ViaMichelin launch V7 "New Edition" satnav softwar

BigPerk · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:

I've noticed another thing that apparently was configurable but now isn't unless I haven't quite exhausted all the screens and myself as much as I thought) -

In the VM website help page there's a question about how to avoid motorways, with the answer that the max speed definitions of the road types can be altered to do this. I liked this idea (also if the route timing calculations are done on the basis of speed limits, they will be different between France and the UK) - however there doesn't now seem to be a page where these limits can be changed.

Have I missed something or has it been de-implemented in the name of progress ?!

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:13 pm Post subject:

Clive06

EddyDC · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 150

Hi,

I got Friday evening my 980T NE and these are my first impressions.
I didn't have the time yet to try out the navigation yet, so here are some things which I think could be done better:
- The box says that you can unpack and go immediately. Well that's not entirely true. The arrows on the initial setup are so narrow that it hardly recognizes my fingers and a stylus type of device is needed to walk through the device. Since it isn't delivered, this made me gave up after 10 mins and headed home.
- Once passed the initial setup, the buttons are big enough, but there seems sometime to be delay (of action) when hitting a button or the button gets selected and noting happens. It's also the case with 7.02
- I don't see why one should enter time. Shouldn't it come from the satellites? If not, I'm thinking about things like Daylight Saving Time, changing time zones which needs to be done manually. Not user friendly. On top of that, for some reason the time changed a couple of time. It wasn't the activesync (whic is rather useless if time should come from satellite) , since my PC has a similar time. Could it be that battery was too low?
- Changing from day to night modus is done by hour instead of a sensor. This implies that you need to change the hours in the winter a lot and when DST changes.
- The software thinks that one speaks only one language (instead of three) in Belgium and indicates the country as Belgique (thus French). This isn't very diplomatic concerning this delicate matter. We have still no federal government more than 160 days after the elections, due to this language problem. So this problem should be fixed asap.
Possible solutions are: indicate the country in the language of that part of the country (Dutch/Flemish, French or German) or have the country in the language of the user (maybe the best).
- Same issue with the viaMichelin site. When one clicks on the Belgian flag, you get the French version and there is no clear way to change the language. Very NOT done. Luckily I know how to fix this via the URL, but it's not way things should happen.
- Speaking of the site. There doesn't seem a link available for the radars update for Nav 7.
- A Flemish (instead of Dutch) TTS would be nice. They differ like American to British English and when it comes to directions, things might be confusing
- I would appreciate a specific home addresse POI which can be reached quickly. Now one needs to go the blocnote or selfmade POIs (thus too many steps) in order to get it.
- The lists of recently searched addresses shows doubles. So if you go to the same address a lot of time... One entry is enough. This will enable to show more other addresses
- The unit gets filthy rapidly. It's rather static charged (attracts dust) and the screen gets a lot of fingerprints quickly

So this it for now. I hope that something can be done about the software issues I've mentioned.

Eddy

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:33 am Post subject: Re: First impressions

EddyDC · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 150

Well, well, indeed. Just discovered it. Well hidden :-(. The manual doesn't mention it or I overlooked it.

Deepfour · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject:

I have the feedback on the Tourist Route issue and it only appears to be affecting people who have X-970T V7 registered and nothing else....if you have any other version listed it should be OK OR if you had an earlier version and upgraded this too should be OK. Our Webteam is checking into it now and will have a fix very soon.
Can i ask everyone to be patient for a day or so. Also if you have any outstanding quiries or are awaiting a call back and haven't had it yet can you PM me....I will go through the list as fast as I can and get the issues cleared up!!

Cheers

Stu
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BigPerk · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:42 pm Post subject:

I have been trying out my new X980 and as a (just) ex-Garminite, I have to say there are quite a few things I really think are a lot better. Plenty of other comments are being made so I'll mention just a couple from my first trip. However there are also a couple of areas which I am unsure about and I would welcome Stu's and others' views if they don't mind:

Nice Points:

- the pac-man display is excellent and clear especially for complex turns;

- the verbal directions for the turn-off a big roundabout are a lot better (though the Garmin wasn't bad) - saying what towns to look for on the exit direction sign made it much easier not to take the wrong exit;

- there is no time lag, as experienced by others, so it is pretty obvious when to turn;

- 'remaining journey distance' I like - not available on my Garmin

- arriving RIGHT outside the house I was going to was definitely a welcome novelty!

(There was one quirk which needs looking at in the voice synthesis - the A228 comes out as "A Z 2 8")

The area I am unsure about is the sound quality. The TTS voice on my X980 is quite 'tinny' and seems to break up a bit in places and be quite difficult to hear - it's quite difficult to get enough volume without significant distortion. I tested with a couple of MP3 tracks and the quality there wasn't great either (though it wasn't much better on the PC). For those blessed with looking well over 21, it seems quite similar to the old 'trannies' we used to cart around. The thing is, I don't know what a reasonable expectation is - even with modern electronics perhaps expecting something approaching car-radio quality is still a bit optimistic - on the other hand I want to be sure I haven't got a defective unit. As the normal, basic, voice seems quite clear and has a reasonable volume (though still 'synthetic'), I am inclined to think it's the TTS voice that's a bit weak, as most were on the Garmin.

And that brings me on to my plea! The one thing I do miss is a [/b]particular TTS voice Garmin offered, referred to as 'Daniel' - this was a very realistic, clear and pleasant voice, which everyone who has tried likes very much. I am pretty sure Nuance produce the voices for both Garmin and ViaMichelin - I don't suppose there's a chance of having such a good-quality voice on offer as well is there Stu?

But I'm definitely NOT going back to Garmin!!

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject:

[quote="BigPerk"] I am inclined to think it's the TTS voice that's a bit weak, as most were on the Garmin.
[quote]

To be honest I'm convinced that the voice isn't as loud as it used to be with v6.5, but I have no way of verifiying this. Just a feeling, with v6 you could have the radio load because the GPS was nice and loud when reading out the commands, but I did have to turn the radio down a bit the other day but thought nothing of it until now.

SpikeyMikey · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject:

I, like BigPerk, would appreciate a better sounding voice for the TTS, although on the whole I find it better and more accurate than v6.

When travelling on the B4009 the other day though it used 2 descriptions 1) B forty 09 2) B four thousand and 9, I wondered why it would differ.

I can only echo everybody elses positives.

The negatives for me all seem to stem from the website at the moment but as Stu has asked for it, I shall have patience.
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EddyDC · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 150

BigPerk · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:31 pm Post subject:

Having now listened to the Nuance voices, I am pretty sure that the VM English TTS is 'Emily', which explains things! She was exactly the same on my Garmin, too quiet, indistinct and tinny- that's why quite a number of people went over to Daniel. So I now think the VM unit itself is ok. I suspect the problem may be a more general one with female TTS voices on a small speaker - more high frequency tones than a male.

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

Would be nice if we could have a choice of voice for the TTS and general directions. Could be managed through content manager and give the option to delete ones you wouldn't use. I don't have any need for a french TTS option as I would never be able to understand it Laughing

Would free up more space for POI's and MP3's ect.

EddyDC · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 150

Now that's one of the positve things about Garmin, where one could delete the unwanted voices.

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