Hints & Tips Garmin Nuvi 3597

I also started reading up a bit more this weekend on Custom Dashboards. On the Garmin website, Custom Dashboard http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/dashboards/ has things like cartoon characters Marge, Homer, Darth Vader. etc. That really doesn't interest me that much.

On the other hand, the articles at GPS Review Forums seem much more practical because it allows additional data fields to be displayed.

http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/26442/making-customiz...

http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/28412/how-to-customiz...

http://www.gpsreview.net/creating-custom-dashboards-for-your...

Anyway, for my fellow POI Factory members who are doing the Custom Dashboard, how many extra Data Fields do you want? Are 3 more enough? Do you use 7 more? What additional Data Fields do you find to be the most useful that aren't already displayed?

This reminds me of the old Garmin Street Pilot 2730 that I used for a number of years. It is pretty slow and clunky by today's standards, but it did allow for a number of Data Fields to be selected.

@Jim1348 ... since this thread is about the 3597, the only one of links in your post that pertain to the 3597 is the middle GPS Review link which is essentially a repeat of the POI Factory post your quoted from t923347. The other links all refer to Garmin's Custom Dashboard feature which the 3597 does not have.

I just bought a 3597 for my parents.

When the unit is powered up; I get this sequence of screens:

I get the "Select a Locale" screen;
I select United States and press "OK".

Then I get a "Select a Language" screen and I select "American English" and press OK.

Then I get the "End User License Agreements" and I press "Accept All.

Then I get the "AGREE" screen, so I press "AGREE".

I'm trying to customize the wakeup phrase.

I customize it, press the "DONE" button.

I power off the unit and power it back up.

I get the "Select a Locale" screen;
I select United States and press "OK".

Then I get a "Select a Language" screen and I select "American English" and press OK.

Then I get the "End User License Agreements" and I press "Accept All.

Then I get the "AGREE" screen, so I press "AGREE".

I press APPS, then Voice Command, then Customize Phrase and the wakeup phrase is back to the factory
default.

No matter what I do I can't seem to get the wakeup phrase to become permanently retained.

So.. I decided I'd put in a home address and save it. Then I powered off the unit and again went through the rigamarole of:

I get the "Select a Locale" screen;
I select United States and press "OK".

Then I get a "Select a Language" screen and I select "American English" and press OK.

Then I get the "End User License Agreements" and I press "Accept All.

Then I get the "AGREE" screen, so I press "AGREE".

then check my the home address I put in and it's there!

Model 3597
Hardware version V8 SA3 8GB 128MB DS
Software Verson 4.60
Audio Version 2.10 American English Sam.
Voice Command 2.30 English American
Text Version 4.60 American English
GPS Firmware 3.05.10
Bluetooth Firmware 3.0.11 P32
TSC version 1.170.009

Anyone have one of these newer 3597's and find a way around this problem?

TIA

I think if you set the Nuvi up, get a satellite lock and enter a destination and then begin the drive to that destination you will no longer get all the setup stuff when you turn the Nuvi back on later.

You may just need to get a good sat lock to get by this issue, I honestly don't remember exactly.

Barney,

To me, these are issues you're having that I haven't heard of before. For what it's worth, all issues seem to revolve around one problem: your startup settings are not being saved.

The Select a Locale and Voice should only occur one time, the first time you fire up the new 3597, or after a hard reset of the device which returns it to the factory settings.

I have two suggestions but I'm not sure if either will work:

1) Update (WebUpdater or Garmin Express) to Software Version 4.70, the latest update.

2) After setting your locale and voice, see if turning the device off (a long several-second hold of the power button until you can click "OK" to the message "Turn off the device?")

I suggest not trying to change the wakeup phrase or other settings until you can solve the "Select a locale" at each startup problem.

You aren't by any chance doing a hard reset, are you? If so, you will experience exactly what you've told us. The only other issue I can think of is that your screen calibration is way off and rather than thinking you tapped "Agree," the nuvi thinks you've tapped "Cancel." See:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31900

If you can't solve the problem, you will need to call Garmin Customer Support and see what they can do.

Good luck.

[Edit] I hadn't thought of t92's suggestions but it's possible that he's right and you need a satellite fix or a short drive to get your default settings to "take," although honestly, I don't know that I've had to do these with any of the new nuvis I've purchased.

t923347 - how did you know the key to this was the satellite lock?

