Navigon 8450 first impressions

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:36 am Post subject: Navigon 8450 first impressions

I recently received my 8450 live which I ordered from Pixmania, the unit itself isn’t much bigger than the 8110/8310.
Only played with a little, but first impressions of the unit is it’s taken much of the 8310 and put it into a much better package.
It seems far more responsive than the 8310 and the touch screen is so sensitive it’s a dream to use.

Couple of things to note;
LIVE services are not active in the UK yet , and should be live in Dec so I’ve not been able to activate the LIVE services Smile

(confirmed by Navigon’s UK sales manager)

The mount that comes with the 8450 is different to the 8410, in that the 8410 has an active mount with provides power through it. However as the LIVE module has to be connected to the bottom of the unit you can’t use the active mount on the 8450 (the same if you later upgrade to LIVE services on a 8410) also if you upgrade the 8410 you have to use the new car charger in order to ensure it’s able to power both the GSM module and Sat Nav.

Voice Command – Wow such an improvement over the 8310, you can now swipe your finger over the screen and say ‘destination’ ‘my destinations’ ‘paul’. You can also say ‘call’ ‘paul’ or say the number.
Seems very sensitive as we tried ‘Poi Nearby’ and we talked between us where to go, but the sat nav picked up on Locko park and instantly said it was navigating us to Locko park.

Real CITY 3D – tried a quick demo route of this, and the level of detail is surprising, in the demo it’s really smooth and only seems to struggle a little when turning corners.

Poiwarner – Have not tried this yet as tempted to wait and see what the LIVE camera services brings.

Michelin Guides – Yes being a French import unit (didn’t realise on ordering) it does have the viaMichelin logo on it 
It does have the locations, but doesn’t seem to have any descriptions with the locations. I may try switching the device to French to see if the descriptions only appear in French.
Better than nothing though, and I’ve not paid extra for it.

Update - 14th Nov

Pedestrian Mode - works very well, although the 84xx models lack the same compass hardware that the 24xx models have the 2D map and GPS based compass display works well, when walking and gives a good idea if you are heading in the right direction. It also gives a indication of the map scale in yards.

LIVE services - I seem able to get weather and google services at the moment and both work well. If you bring up weather while navigating it gives a overview of the route with weather symbols placed on the map.
Google does what it says on the tin, type in a location, what your looking for and google local will attempt to find it for you Smile

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Navigon 8450 LIVE

BigPerk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:38 pm Post subject:

Well, how about that - available from the French site since 2 November and still a 2-3 week wait shown on the German site Rolling Eyes

If it's really got VM info on it maybe that's where I'll buy it from Razz

.

Do you have an electronic copy of the User Guide you might be able to email me by any chance? There's still no sign of it on the sites (even the French one). And no mention of VM on the 8450 either.

EDIT - Oh Censored

Just spent 1 1/2 hours downloading Q4 maps and got a 'can't access archive' error, so got to start again. Had it before but it's still annoying.
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:42 pm Post subject:

i think the 8450's are physically available, I think that Navigon are choosing not to ship them until the LIVE services are actually available. I suspect Pixmania are shipping them when they shouldn't be.

Drop me a PM with your address and I'll forward you the manual, it's actually the same 8410 manual but then there's and additional guide for the LIVE services.

It certainly has the VM sites, but I'm not convinced it has the same full descriptions that the viaMichelins used to have Sad

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Navigon 8450 LIVE

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:23 pm Post subject:

Q4 maps don't seem to be available for me yet Sad

It would seem the LIVE features maybe being tested as I just tried again on the offchance and I was surprised when it came back activated.
Google and Weather services are working, but keep going offline.

i noticed that activating the LIVE service, also enabled me to download the speed camera data. so it would seem that there's no need to pay extra as it's included as part of LIVE.
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Navigon 8450 LIVE

BigPerk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:46 pm Post subject:

I wonder if that means your 30 days period for taking the reduced extension subscription has started now?
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:54 pm Post subject:

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:03 pm Post subject:

Couple of things to mention.

The Q4 map is now showing, if you want the full EU maps you will need a new MicroSD card as the maps are nearly double in size to the Q3 maps.

Also Pixmania ship the French model, so I should have mentioned that the power adaptor comes with a EU connection instead of the correct UK connection.
Could be a problem if you don't have a mains USB charger.
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Navigon 8450 LIVE

BigPerk · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:35 pm Post subject:

That's a bit off, a UK supplier not providing a UK plug! Grounds for complaint I would have thought! And the 8110 came with UK and Euro adaptors, didn't it? Surprised the 8450 doesn't.
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject:

Pixmania have always been a bit odd in that way, everything is shipped from France.
Normally they do put a UK / euro adaptor in the box but being a sat nav maybe they didn't think it would have a plug in the box.
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Navigon 8450 LIVE

BigPerk · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:25 am Post subject:

I've just seen an 8410 Review in a German magazine, referenced from the Navigon German site. Haven't read it yet, but it may interest some.
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

BigPerk · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:53 pm Post subject:

Navigon have been messing with their websites this afternoon. I see that, although the International and other sites still show 2-3 weeks and France 'in stock', the 'Buy Now' has now disappeared completely from the UK site... Mad

TMC problems with Inrix perhaps?

Just reread the PremiumTMC thread and notice perussell's comments about a contractual issue with TrafficMaster - I guess that's what it's about. Clearly a bit of a stumbling block
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

speedygonzalis · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 12, 2008 Posts: 20

Hello
I've now been using the 8410 (same base model as 8450) for a few weeks.
Finally got round to updating the media player. This now worked ok. I had to remove the poiwarner program for pocket gpsworld speedcam database (nav.de instructions to me) due to speed errors. Installed the Navigon speedcams. All worked well - for a day then the screen of death.
When you switch on within a few seconds a message pops up. "autorun.mscr - there is no application associated with autorun.mscr etc.
Checks on explorer show that a number of folders within the device (not the card) have syntax or file name errors. Caput!
Tried to find where to email Navigon (impossible task)
Fresh no longer talks to the device.

Verdict - The most unreliable GPS item I have ever used with the most difficult company to deal with.

This unit has now become a £300+ paperweight.

Ray

BigPerk · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:57 pm Post subject:

HEY SPEEDYGONZALIS - I'll give you £150 for that paperweight Razz

Seriously though, (there may be a more direct way but) if you go into the Q&A section of the support and select aNY question, you will see a "not satisfied with answer Then email ..." (or similar) at the bottom - you'll then get the form to email them.

Alternatively 'Contact Customer Services' gives you the number 0871-2880154 (don't forget to check 'SayNoto0870' if your bovverred).

BTW, did you do a backup when you first got the unit? If so you could try a restore. But I suppose it's not looking good for that device - a return? Confused

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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

speedygonzalis · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 12, 2008 Posts: 20

Hello David
I tried the route you suggested 2 weeks ago for info on the media update for the uk market (it was only available on the german site at that time). Navigon never bothered to answer or contact me.
I will try the phone tomorrow.
I did a full backup on purchase but subsequently found out that the memory card is backed up but there was not a facility in the backup section to deal with the internal memory related to the navigation program. The device is not seen by FRESH.
So, all in all, a very sophisticated piece of Gun Shoot Out

If anyone has the ability to copy the Navigon folder from the device maybe that would work?

Ray

jonandmarkuk · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject:

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