Should we shout a bit louder about Destinator PN?

[jimbo_hippo]

Calling all Destinator PN users. Are you happy with the package you bought? I'm certainly not!

The speed camera option stinks with its wierd and wonderful Favourites alert 1 and 2 business which needs a degree to install and forgets its distance settings when you sneeze. Intuitive it ain't!

Support seem to be on a beach in Hawaii for several months and the website is like the Marie Celeste.

traveller’s journal was available for Destinator 3 so why isn't there something happening with PN? Its said the same thing on their website for months.

I am beginning to wonder if Destinator PN is dead in the water? It feels almost as if the marketing might of Tom Tom has led them to give up and us paying customers are not that important anymore. And its not like I'm complaining about a package I bought a year or two ago.... I payed £100.00 for this about 5 weeks ago!!

perhaps if a few of us would care to post our grievences they might take notice. And in the interest of a fair and balanced approach, if you're happy with Destinator PN, don't just read it and move on. Say so. At least I might know if I'm in the minority!

All we want is to get in the car, start the app (without having to shave before its open) navigate to a destination and be warned of a few speed cameras along the way. Seems fair to me after parting with some cash.

perhaps if we start a thread like this and get some momentum we might see some action. Its not that active in here at the best of times because I think most people arrive at Destinator pre-loaded as an OEM so they are less bothered about the quirks. But for us PN buyers it seems we're alone in the wilderness.

[Ron21]

I agree with your comments, let complain, after all one expects newer versions of software to get better, yet after reading threads this does not seem to be the case with all aspects of Destinator PN compared to Destinator 3.
I recently purchased a Goodmans GNAV10 which came with Destinator OP. I've seen no referance to OP in this forum, nor any other forum or the Destinator Web site. But assume it is the same as PN, perhaps someone could confirm this ?.
I'm new to Sat Nav so cannot comment in depth about the map navigation, but so far OK, time will tell !. I am however disappointed with the House number search, I live in an area that is 10years old and cannot search down to house number.

Start up time is slow, 2 mins plus for the unit to boot up and 3 mins plus for the software (with only the UK speed camera info loaded).

As for setting alert distances, well this is useless (voiced in other threads)In my opinion you need the facility to be able to set up separate 1st & 2nd Alert distances for at least three Catergories. Each with its own unique wav warning message and pop up visual display message or icon. Not one for all.
From reading threads parts of this appears to be achievable with Destinator 3.

Points of interest categories (POI). One should be able to add or remove these via the Destinator Console. Even be able to add custom POIs,
after all what is the UK Camera data base (definitely a POI in my book) and the location of McDonalds a definite POI for my kids.
All catergories within POIs should have the facility to set individual 1st & 2nd Alert distances, with unique voice and display warning messages.


The 'Favorites' could then be reserved for one off locations, ie a good cafe, roadside lay-by's with toilet facilities or good mobile catering unit etc

Well that's it for the moment, no doubt I'll be back with more comments.

In the meantime I will try solving some of the issues with the alert distances, icons and voice warnings myself. Anyone interested in the same or anyone who can add comments or advice may want to follow the thread "Destinator PN & Speed Camera Database" started by 'h5djr' on which I have posted, and also the thread I've started "Destinator OP Ver 5.1.83 - configuring Auto Alerts"

Am I regretting going with Destinator PN - We will see!!

Regards
Ron

[TheRock]

The long start up time is related to the number of favorites loaded in Destinator.
The build in favorites alert system of PN isn't working well at all.

If you want to use speed cams with PN, you should switch to an add on tool.
A free tool is availible here: http://www.navifriends.com/phpbbForum/viewtopic.php?t=1368

Before download, you have to register in their forum.


Rock

[Ron21]

The Rock,
I assume this tool is only of use if you are running Destinator on a PDA in a Windows environment and not of use if running Destinator on a stand alone Sat Nav Unit.