I was completely stumped on this one...

and CraigW, thanks for your ideas too... Grrr.. all these wonderful new "FEE-CHURS"... I'm sure these will do nothing but cause the older generation nothing but grief!

This is the 3rd 3597 I've purchased and configured in past several years.. and this one has proven to cause my hemorrhoids to flair up and cause me agony!

I think this particular setup tip is worthy of being in some kind of FAQ... as it's certainly not an obvious fix..

So I guess I'm off to the races with this GPS setting it up with maps and other stuff.. thank you so much for the tip... I would have never thought of acquiring a satellite lock when selecting location and language!! As one of my professors at the university used to say, "Intuitively obvious, proof left for student!"

DOH...I feel like Homer Simpson!

Because the same thing happened to me when I first got my 3597.

BarneyBadass, thanks for finding this problem! I am about to help my cousin with a new 3597.

dobs108

With this release of the hardware the power up / start up sequence is like this:

When the unit is powered up; I get this sequence of screens:

I get the "End User License Agreements" and I press "Accept All.

Then I get the "AGREE" screen, so I press "AGREE".

And this happens every bloody time the unit is started up either cold or warm and if the device goes to sleep when the car is turned off (switched power plug) and the car is repowered up... GRRRR...

Just something to ANNOY the fool out of us!

---BBA

My 3597 is fully updated and does not get those screens.

dobs108

Neither do my other two 3597's... I think it has something to do with the hardware version... and Garmin wanting to really ANNOY us... and make some folks use cell phones for GPS devices....

There was an original shipment of 3597s. Then it was discontinued and another shipment arrived. We are assuming that they are all the same, but maybe not.

dobs108

Again, going by memory here, but the "EULA" screen will go away after you have actually used the Nuvi. I think that's what I was thinking of in my first post in response to your problems.

The Agree screen is fallout of the latest firmware update. It seems to appear whenever you turn the 3597 screen on, either from a fully shutdown state or from sleep mode. Prior to that update you only saw the Agree screen when the Nuvi was started from a fully shutdown state.

Garmin lawyers strike again.

t923347,

I sincerely hope you are correct about the EULA as its a royal pain in the tail feathers!! Not to mention annoying!

I agree with t923347. Just start using the 3597 and this annoying behavior will go away.

Also you don't need to respond to the Agree screen as it will go away after a number of seconds on it's own.

I guess my "excuse" is that I set up my nuvis on the 2nd floor of a wood-frame townhouse and by the time I've set my locale and voice, I have the satellites and therefore have never had the problem.

do we want to discuss the various voices again since this thread is a couple years old?

On my 3597, I see the following voices that display "Speaks Garmin Real Directions":

Samantha
Karen
Lee
Daniel
Serena
Sangeeta

It looks like the Samantha file is still the largest but the other files are not far behind in terms of size. Is Samantha still the only file that offers specific attributes?

What do you mean by "specific attributes?" The differences in file sizes would most likely be the local usage for terms. Slip road is used in place of on or off road in many UK countries, there are other differences in the way numbers are spoken and grouped. So, without further clarification we probably can't help much.

it seems one (maybe more?) of the voices say things like "turn at the next right" or "turn at the end of the street" as you approach the junction. Other voices I have on my 3597 never make that statement.

Should these larger voice files offering "Real Directions" pretty similar at this time?

Is Samantha still the most full-featured voice?

On the 3597, Samantha says more than that. She tells you where to turn based on landmarks you can easily see:

"Turn left before the 7-11." (mini mart)

"Turn right at the Gulf station."

After an initial direction to turn right on Elm Street, she says, "Turn right at the traffic light."

This is a really good feature!

dobs108

There are seven voices that offer Real Directions (five of which offer Real Directions and Real Voice) and four voices that do not offer any text to speech for the nuvi 3597:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42708

so you have one more (Jack) that you can add for all Real Directions voices.

Regarding the extras from Real Directions compared to normal TTS voices, I use Karen and she definitely tells me "turn at the end of the street" and "turn at the stoplight" as your Samantha says.

