French maps pretty pants really.

[Steve_D]

Just got back from 4 days in the Cote d'Azure (lovely) and must admit the French maps are lacking. Never mind that the bloody thing froze 3 or 4 times at the most inopportune moments there were many times where I was driving with no roads to be found on the PDA. I had 7 or 8 sat locks at the time by the way.



I am going to try Destinator.



This was really my first experience of using my kit properly and was most disappointed. I probably expected too much from it. The lack of features, especially a via' feature was really frustrating (I know this has been said any times before).



When the PDA went into suspend I had to reset the PDA (loox). Not good when you are touring around and stopping frequently!!



I thought it would make life easier (It did sometimes I must admit) but I got so frustrated it really wound me up and I wish I hadn’t bought it.

[MikeB]

Steve,



I can understand your frustration. When I first started in GPS I had a system that you did not want to drive under a bridge with because it lost it's fix and would not get it back, you didnt want to drive down leafy lanes, etc.



Having said that when it did work it was great. That was using SmartPath. Things have come on a long way since then, but are still not perfect.



My parents-in-law live in Portugal, in a large village with about 10,000 people living there. On the maps this village does not apparently have any roads anywhere near it. This is not the fault of the hardware or the software, but is down to the map provider, which in some countries is very bad.



A good indicator is to see if the roads are in MS Autoroute which seems to have reasonably up to date map detail. (Watch me get flamed here).
_________________
Mike Barrett

[Darren]

Steve, I tested TomTom and Destinator in France last year and the maps were equally out of date and lacking in information in both. Interestingly Autoroute is poor for road and town detail in France and Spain. This is down the the map data providers and can't really be blamed on TomTom.



Having said all that, TomTom was superb at getting me to the Vendee, no maps, my wife could relax without fear of a row and I knew at all times exactly how far we had to go and how long the journey would be.
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Darren Griffin

[TonyP]

I have been using TTN1.5 on the Cote d'Azur for a couple of years now, but I havent found many problems with the maps. The big advantage of TTN is that you can ignore it if you know a better way for part of the route, or if you want to explore a bit, and it will still get you to your destination.



The GPS can get confused sometimes in mountains and canyons, from reflected signals, but usually this isnt a problem, you know you have to keep on the same road for 26Km, then turn left.



I have also had problems with the Loox locking up. It needs a power supply, and has to be set so that it doesnt suspend or switch of the backlight while on power.

The Loox also has problems with the automatic backlight working the wrong way, it gets brighter in the dark. Sometimes the backlight wont work if you turn it on in the dark, you have to get out the car and turn it on in the headlights.

[JimC]

I am off to the Cote d'Azur tomorrow (ipaq5450,emtacBT,TT2). I have tried calculating a few routes in advance and it does seem slow compared to calculating a trip of the same distance in the UK, but of course that is something that is very variable too!



I am staying on an inland campsite with small roads around it and making trips out, then going down to Cannes and Nice. Hopefully it is all going to work ok as for the majority of the time I will be on my own, but I'll let you know my impressions when I get back.
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Jim

[Steve_D]

It kept on asking me to go down one way streets and really small roads when I know if I just stayed on the main one I would get there.

[dreamtime]

Luckily, I havent used mine in France yet, and with my Jornada 568, I get many lockups and freezes ( arent they the same?)



As TonyP says you can ignore it if you know a better way and you can explore a bit and it will get you back on route.



BUT, the major failing in this software is its inability to dynamically recalculate routes from your current position without major inputting sessions.



So far, I have tried to like TTN2, but, it seems to me the technology is way out of date. There is much better kit out there that will work in harmony with your driving.



I gave it another chance last week. A 26 mile journey, almost a direct route using A roads, and it STILL wanted to take me in the opposite direction to get on a motorway. Seems to me you cant plan to avoid roads that are totally in the wrong direction and that you never thought possible would be in the route.



I will try it again, but it seems to me that this software is pretty naff.



A good manual wouldnt have been too much to ask either. At least I would be able to read it while waiting for the PDA to reset after another lock up!



allan

[JimC]

Now back from the cote d'azur, though I spent most of the time somewhat inland, near to Aups.



Generally I think I would concurr with the comments from Steve_D in that it would quite often take me down very minor roads that I would not have chosen for my own route, but it did get me to my destination and was very useful as I was driving alone. I guess it must be something in the french road classification that gives it no clues on which to discriminate when planning a route. I had to go to Nice airport one day and it got me there very easily, but did not follow the signposted route.



On one occasion it took me up a road in a town that became one-way against me partly along its length and I had to turn around.



Quite often I would go against its choices when I knew there was a better way and I found it very quick to recalculate.



Overall, while it had some problems, I found it to be very helpful.
_________________
Jim

[TonyP]

The Cote d'Azur is a bit of a special case, because once you get off the main roads, the local roads are very tiny and are often blocked by parked cars, road works, street markets, strikers manning barricades or whatever.



You cant expect to follow a route in these circumstances, but I still find TTN invaluable down there for getting where I want to go. Its a matter of dodging about and following the general direction as TTN recalculates.



Here in Belgium, it is much easier to follow the TTN route. Sometimes I think I know a better route myself, but I am surprised how often TTN finds a route that is better than the one I have been using for years.

[zappy61]

I have only used TTN2 in the UK but overall it has been very good. I use it for my motorhome touring and sometimes it does try to take me down narrow lanes but I just ignore it and carry on and TTN2 makes the adjustments needed. Is there any way you can plan and prefer only 'A' roads?
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Graham

[Talkingbollox]

Has anyone used the TTNav1 or TTNav2 French maps to get to Eurodisney please? If so, is it any good and has anyone got a copy for sale?



Thanks in advance.

[Choppa-Parry]

I have used TTN1 and TTN2 quite a bit going back and forth to the Charente over the last 18 months. What I would say is that even the latest TTN2 French maps are sometimes quite out of date eg large sections of 'not that new' dual carriage way missing, junctions just not there and amazingly, roundabouts configured in English (so third exit is spoken and drawn as the first exit).



But my main problem with the TTN French maps is that many minor roads are classified wrongly. This results in TTN taking you off of a reasonable main road and across some dirt track in order to save 100m on the overall journey. This is a complete pain and severely damages your confidence in the route planning process. I have adjusted the driver profile repeatedly to some very extreme settings and I have still been told to turn into a hedge on occasions!



BUT I have never got lost!



(It is also interesting that I can often get all 12 sat channels locked on with may Navman sleeve out there)
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If you can remain calm while everyone else is panicing, you have probably not understood the situation.

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