Better route found... anyone?

 

Last week I drove to Florida. On the way back around Jacksonville while following the route I've heard an odd message from my Garmin nuvi 350, which was:

"Better route found..."

I followed the new route and it saved me around 30 min -- time which I already lost with 2 stops (I have a 6 year old, who "really has to GO" sometimes).

Did anyone experience anything like that so far... I was pleasantly surprised to know that there is a good option. After all who reads the whole manual...

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

Yeah, a few of us have. I

Yeah, a few of us have. I have only experienced it once though. And by the way, my 10 year old and my 42 year old wife always has to "really really go" after just 30 minutes on the road!

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Awsome... any other goodies like that?

asianfire wrote:

Yeah, a few of us have. I have only experienced it once though. And by the way, my 10 year old and my 42 year old wife always has to "really really go" after just 30 minutes on the road!

That... about the go part is more me than them, because I have a bad kidney, but this time it was not me smile. I was as clean as a whistle...

Do you know of any other goodies like that?

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

There are a lot of "hidden"

There are a lot of "hidden" features, but I can't think of any of the top of my head (or the bottom). So I guess I am also empty in between.

Oh wait! These aren't really hidden, but often missed.

1) Set location - Allows you (when the antenna is down) to set your location as if you were there.
2) Off road option for navigation is great on an airplane

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Nice... thanks...

Nice asianfire, nice!
Thanks!

I wish we can have some sections here for something like that in the Garmin group or in all...

Maybe we have to suggest it as a nice addition to the site... something like "Hints and hidden goodies"...

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

Search the site, there are

Search the site, there are tons of stuff on here that I learned as well as figured out on my own by playing with my units.

Just to let you know, it seems that this community largely owns garmins, that is one of the reasons I love this site.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

I think you are right...

thanks again...

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

Is this strictly a 350

Is this strictly a 350 thing?

Naw, garmins in general

Naw, garmins in general....depending on what you are talking about. Nuvis have some things that you can't do on streetpilots and visa versa

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

yes

yes i found a route

etzvetanov wrote: Last week

etzvetanov wrote:

Last week I drove to Florida. On the way back around Jacksonville while following the route I've heard an odd message from my Garmin nuvi 350, which was:

"Better route found..."

Are you using the traffic option? I don't and mine's done that a couple of times. I wonder what the input information is. It seems like it should choose the "better route" as the initial route. After all, it's not like it doesn't know about it because if it didn't, it wouldn't be available!

Wonder if it's speed related or something. I have had my "better route" end up being the exact same thing as the original route. That was with my Street Pilot 2720. Never seen a "better route" pop up on my Nuvi 660.

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

That was my first reaction too...

buffettck wrote:

Are you using the traffic option? I don't and mine's done that a couple of times. I wonder what the input information is. It seems like it should choose the "better route" as the initial route. After all, it's not like it doesn't know about it because if it didn't, it wouldn't be available!

Wonder if it's speed related or something. I have had my "better route" end up being the exact same thing as the original route. That was with my Street Pilot 2720. Never seen a "better route" pop up on my Nuvi 660.

I am using the default navigation options. The only ones I changed were some appearance things.

You are right... this was my first question to my wife when we heard the message... Wouldn't it be calculating the best route in the first place?

But it seems that if the route is too long, then it is doing "adjustments", because initially it is using the major interstate highway network and locally at certain point it is recalculating "on the fly".

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

better route found

Do you have the traffic alert set (subscription required) I know my 660 will alert me of better and sometimes faster routes while traveling, i believe mine does it when traffic clears or get worse and it scans the info from the fm stations.

Better Route

This has happened to me a couple of times but I think it was after I didn't follow the original route and it "recalculated", then a short time later it found a better route.

Better Route Found

I have had my GPS units ( 2730 & 7500 ) for a year and one half and I have only had the "Better Route Found" pop up one time on my 2730.

I was not using NavTeq traffic either. I did not even have my GTX30 antenna plugged into the unit.

I did select the better route.... but since I was in an area unfamiliar to me, I had no way of knowing if it truly was a "Better Route" or not.