Garmin's hype when first coming out with Real Directions suggested that we'd be getting announcements something like "turn left after passing Kentucky Fried Chicken on your left" and maybe there are a few cities offering such announcements, but I've not heard one yet. Shortly after getting my 3597, I asked a similar question and one of our gurus with another 3597 also stated that things like "end of the road" and "at the stoplight" are all that he's heard as well. If I hear that future voice updates have one that says more than my current Karen, I'd have to try it out.

A Garmin FAQ offers an explanation of both Real Directions and Real Voice. If the FAQ is up-to-date, five of the TTS3 voices offer Real Directions only and two (Samantha and Serena) offer both Real Directions and Real Voice. I may need to try one of these S-voices to see if Real Voice is worth the loss of Karen's voice. The FAQ:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?...

Aha, so real life use of a 3597 does offer this. What cities are you in when you hear business names in directions?

Could you try another Real Directions voice like Karen and see if Samantha is the only voice offering advice with things like 7-11 and Gulf stations or if Karen and the other five Real Directions voices also offer the same? If only Samantha offers business names, that could explain why the Samantha voice file is larger than the other voices. Thanks.

I didn't realize that, must be I'm in too much of a hurry

I've been listening to Jack and while he tells me to "Turn right at the traffic light.", I don't recall that he ever mentioned business names. I'll try to pay more attention to him. This may be why Samantha's file size is so much larger than the others.

Some info from Garmin Support on real directions.

What are Garmin Real Directions and Garmin Real Voice?

Devices with Garmin Real Directions provide spoken instructions using not only street names but also recognizable landmarks, buildings, and even traffic lights. This helps minimize the need for you to find and read street name signs.

Example:

Without Garmin Real Directions: "In 500 feet, turn right at Metcalf Avenue."
With Garmin Real Directions: "In 500 feet, be in either of the two right lanes, then turn right at the stoplight."

Garmin Real Directions is only available in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Garmin Real Voice uses refined speech technology to provide spoken instructions using a voice that sounds more realistic and friendly.

Garmin Real Directions with Garmin Real Voice is available on:

nuvi 57/58
nuvi 67/68
nuvi 2407 & 2408 series
nuvi 2507 & 2508 series
nuvi 2509 series
nuvi 2609 series
nuvi 2707 & 2708 series
nuvi 2709 series
nuvi 3507 & 3508 series
dezl 570
dezl 770
RV 760

Garmin Real Voice (without Real Directions) is available on:

nuvi 55/56
nuvi 65/66

Please note that Garmin Real Directions and Garmin Real Voice are only available in certain languages:

Both Garmin Real Directions & Garmin Real Voice

Danish - Ida
Dutch - Claire
American English - Samantha
British English - Serena
European French - Virginie
European Spanish - Monica
German - Anna

Only Garmin Real Directions

Arabic - Maged
Czech - Zuzana
Czech - Xander
Dutch (Belgium) - Ellen
Australian English - Karen
Australian English - Lee
British English - Daniel
Indian English - Sangeeta
American English - Jack
European French - Thomas
German - Yannick
Italian - Silvia
Italian - Paolo
Norwegian - Stine
Polish - Agata
Russian - Milena
European Spanish - Diego
Swedish - Alva
Swedish - Oskar
Turkish - Aylin

Use Garmin Real Directions with Garmin Real Voice for the ultimate navigation experience!

For instructions about how to change the voice language on your device, review the FAQ linked here: http://goo.gl/l12Xih

Notice one special point.American English - Samantha has Both Garmin Real Directions & Garmin Real Voice .

This happens in Nassau County NY, a suburb of New York City.

I will try Karen, but according to charlesd45, she should give the same directions as Samantha.

edit - Tried Karen and Samantha but did not find a good turn with a visible landmark. They both said, "Turn right at the traffic light," but not, "Turn right at the Gulf station." The thought occurred to me that only POIs onboard the map may permit a voice to mention their name. I plan to check the map for POIs at two locations I am sure Samantha mentioned. Cannot go there now - heavy traffic.

dobs108

thanks! I guess I haven't run Samantha for a long time and may have completely missed this.

I'll switch to Samantha when I'm in the car the next time.

Charles, it's good to point that out. It had been my impression that Samantha was more full-featured than the others Thank you.

