I hate garmin

[Just smiffy]

My 770 shows all up ahead including Campercontact that I downloaded on it, there must be something wrong with yours or it needs resetting like PhilandMena suggested… if it’s only showing 3 categories then that would be a backward step for Garmin…

 

[Coolcats]

I fail to understand how these things don't work straight out of the box? Why do they need 'updating' straight away?

Because they may have been manufactured 12+ months ago sitting in storage and need updating to the latest variant of software the world of software can be fast moving.

 

[kevenh]

I've had ~13yr great Garmin experience (after owning Magellan & a short horror loan of a TomTom)

But the out of the box experience should've been better but now with two "Garmin are poor" threads maybe they are not so good nowadays.
Showing POI is a basic feature

 

[Bolti]

Same subject slightly different question, my Garmin is a Kenwood built into the camper radio.

After putting in where I want to go, how do I get it to show the route it wants to take me?

 

[LesW]

Same subject slightly different question, my Garmin is a Kenwood built into the camper radio.

After putting in where I want to go, how do I get it to show the route it wants to take me?

On the units I have, I touch the band going across the top of the screen, and a pop up menu gives the option to view map.

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[Gellyneck]

As a gamin user but not familiar with your model I would advise you to go and put the kettle on and have a cup of tea. Then, start from the beginning. Download garmine express and make sure its the latest version and that you have registered your device with Garmin. Next, do a complete reset then connect to gamin express and update your maps to the latest version. This will also download and update all the supported POI'S. After that I would start working my way through the U Tube tutorials on Garmin. This is a great sat nav and complicated as it has so many features and you need to give yourself time to get used to it.

Agreed. It took me a while to understand the functionality (some of it I still don't as won't be using it) and have found it way better than a side by side comparison with a Tom Tom however this probably due to my "experience with Garmin". I also found their support (chap in USA) to be quite good a few years ago when I had a problem registering a device (my fault, not theirs). Having said that, it may be poorer today given the current health climate.
Maps were just updated a week or so ago so beneficial to do so now.

 

[suavecarve]

I too have the 770 - LMT-D and find the less clutter I have on the map when driving the better. As an aside, I have just downloaded the Search for Sites codes which works well on my Garmin. Find the site on the App in my phone and then punch in the code on my Garmin and it brings up location and route. Downloading the codes and the POI loader all available from the app and its easy peasy. I also have GPL, ACSI & Motorhome Facts POI's downloaded onto my Garmin and can search through these when stationary.

I dont know how but I have managed to download all the S4S onto my garmin 660 as POIs as well as the LPGs and Lidls. Something to do with the Garmin uploader I think,

 

[Garfields]

It's odd
I have never been a fan of their vehicle devices but wouldn't use any other make of GPS for hill navigation
It may be down to first car nav being a TT one and learning on it

 

[Warmleys]

As a gamin user but not familiar with your model I would advise you to go and put the kettle on and have a cup of tea. Then, start from the beginning. Download garmine express and make sure its the latest version and that you have registered your device with Garmin. Next, do a complete reset then connect to gamin express and update your maps to the latest version. This will also download and update all the supported POI'S. After that I would start working my way through the U Tube tutorials on Garmin. This is a great sat nav and complicated as it has so many features and you need to give yourself time to get used to it.

Yes, you are right. I was so angry yesterday. The trouble you we are travelling for 4 months and its hard to get a WiFi.

 

[Jim]

I had the same thing with TomTom a number of years ago. It would just freeze at the worst possible moments, make wild guesses about arrival times, take us on shortcuts that added time to our journey, or fall off the windscreen in the middle of a massive gyratory. So I bought a Garmin, the first of a few. I love them

Easy to read, plenty of info to display or not, regular free map updates. Uploading your preferred routes. I have vehicles with the latest proprietary in built sat-navs but I always take a trusty Garmin

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[Richard n Ann]

I had the same thing with TomTom a number of years ago. It would just freeze at the worst possible moments, make wild guesses about arrival times, take us on shortcuts that added time to our journey, or fall off the windscreen in the middle of a massive gyratory. So I bought a Garmin, the first of a few. I love them