Tim

No traffic receiver or service

hrntfxr wrote:

Do you have the traffic alert set (subscription required) I know my 660 will alert me of better and sometimes faster routes while traveling, i believe mine does it when traffic clears or get worse and it scans the info from the fm stations.

Nope. All default navigation option. I know for sure it has chosen first the interstate route, but then it took me to a state highway, which instead of going around Jacksonville, went strait trough and met the I-95 again later.

I have no traffic receiver and never used one, nor am I subscribed to any additional service. Simply don't need them.

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

RE: There Are A Lot Of "hidden"

asianfire wrote:

There are a lot of "hidden" features, but I can't think of any of the top of my head (or the bottom). So I guess I am also empty in between.

Oh wait! These aren't really hidden, but often missed.

1) Set location - Allows you (when the antenna is down) to set your location as if you were there.
2) Off road option for navigation is great on an airplane

I need to tinker with that "off road" option... I'm a student learning to fly airplanes and it would be awesome to get my bearings in case the gps on my plane craps on me. It's sometimes hard to figure out at night where I am when there are no lights on the ground to help guide me.

Not sure how useful it is

Not sure how useful it is for actually trying to navigate an airplane though.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

The finally got it work.

etzvetanov wrote:

Last week I drove to Florida. On the way back around Jacksonville while following the route I've heard an odd message from my Garmin nuvi 350, which was:

"Better route found..."

I followed the new route and it saved me around 30 min -- time which I already lost with 2 stops (I have a 6 year old, who "really has to GO" sometimes).

Did anyone experience anything like that so far... I was pleasantly surprised to know that there is a good option. After all who reads the whole manual...

I've seen it pop up a few times but initially, a few updates back, it didn't work. The "Better route found..." thingy would pop up, I'd press it, it did nothing but would keep popping up every 5 or 10 minutes. Somewhere around V4.60 it began to work properly but my question is, if there's a better route, why didn't it just give it to me right from the start? I know, I know... my settings, however, I think it should initially display a message like "Yo! I can cut your route by 50 miles if you aren't too cheap to pay a few tolls buddy! Yes or No?" If I press no, it gives me the routing based on the settings I have chosen, if I press Yes, it gives me the better routing. I could handle that...

Garmin may be able to explain I guess...

Freddie40 wrote:

I've seen it pop up a few times but initially, a few updates back, it didn't work. The "Better route found..." thingy would pop up, I'd press it, it did nothing but would keep popping up every 5 or 10 minutes. Somewhere around V4.60 it began to work properly but my question is, if there's a better route, why didn't it just give it to me right from the start? I know, I know... my settings, however, I think it should initially display a message like "Yo! I can cut your route by 50 miles if you aren't too cheap to pay a few tolls buddy! Yes or No?" If I press no, it gives me the routing based on the settings I have chosen, if I press Yes, it gives me the better routing. I could handle that...

Yeah, I had the same question, but there is nobody to answer smile Apparently when it is calculating long route it is taking "the strait line" of the major highways. Then when closer to a net of highways it "decides" to change course smile

Anyway. You can actually send your proposal directly to Garmin I guess... Who knows? They maybe paying attention to these kind of things.

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

I drove down to FL about a

I drove down to FL about a month ago and had the same thing to happen.We had came off I95 and went on to I10 and had just started down I75.I had put a hotel in my favorites that we wanted to stop at in Land of Lakes.The message came up found better route.It caught me so off guard because I had not read anything in the ownwers manual about it I didn't want to take a chance since it got me off I75 a lot farther back then I thought it should. I knew the hotel was right off of I75 and according to the gps the exit was about another 15 miles.I did notice when the better route message came up it was a shorter distance but I just kept driving on I75 and it redirected me back on the orginial route and exit for the hotel.After reading your post I think I may go the better route found method if it happens again.

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

FAA

asianfire wrote:

Not sure how useful it is for actually trying to navigate an airplane though.

Be VERY careful using a non-aviation FAA approved GPS for navigation.