That most likely accounts for the file size because Samantha has both Garmin Real Directions & Garmin Real Voice in one package.

Craig,

It took me a while to figure out that driving around to do a test was not needed! The 3597 has so many features that I forgot about "Simulating a Route."

The route turned left at an intersection with a traffic light and a 7-11 (mini mart). Both Karen and Samantha said, "In 400 feet, turn left on Mineola Boulevard." Just before the intersection, Karen said, "Turn left at the traffic light," while Samantha said, "Turn left at the 7-11."

The 7-11 sign can be seen from a distance away. It is really congested there and the intersections are less than 700 feet apart. Every intersection has a traffic light. Without the 7-11 it would be easy to miss this turn.

In my tests, the first ones where neither voice mentioned the POI, and the later successful test, I found that all the POIs were built-in to the Garmin map.

This should be tested at other locations. I am thinking of the other location at the Gulf station to do a simulation.

dobs108

For the second test there is an intersection with a traffic light at a prominent Gulf station. All Real Directions voices did the same thing: Samantha, Karen, Jack, Daniel, Lee, and Serena.

In one direction the voice says, "In a quarter-mile turn right past The Gulf." It doesn't mention the name of the street you are turning on. Just before the intersection it says, "Turn right at the traffic light."

In the other direction the voice says, "In a quarter-mile turn left at The Gulf." It doesn't say "past The Gulf" because there is a highway divider there and you can only turn past The Gulf and not before. It doesn't mention the name of the street you are turning on. Just before the intersection it says, "Turn left at the traffic light."

This POI is part of the Garmin map. It is good that all Real Directions voices did this, but in my first test at the 7-11 only Samantha knew it was there.

dobs108

Thanks so much for you effort.

I see a lot of work ahead of me:

1) Switch to Samantha and see if I start getting business turn alerts. If so, and if the voice file size is an indicator of business turns, then check all voices for business turns. (Samantha is the largest TTS3 voice at about 31MB, then Sangeeta at 27MB, Jack at 25MB, Serena at 24MB, Karen at 22MB, then Daniel and Lee at about 20MB.)

2) From the above test, confirm or deny that it's a Real Directions issue and not related to Real Voice. If Real Voice matters, then Serena and Samantha should be better than the other five voices since only Serena/Samantha offer Real Voice.

3) Check to see if these announced business turns are related to the map's built-in POIs as is being thought now by several here—or if there's something more going on; e.g., maybe the feature is only seen with the current and recent maps in large city areas like Greater New York and is absent in most smaller cities and towns.* I'll work on this but welcome others to pipe in when they hear a turn announced with businesses. If you make a report, please indicate the voice selected AND the city in which you heard the navigational announcement. If using a map other than the current City Navigator, include the map version in use.

*The reason I want to see if only some cities are offering this is because of the evolution of the School Zones feature in many new nuvis. Our user Rame1012 shocked us a couple/few years ago when he found a few schools in Louisiana that offered time- and date-sensitive speed limit changes in School Zones. This must have been an early very small experiment by Garmin to see how the feature worked. Once it was shown to work, future map updates included info built into the map file that allowed compatible GPS devices to offer School Zone alerts throughout the US. Until we can confirm or deny business-named navigational turns occurring everywhere in the US, then the question of it being offered in large cities or being offered everywhere is an open question to my way of thinking.

I've now tested Samantha with over 70 miles of routes in a city of 69,000. The routes were designed to have turns whose intersections had food franchises, gas stations, etc. Prior to switching to Samantha, I've had hundreds of miles of driven routes in my city with Karen with no business-announced turns.

The only navigational audio I receive with Samantha is street names, direction to be turned, and whether there's a stoplight or stop sign. There were no business-name audio announced turns so in this city, Samantha offers no additional information compared to Karen.

My running hypotheses right now include:

1) If the business-announced turns are related to built-in POIs, it's not all POIs but is a select few businesses. For example, we see that Gulf stations are announced turns around NYC but my city has no Gulf stations.

2) Business-announced turns must be built into the City Navigator maps and include at least some large cities such as NYC but are not built into my mid-sized city yet.

I continue to encourage owners of Real Directions devices to report the names of cities in which you've heard a business-announced turn. The only positive report here of business-announced turns is Nassau County NY.