Regards
Ron (a novice)

[h5djr]

I am basically happy with my copy of Destinator PN apart from the problems with adding speed camera alerts. I also have a problem sometimes with the whole thing locking up if you scroll the map to find a location on the map rather than enter a address.

So far Destinator's email support have been next to useless.

But the actual program it self works well as a navigation device. I have used in in the UK, in Germany and in Austria and it has always found the streets I have been looking for and also navigated successfully to those locations. When I tried TomTom, all be it the previous version it could not find the street where my mother has been living for the past 80 years, nor could it find the street where my hotel in Austria was located.

The general design, layout and method of operation seem fine, it's just the favourites and alerts problems that seem to let it down. Perhaps the UK is not such a big market for Destinator as main land Europe.

I will definitely follow the threads related to using Speed Camera alerts closely and perhaps some clever user will come up with the answer. As far as cameras are concerned I am current running a trial copy of AA Speedcare and that seems to work fine. I also have a copy of Memeory-Map running and often use that together with the AA Speedcare by using a copy of GpsGate to share the GPS signals from my Globalsat BT338.

[h5djr]

The Rock

Would be interested to know what's involved in using the Speed Camera add-on that you mention in your post. Can you give us some more details of what we would need to do to use this with Desitinator PN.

Many thanks

[TheRock]

[jimbo_hippo]

Hey guys/gals. In order to keep this one neat and on topic lets try and keep this on the subject of things the manual says should work but don't or things that were in Destinator 3 but aren't in PN. We're all smart enough to read up on the software so, if for example someone is disgruntled about not having full PostCode entry then thats not Destinators fault as a bit of research will show that it doesn't do it. But on the other hand, if you can't get your favourites alert to stick then we've a right to complain since it says you can in the manual. There are pros and cons to all the Nav software and ya pays yer money.... etc. What we need to do here is just get some clout with the obvious gripes which are never addressed.

Hope I didn't come across as the Forum Police there, I'm still fairly new around here! But lets keep it to FAULTS and SUPPORT issues rather than a wishlist. Hope you feel the same.

[h5djr]

Pocket GPS World are having another GPS Meet in November in which some of the suppliers are going to be attendance. If we can find out if anyone from Destinator will be there, it may be worth going along and talking to them face-to-face.

[TheRock]

[h5djr]

Thanks for that information. I'll download the items and give it ago.

Dave R

[ekto]

Well I've been quote happy whit my Destinator PN, or I think it's PN. I bough Acer N35 whit destinator from one denmark's webshop. It arrived under one week and was fully funkional.

First I used the suctioncup holder, but then I ordered an ProClip and mounted it like this using the original holder:

It has enough signal even it's quote far from the window.

The first start of the day takes about 30 - 40 seconds. Other starts under 10 seconds. It knows all streets in Finland and most roundabouts. I also have been able to make a finnish camera files that really works and installs easyly from the consol.

I really think that you cannot get anything this good at 350 euro. Via Michelin is the nearest one whit a price of 469 euro, but it doesn't know Finland so well.


One problem is that some times it gives an order to turn right at junktion, but your goal is ahead. I think that this has something to do whit the road angle in some junktions. Example, if the road you are driving turns quiqly, and there is a junktion that is in a smaller angle, it will advice you to turn in order to keep you in the right track. Hopely this is not too hard to understand

Also giving addresses is not easy specially if your moving. I hope that in time there would be somekind of voice controll to this...

[jimbo_hippo]

Ekto,
You made a fair point. Detinator PN IS very good value. In fact the reason I purchased it was because it appeared to be the most cost effective way of getting European maps which is important for me.

And in essence, Destinator is fine. It navigates, it's solid for me with no crashes to date. And although its presentation isn't initially that intuitive, once you get to know the console it's pretty easy to use.

As for your comments on some navigation quirks, I've used Navman and Tom Tom too and each one has something strange that it does at certain junctions. The maps (which come from other companies) are just big files of information and the companies that write the navigation software have to create algorythms which convert this data into voice commands so its like a translation. There may be several ways to say the same thing. Each companies software might give you different commands from the same data and or even different routes. But thats understandable. In terms of routes and commands all Nav programs have strengths and weaknesses but in this area I've never really found one better than any other. They're just different.

