the mall sign! Ah well, after many more telling offs by Emily I got into the place. Usual problem with mall directions. Still, it got me there. I would have been much more difficult without the gps.
Speed limits shown on the nuvi were in close agreement with the posted limits, except for construction zones and areas where the posted speed were greater than the nuvi limits. It looked as if these were recent highway upgrades which would explain it.
It was amusing in Key West. I was standing at the dock and trying to determine my location. Yes, I found my location OK, but, my altitude was -22 feet. -22', and i was still dry!.
It was on the way home that the troubles really started. Coming north, on the Florida turnpike, the touchscreen slowed down and then froze, however the nav was OK so I left it alone. Then the nav began to fail and eventually it lost satellites. Tried to reboot but it would only boot so far and then stop. Removed the battery, left it out for about an hour. Would still not reboot, wouldn't get past the first screen, with the indicator stripe only going about 80%. Ah well, I've got home from Florida many times without a gps, so it's not a disaster, merely annoying.
Of course the MP3 player wasn't working so I had to go back to my old-fashioned 13 disk Cd player.
That night in the hotel I was thinking about the nuvi behaviour and it seemed similar to a computer slowing down due to memory overload. I knew that I had been almost continuously playing my MP3s, on shuffle. That uses up memory. Anyways, I removed my SD card and tried to reboot. No problem! Easy reboot, quick satellites location, plotted routes quickly, screen OK.
Next day, still no problems. Continued to use the CD player and for the rest of the trip the nuvi performed perfectly.
Since I have been home, I have used the MP3 player in the nuvi, together with its nav system. So far the problems have not recurred.
nuvi 855. Life is not fair. I don't care who told you it is.