Driving south on Las Vegas Blvd from Fremont to the convention center you will be told to "Turn left before the Carl's Jr."

Samantha for the past few days. Have not heard a business-referenced turn yet. Maybe it's only in a bigger city ??

Here in Cupertino, CA, and in the SF Bay Area, Samantha does announce business names/types. "turn at/past 7-11, (gas station, hotel)", etc.

That's my prime hypothesis right now as well.

...to discover the threshold. It's easy enough for me to drive to areas with much higher pop densities.

At most intersections near me Samantha doesn't mention a landmark. She does whenever it is likely to miss the turn, and as long as there is a prominent landmark there.

These special locations are in congested areas with narrow streets, intersections with traffic lights close together, and businesses close to the road with driveways and many signs. The street (name) signs in such locations are so small that they cannot be read more than 50 feet away.

If your area has wide streets with businesses away from the road, and large street signs that can be read a long distance away, then there is no need for Samantha to say anything else than "turn at the traffic light."

I am sure that the experts at Garmin or Here have used Google Street View to identify problem turns and supply a landmark.

dobs108

I asked Garmin and here is there reply.Also requested more information and still waiting for the follow up.

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. I will be glad to assist you . Garmin Real directions will only use landmarks in an event where the street name is not clear or visible.

Example:

Without Garmin Real Directions: "In 500 feet, turn right at Metcalf Avenue."
With Garmin Real Directions: "In 500 feet, be in either of the two right lanes, then turn right at the stoplight."

I certainly hope Garmin sends you additional info.

The response you've received so far (mentioning stop signs and stop lights) is being heard by everyone with a Real Directions device and occurs with all TTS3 voices. Furthermore, in my experience, these stop sign and stop light Real Directions occur essentially everywhere, not just where street names are not clear or visible. To me, it therefore seems that you've been given incorrect information by Garmin and also that most likely, they haven't answered the question you asked.

The question I expect you've asked is about business-audio turns (turn by the Gulf station or 7-11): is this nationwide—or only heard in some large cities?...which TTS3 voices speak business turns—just Samantha—or some of the other six TTS3 voices.

I hope I'm wrong but I fear that we'll get better information and get it sooner by tallying information from our users who post their experiences in this thread than by Garmin's responses.

Not sure I could say Samantha is the only voice to use business names.She does have Garmin Real Directions & Garmin Real Voice package in one though.The landmarks voice activation would have to be based on the map criteria to determine what instructions it would respond with.I have gotten the "be in either of the two right lanes, then turn right at the stoplight." Many times.That is real directions by Gamins definition.

Will see what Garmin comes back with if anything.Ask for a different dept to give more details.

Based on my Nuvi 265 with just street names feature. The real directions in my view is a great improvement.Along with door to door addressing you can't beat it.

Typical boiler-plate reply from Garmin. That is the type of answer you usually get from an e-mail inquiry.

Incidentally, I have heard the Real directions in central FL (Orlando area) "Turn left at Wells Fargo bank". I thought I might hear it in the Minneapolis area when I visit my daughter, but so far have not.

Alandb, was that Samantha?

Yes, Samantha. Sorry I didn't clarify that.

Charlesd45, I agree that Real Directions is a big improvement, especially to be in the correct lane.

I guess this is all that I can get from Garmin so far.

The real directions may not show up very often but will be used when the street name is not clear on a specific street. There are no settings for this but the information is added along with mapping updates.

What you received is a canned answer serving primarily as a CYA response. Around my area "real directions" such as turn at the end of the street, stop sign. traffic light are quite common. Less common are the place names such as businesses or landmarks.

We have found when driving it is quite common to hear a direction such as "Turn left on street/road" often followed by the "real direction" of turn left at the traffic light or end of the road or whatever. What is not common is a direction string that would include a directive such as "turn left before the Carl's Jr." or other landmark. Real directions spit out whether road names are clearly visible or not. They are extremely helpful when there is an unclear choice as to which of two closely spaced streets to turn onto. The real direction will pause until you are very close to the actual turn and then blurt out its directive. Many times you are too close to the intersection or, if it is a left turn lane you are supposed to be in, it is sometimes impossible to move over because of curbing or other barriers.