That being said, I've used a hiking hand held and it's been useful at times. Passengers like playing with it and seeing where they are, how fast, etc. I pre-loaded it with all the coordinates of my local airports, navaids, etc and ones I'd be using on cross countries from the Airport/Facility Directory FAA publication. That way, if all else fails, I could see how far away from airports I was, to avoid any airspace violations, although GPS is straight line distance, unlike the DME distance, which is slant range to the station. But, at a couple thousand feet in a Piper/Cessna, it's not that big of a difference.

You can use the Nuvi in the same feature in 2D mode and be able to zoom out and keep general situational awareness by referencing roads, towns and other VFR type checkpoints. Most airports are listed and there are custom POIs files out there, plus you can add your own. Again, the situational awareness would be very helpful in every pilot's worst nightmare. Complete electrical/comm failure at night in IFR conditions. Just be aware that most auto GPS do NOT have topographical information by default!

Do NOT rely on the altitude information, as most people know that non-aviation units are not very accurate. I've seen variations of greater than 500ft, which can cause a flight violation, too.

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

Hey is that a plane coming towards us????

buffettck wrote:
asianfire wrote:

Not sure how useful it is for actually trying to navigate an airplane though.

Be VERY careful using a non-aviation FAA approved GPS for navigation.

That being said, I've used a hiking hand held and it's been useful at times. Passengers like playing with it and seeing where they are, how fast, etc. I pre-loaded it with all the coordinates of my local airports, navaids, etc and ones I'd be using on cross countries from the Airport/Facility Directory FAA publication. That way, if all else fails, I could see how far away from airports I was, to avoid any airspace violations, although GPS is straight line distance, unlike the DME distance, which is slant range to the station. But, at a couple thousand feet in a Piper/Cessna, it's not that big of a difference.

You can use the Nuvi in the same feature in 2D mode and be able to zoom out and keep general situational awareness by referencing roads, towns and other VFR type checkpoints. Most airports are listed and there are custom POIs files out there, plus you can add your own. Again, the situational awareness would be very helpful in every pilot's worst nightmare. Complete electrical/comm failure at night in IFR conditions. Just be aware that most auto GPS do NOT have topographical information by default!

Do NOT rely on the altitude information, as most people know that non-aviation units are not very accurate. I've seen variations of greater than 500ft, which can cause a flight violation, too.

The only possible use I've found for my Nuvi in flight is to indicate where a suitable road may exist if an engine failure occurs at night. Oh yeah, there's also the WOW factor when at a bar you tell all your buddies that you've driven at 220mph and the proof is on your GPS! I suggest only doing this when they've been drinking for a while. If they're sober, one of them might just remember that you've got a pilot's licence and the jigs up. smile

Seriously though, there's no real use for a car's GPS in an airplane. Even the altitude thing is risky ( with any type of GPS ) because a GPS will give you an absolute altitude rather than a pressure altitude. I've seen differences of over 500ft between the altitude the GPS is giving me and what the pressure altitude is. That can really make for a bad day when the guy flying the opposite direction is 500ft above or below you....

More uses

Freddie40 wrote:
buffettck wrote:
asianfire wrote:

Not sure how useful it is for actually trying to navigate an airplane though.

Be VERY careful using a non-aviation FAA approved GPS for navigation.

That being said, I've used a hiking hand held and it's been useful at times. Passengers like playing with it and seeing where they are, how fast, etc. I pre-loaded it with all the coordinates of my local airports, navaids, etc and ones I'd be using on cross countries from the Airport/Facility Directory FAA publication. That way, if all else fails, I could see how far away from airports I was, to avoid any airspace violations, although GPS is straight line distance, unlike the DME distance, which is slant range to the station. But, at a couple thousand feet in a Piper/Cessna, it's not that big of a difference.

You can use the Nuvi in the same feature in 2D mode and be able to zoom out and keep general situational awareness by referencing roads, towns and other VFR type checkpoints. Most airports are listed and there are custom POIs files out there, plus you can add your own. Again, the situational awareness would be very helpful in every pilot's worst nightmare. Complete electrical/comm failure at night in IFR conditions. Just be aware that most auto GPS do NOT have topographical information by default!

Do NOT rely on the altitude information, as most people know that non-aviation units are not very accurate. I've seen variations of greater than 500ft, which can cause a flight violation, too.