I think the point of starting this thread was because Destinator PN is very close to being excellent but has a few annoying features and faults that stop it from shining. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for PowerLoc's apparent lack of interest. If you were in charge of Destinator development and wanted to improve the product then this forum would be a good place to start. Everyone has the same annoying problems, few people get any hint of support or even email replies. All the other sections of this forum have posts from users with issues but if you read them there always seems to be a solution at the end of the thread which isn't the case here. Many of the faults weren't present in previous Destinator versions but there's still no sign of a service pack release or even comment on the issues from the manufacturer. So its just frustration more than anything.

I can't thing of a great example of what I'm trying to say here but I'll give it a go. If you bought, say, a DVD player which said on the box that it did something and you discovered after buying it that some of the features weren't working you probably wouldn't get too upset initially. You'd contact the manufacturer and speak to their tech support team. If you got a swift reply and, say in a few weeks a firmware update was released you'd be happy. But if you switched it on to watch a movie everyday to see the same irritating little problem over and over again with the feeling that the company weren't bothered about your issues you would be throwing it down the street all for the sake of a couple of minor issues. That's really where I'm at with Destinator. Yes it's good but it could be so much better if somebody seemed to care.

I also find the website equally frustrating. In the downloads and patches section many of the patches are described as for 3.0.xx or higher. Well is Destinator PN seen by them as Destinator 4? Also, what do these patches do? There is no readme or description of what they actually fix. So installing them is like Russian Roulette! And as for the community section, I reckon if you Googled the phrase 'coming soon' their website would get the most hits!

There is a link to a German forum in this thread. I don't speak german so I can't see if they have the same issues but it does seem like a healthy little community with solutions and third party programs to overcome problems. It makes me wonder if they just don't have a good English speaking tech support guy. A bit presumptious I know but this could explain a lot.

I have also noticed that the support email comes from an outsourced support company www.all-in1.de . I had a look round their site and came across the following bold statement:

Service becomes more and more important when it comes to gaining a competitive edge in a market with interchangeable products. We made it our goal to optimize that service for you and to assist you in substantially reducing costs.

I couldn't get my breath when I read that! Someone at Destinator needs to pop round there pronto and kick someones ar*e into next week. And someone might also want to talk to them about the concept of 'we'll get back to you in a few days' Perhaps ask if these are Earth Days?

[jimbo_hippo]

Ekto,
If start up the program and it says Destinator PN on the screen for about 2 minutes then you have PN. If it says something else then it explains why you're quite content
_________________
Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim

[Ron21]

Jimbo just to say that I agree with many if not all of the positive and negative comments you have made in this thread regarding Destinator PN / OP.

Regarding Destinator OP. The whole section of the Instruction Book / File titled ‘Auto & Favorites Alerts’ may as well of not have been written for what use it is, there’s not a sub –section or paragraph that holds true in practice.

It States ‘Auto Alerts’ must be stored in either one of the predefined ‘Catergories’, -
‘Auto alerts 1’, ‘Auto alerts 2’ or ‘My Favorites’ – Not True
In fact there are no predefined Categories apart from ‘My Favorites’.

It states only those items found in ‘Auto alerts 1’ & ‘Auto alerts 2’, will function as ‘Auto Alerts’. – Not True
In fact you can also set up as many ‘Categories’ as you want, and set an alert distance.

The book gives the impression and one would expect individual alert distances to be set for each ‘Category’ – Not True
It states two distances can be configured for each ‘Auto Alert’. – Not True
In fact the last alert distance set in any Category will apply to all Categories.

If anyone can set up Destinator OP as per the book please post.

I to have Emailed Destinator Tech Support and had no acknowledgement.

Regarding the German forum, which I to have visited. Perhaps we should add a posting asking if there is a good english speaking German who is willing to visit this forum,review or posts and pass on any relavent advice / comments.

Regards
Ron

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