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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:57 am Post subject: Is D6 any better than D3?
Is D6 any better than D3 (.075) because I find numerous annoying faults in the latter? Or should I go for something else?
A 15 miles familiar route.
It tries to detour off the main road onto a private access road.
Tries to detour off the main road through town back streets.
On 4 occasions it instructs to TR or TL when all you are doing is following the road round a sharp bend, however at one point where you do TR, off the main road on the apex of a sharp LH bend the route is shown correctly on the map but no instructions are given.
Numerous incorrect "over the speed limit warnings" when you are not.
She cannot say "third exit" is comes out as "erd exit" however no problem with saying "the".
That is on a short familiar route. On another occasion it tried to return me by a different and longer route than the one we went out on.
Some things are underlying map errors, some seem to be logic errors.
Joined: May 17, 2004 Posts: 25 Location: Washington, NE England
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject:
I bought a D3 to D6 upgrade in August for £70 and have used it in the UK and on holiday in Europe. I found the user interface easier to use; the 1Q2006 map data is worth the upgrade. I would say the voice directions are clearer, but sound a bit disjointed and more synthetic although this may be because my IPAQ 2210 is now no longer state of the art. A faster processor may make the sound smoother.
I have had a couple of very conflicting visual/audible instructions, the best (worst?) one was a visual turn left and an audible turn right in the middle of Harlem in NL.... not funny as I was driving a motorcaravan at the time and ended up in some narrow streets but D6 redeemed itself by getting me back onto my original route. The visual directions seem to be correct, so I have learned to cast a quick glance at the screen when D6 'speaks'.
I found the ability to seemlessly navigate across several maps (Benelux, Germany,Alps) very useful. I gave up on speed warnings after being scolded for exceeding the speed limits on a number of motorway slip roads when travelling well less than 70mph in the UK.
I had problems initially with cutting the UK map, this has been fixed with a patch from Destinator.
I am still having problems getting D6 to accept instructions to avoid certain roads.
For me, it was a worthwhile upgrade, and cheaper than switching to TomTom or any thing else.
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject: Is D6 better than D3
Thanks for the reply. It doesn't really sound as though D6 is much better than D3. I don't really have a problem with the interface. As you say, the map route is usually OK though not always, I haven't tried cutting the map, I use the lot, and I've given up on the avoid roads, as they seem to default back to useable. There should be an option , "avoid always" or "just for now".
Some of these commercial developers could take a lesson from the developers of an OpenSource (free) navigation program I use for flying in gliders. An email to the developers (in Australia) pointing out a problem, and its often fixed the next day, and you can download the fix.
Joined: Apr 04, 2006 Posts: 295 Location: South East Northumberland, UK
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:14 pm Post subject:
Quote:
On 4 occasions it instructs to TR or TL when all you are doing is following the road round a sharp bend, however at one point where you do TR, off the main road on the apex of a sharp LH bend the route is shown correctly on the map but no instructions are given
This is down to the mapping and whether the mapping company have actually driven the route. Strangely there are two examples near me (one is the street I live in!) that give redundant instructions both on D6 and TTN5. Since D6 uses NavTeq maps and TTN5 uses TeleAtlas maps it is probably up to the way that the base Ordnance Survey digital maps are constructed.
The voice can now say "Third" properly.
Maps in D3 must be getting seriously out of date.
Warnings about speed limits will never be very accurate. The data is embedded in the map primarily for routing purposes not to warn if limits are exceeded. Many small villages etc do not have their speed limits included. TomTom Navigator is also to have this facility in V6 but to me it is useless unless it is always accurate - the maps will get out of date very quickly if speed limits are being relied on.
D6 is a definite improvement over D3, but not perfect (neither is the opposition). I like the way that when travelling from home to Manchester (around 175 miles) the time remaining and the distance remaining gives an average speed in excess of 70mph!
I chose an N35 for my Girfriend over a year ago and Destinator 3 looked and felt prehistoric even then so it really shouldn't be considered to be decent up against ANY software. They were bundling an out of date product to scrape the last few quid they could in conjunction with the best value GPS-enabled PDA at the time. If budget is a worry then stick with it but if you can afford the upgrade to even PN (great deals out there) then you have to make the jump.
D6 or PN both provide a quantum leap from D3. And I'm not blindly faithful to PN or D6 either. If you want good maps of Ireland and the whole of Europe (very) sub £100 you can't beat it. If you only want UK then consider the opposition. Tom Tom gets a bashing but for ease of use and regular updates its not bad. Pricey when you go pan-european though. I used to use Tom Tom and used it again the other day in my colleagues car. It has some issues but I always find it somehow refreshing and endearing despite its faults. If PowerLoc could just get their finger out and add the polish that Tom Tom has they'd clean up.
I find myself saying this every few months! In an ideal world we'd have them all. In an Ultra-Ideal world we'd have downloadable trialware then you wouldn't have to post your (very valid) query and I'd shut up :-)
In summary Destinator 3 is archaic, with a heap of things you have to work around and leaves me frustrated. Take the leap my friend. Or borrow one and try it. _________________ Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim
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