Easy to read, plenty of info to display or not, regular free map updates. Uploading your preferred routes. I have vehicles with the latest proprietary in built sat-navs but I always take a trusty Garmin

I think I had that Tom Tom was it about 2008? The screen mount was much improved on the next model, but the processor was still out of a ZX81

 

[Wendo55]

I have a garmin 760.
If I start typing a town or even city name, click on it when the predicted text comes up and it "doesn't recognise " it. "Check spelling ". No, you spelt it for me.
Also doesn't show ETA anywhere anymore.
I came to a T junction.
Roadside direction sign says left to Ashbourne, right to Buxton. I was heading to Ashbourne. Satnav told me to turn right!
I update it regularly and have reset the settings dozens of times.
Map, pen and paper for me.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Yes our tomtom was demoted to speedo a couple of years ago. Google Maps and paper map now following signs from town to town. Sign posts NEVER let you down

 

[carolyn]

We have had a camper Garmin for 6 years and yes it does have some funny little quirks and occasionally tries to take us down some funny roads but we only tend to know that if it’s near home so an area I know.

There was a genuine software error one year when the upgrade missed off Northern Europe! We only realised when we got off the ferry in France. Oh how we laughed.... I blamed Nick of course until he showed me pages of complaints online.

It does seem strange. We have a MAC and if all else fails reconnecting to that usually sorts any glitches.

I don’t want this to sound patronising and I’m sorry if it does. Nick is the techie in our family. My daughter once said “Mum , you can google anything”. Many times when I was struggling with the Garmin initially, I had a real blank about co-ordinates, and all sorts of things . I’d sit in the van with the Garmin on and my phone or iPad and just keep practising all the different setting by googling how to do it. There seemed to be so many different ways of doing stuff. Some of the instructions were far better than the Garmin ones.

None of us seem to have your model but lots of us like Garmin so perhaps it’s not the satnav!

 

[orridge]

Yes, you are right. I was so angry yesterday. The trouble you we are travelling for 4 months and its hard to get a WiFi.

Wifi is pretty much available everywhere these days either tether your phone for 4g or go park outside any McDonalds and use their wifi to update your devices.

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[deleted79651]

I have a garmin 760.
If I start typing a town or even city name, click on it when the predicted text comes up and it "doesn't recognise " it. "Check spelling ". No, you spelt it for me.
Also doesn't show ETA anywhere anymore.
I came to a T junction.
Roadside direction sign says left to Ashbourne, right to Buxton. I was heading to Ashbourne. Satnav told me to turn right!
I update it regularly and have reset the settings dozens of times.
Map, pen and paper for me.

Yes, the latest edition 780 does that on every trip! Last weekend Falkirk Wheel signposted right, Ms Garmin says turn left, I decide to follow the signposts. 5 seconds or so later, with no hint of an apology, Ms Garmin continues 'at the roundabout take the 1st exit ...' Absolute shameless hussy, she is ... It happens often enough to suggest there's a mapping error [or the Coder confuses his/her left and right ...], but it's literally 5 seconds until Ms Garmin regains her bearings and returns to the navigation task. It's like having Miss Marple or your favourite dotty old aunty in the cab. All very genteel and polite, but absolutely barking and wired to the Moon during this periods of confusion ...

Steve

 

[TDub49]

We have had a camper Garmin for 6 years and yes it does have some funny little quirks and occasionally tries to take us down some funny roads but we only tend to know that if it’s near home so an area I know.

There was a genuine software error one year when the upgrade missed off Northern Europe! We only realised when we got off the ferry in France. Oh how we laughed.... I blamed Nick of course until he showed me pages of complaints online.

It does seem strange. We have a MAC and if all else fails reconnecting to that usually sorts any glitches.

I don’t want this to sound patronising and I’m sorry if it does. Nick is the techie in our family. My daughter once said “Mum , you can google anything”. Many times when I was struggling with the Garmin initially, I had a real blank about co-ordinates, and all sorts of things . I’d sit in the van with the Garmin on and my phone or iPad and just keep practising all the different setting by googling how to do it. There seemed to be so many different ways of doing stuff. Some of the instructions were far better than the Garmin ones.