The only possible use I've found for my Nuvi in flight is to indicate where a suitable road may exist if an engine failure occurs at night.

And ground speed, situational awareness... Remember, if all else fails, you can find the airports near you and do a "direct to". Plus, as I mentioned, you can have all your needed facilities, navaids, intersections, etc preloaded. Good for a backup and SA because not all GA aircraft have GPS onboard. Just have to be creative. smile

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

That's why they have specialized ones...

I think you guys are thinking of using it in an airplane seriously, but I think asianfire had in mind the fun he had when he flew.

Danger in this situation does not exist, except of messing with the satellite data, which can be reset.

If you want to do serious flying and you have money for it, then you must have the money for a nice air specialized GPS, which I know for sure most of the vendors offer.

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

Not all pilots have money...

etzvetanov wrote:

If you want to do serious flying and you have money for it, then you must have the money for a nice air specialized GPS.

Or own their own planes... Try being a starving CFI and/or building up hours to be competitive for hiring at even a crappy regional airline. A LOT of flight schools use beat up, ratted out training aircraft with antiquated navaids. An installed GPS was rare and a GODSEND if your flight school/FBO had aircraft equipped with them. Then again, the renters always had priority and the aircraft were usually booked when the CFIs needed them for student instruction. Lean times...

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

Better Route

We had our Nuvi 350 do that to us on a recent trip from Dubuque Iowa to Chicago. But we asked for it because we wanted to take the scenic river road along the Mississippi instead of the more direct interstate route. Leaving Dubuque, Jill kept routing me to turn around and then recalculating when I ignored her and kept going. Eventually, she gave up and plotted the way we were going. Then about a half hour later Jill decided there was a better route. I was not fooled. I know her wily ways...

Using GPS in Flight

Be very careful with non-faa approved equipment. Some equipment gives of (transmits) a signal that could interfere with your instruments. When flight calculators (non E6B) came out lots of people called ATC for guidance because they stored their battery powered calculators on the dash in the cockpit. They were flying (VFR) off course.

--
If at first you don't succeed....redefine success

Maybe "Shorter" vs. "Fastest" is the cause?

The "Better Route Available" came up several times yesterday for the first time. I had switched from the "Fastest" to "Shortest" route a few days ago, and the shortest was making some very strange recommendations (shorter, yes, but impractical, like turning down a residential street). I ignored those route commands and continued on the expressway anyway. The "Better Route" announcement came up, I told it yes, and it rerouted me home on the freeway as it should have done originally.

I'm always on fastest...

... because shortest will guide you here in this region through a very slow and full of traffic lights route. This option here in this region is not applicable. So isn't the "Avoid toll roads". Because as they say:
"Jersey is like a prison. You have to pay to get out of state".

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

jersey

It is hard to increase you MPG in Jersey because you are always in a constant state of stop......lol
No wonder why they have to keep the fuel prices low.

Also have seen it pop-up

I've seen it pop up also, but have always decided to ignore it. I knew where I was and had decided that I liked the route that was originally planned. Did not want to risk getting a "strange" routing.

However, this thread has made me very curious about that feature. Next time, when the routing is not critical, think I will take the "better route".

Just wondering, if you accept the better route, and you don't like it, can you cancel and go back to the original route you were taking?

--
Joe - nuvi 370

Good one...

nyph8011 wrote:

It is hard to increase you MPG in Jersey because you are always in a constant state of stop......lol
No wonder why they have to keep the fuel prices low.

That was a good one... At least we have the better gas price wink

--
The only things you regret in life are the chances you never take.

new route

it happened to me also expecially when my traffic monitor kicks in it recalculates and saves me time most of the time

I have a better route

I recently drove from Ohio to North Carolina and had it happen once on my nuvi 350 on the way down and twice on the way back. Each time it dropped about 6 minutes or so off the expected arrival time. I expect that as all thing calculating, there are so many options at the start of a long trip, and as it mulls some seriously esoteric computations, it may in fact be convinced it has a better route. I will be carrying a maps.google.com route with me in the future though, some of the routing put me on real Road Adventures. It needs convincing on some routes.

I have had it happen a few

I have had it happen a few times, but I always check the new arrival time to see if it really saves me time.