None of us seem to have your model but lots of us like Garmin so perhaps it’s not the satnav!

Used Garmin on the boat for years and it rarely let us down. Likewise in the moho with a Garmin 770. Generally reliable and accurate (but we always have a 'phone running with Waze or some similar app as back up, along with the co-pilot following an actual paper (yes - paper, printed, pretty colours and shapes, etc) map. The only time we've had a real problem was in France when the Garmin decided to stop navigating. Showed the position and speed but the moho icon was often on its side in a field.

After several email exchanges with very helpful Garmin people we traced the problem to the fact that I was running an out of date version of Garmin Express on the MacBook and no amount of updating would allow it to navigate in France. Worked fine in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium but wouldn't deliver the beans in France.

All good now and this thread is quite timely as it led me to check the Garmin Express version I have currently installed and I discovered that it needs updating and it's chugging away doing that even as we speak. Off to the wild North East (well Robin Hood Bay) in a week or so and pleased that I will be running the latest software and map updates so thanks to the OP for reminding me.

My tip? Read the manual and actually do what it says and check your software versions regularly.

 

[carolyn]

Yes, the latest edition 780 does that on every trip! Last weekend Falkirk Wheel signposted right, Ms Garmin says turn left, I decide to follow the signposts. 5 seconds or so later, with no hint of an apology, Ms Garmin continues 'at the roundabout take the 1st exit ...' Absolute shameless hussy, she is ... It happens often enough to suggest there's a mapping error [or the Coder confuses his/her left and right ...], but it's literally 5 seconds until Ms Garmin regains her bearings and returns to the navigation task. It's like having Miss Marple or your favourite dotty old aunty in the cab. All very genteel and polite, but absolutely barking and wired to the Moon during this periods of confusion ...

Steve

Ours is called Jayne because that was the name of my Practice Manager when we bought it! Sometimes when she tells me to go down a road I don’t fancy I hear myself telling her out loud that I’m not going to do it. Nick’s used to it now. Sometimes I warn him in advance that I will be ignoring Jayne shortly as I’ve decided there’s a better route!

 

[deleted79651]

Ours is called Jayne because that was the name of my Practice Manager when we bought it! Sometimes when she tells me to go down a road I don’t fancy I hear myself telling her out loud that I’m not going to do it. Nick’s used to it now. Sometimes I warn him in advance that I will be ignoring Jayne shortly as I’ve decided there’s a better route!

Jasper Carrott did a routine almost 30 years ago [tickets were a 40th birthday present. I am getting old!] about the male of the house hogging the TV Remote Control, never changing the batteries, preferring to move his seat nearer and nearer the TV ... And having 'conversations' with the Telly when it fails to respond ... It was a prototype Victor Meldrew and I have morphed into the love child of Carrott & Meldrew, sans cloth chapeau ...

Steve

 

[Gellyneck]

Wifi is pretty much available everywhere these days either tether your phone for 4g or go park outside any McDonalds and use their wifi to update your devices.

Wonder how long c6-8Gb will take to download through McDonald's wifi?

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[Clarky]

All good now and this thread is quite timely as it led me to check the Garmin Express version I have currently installed and I discovered that it needs updating and it's chugging away doing that even as we speak.

I find that Garmin Express seems to need updating almost every time I connect the device to the computer.
Very quick to download and update though so not ever a problem.
Before we go on any long trip I always check for Garmin updates.

Richard.

 

[deleted79651]

Wonder how long c6-8Gb will take to download through McDonald's wifi?

Probably long enough to make it worthwhile to enquire about the possibility of a '5 for the price of 4' Ronnie Mac breakfast specials ... And by then, you've used up your holiday period, so you'll not need to update the satnav [assuming you can find your way home ...]

Steve

 

[PhilandMena]

Wonder how long c6-8Gb will take to download through McDonald's wifi?

My latest update was 11.GB. There is only 2 free updates per year (I've had 2 already in the space of 1 month this year ?). If your lucky these can be done at home and with decent WiFi not a problem. A bit of a nightmare if you choose to do it on the road in Europe.

 

[Gellyneck]

My latest update was 11.GB. There is only 2 free updates per year (I've had 2 already in the space of 1 month this year ?). If your lucky these can be done at home and with decent WiFi not a problem. A bit of a nightmare if you choose to do it on the road in Europe.

Did mine at home last week but can't remember the actual size of the download shown in Express however the size of the image file on disc (PC) is 11.3Gb with Additions being a further 4.04Gb. Fortunately, we've got fibre broadband so only takes around 45 minutes to download and install. Wouldn't even think about running Express when on the road given this.

I must admit I thought there was, usually, 4 updates a year as I seem to remember a .4 map from a year or two ago. Having said that, the latest update which was, as you say, only a month or so after the previous one was 2022.1 and replaced 2020.3. Obviously, updates will have been significantly impacted by the pandemic.

 

[Pablo19]

I’ve got a free app, “Road Lords.” from google apps on my phone, Samsung Android.
It is aimed at truckers and works in a similar way to Waze.
It can be configured to your Motorhome dimensions easily.
Seems to work well. Don’t know if it is on the App Store (Apple)

I've been using Road Lords for a while. It's ok but not brilliant. I tend to have that running on my phone and also the Tomtom in my MH and then choose whichever turn seems more sensible taking into account road signs that nay warn of HGV restricted loads/bridges etc. Seems to work for me!

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[LesW]

Also doesn't show ETA anywhere anymore

With the unit on, If you touch either of the bottom corners a menu should appear enabling many options to display various things.

 

[deleted79651]

With the unit on, If you touch either of the bottom corners a menu should appear enabling many options to display various things.

I've just spent a decent amount of time cleaning the fingerprints off the 2 Garmins after last weekend's 'corner touching'/finger poking/stabbing etc ... I'm quite rational and calm and logical, really ... Until bloody IT hazards loom large then I do a monologue that is a cross between Alan Bennett's 'Talking Heads' and Al Murray's 'Pub Landlord' ...

Steve

 

[Wendo55]

With the unit on, If you touch either of the bottom corners a menu should appear enabling many options to display various things.

Thanks but I'm sure I've been through them all but I'll have another go . It's in the mh in storage at the minute.

 

[Bernie P]

I use the A14 frequently (last Saturday was the last time) and my Garmin has never failed to take me on the new road since it opened. In fact the new road was showing as under construction even before opening.
Map update required methinks.

I took the car back to the main agent and had the mapping updated no change. The Mo-ho sat nav gets updated frequently and has the latest version installed.

 

[gus-lopez]

Because updates have been made after they have been manufactured and shipped to store's.

I fail to see what could possibly have been changed in that period?
What is there that I might need ? have they built new roads?
I use an xgody now but the one I used before & still have is a tomtom 710(?) with full size sd card that I bought second hand 6 or 7 years ago. It still works perfectly to the extent that if I went out now the battery unude for nearly 2 years will still be 100% Yes I might be driving through fields occasionally when they have built new bypasses but as long as it informs me when I have to exit etc; who's worried?

Until recently i travelled France ,Spain & Germany with maps I bought when I moved here in 2002.

It's the same with mobile phones, software improvements happening all the time.

But they don't require me to ponce about with the phone before I can make a call?& if it needs to update it can do it on auto updates with no input from me or manuually when you want with only the slightest input from me.

or go park outside any McDonalds and use their wifi to update your devices.

Neither the wife or I have ever managed to get that to work even on one occasion getting the manager out & he had no idea?

If your lucky these can be done at home and with decent WiFi not a problem. A bit of a nightmare if you choose to do it on the road in Europe.

There is no way here that you can download something that requires hours of uniterrupted internet. Ours is satellite,no problem run of the mill stuff but anything that requires a continuous uninterrupted signal ,like tv, you will be struggling.

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