Sat Nav Suggestions

[d2dave]

My 3rd Garmin sat nav has now died. I have always purchased the identical model as it saves me having to relearn a device.

I have been using Garmin Drive 61. These things I have decided are rubbish. They are lasting me about 2 years and all die with exactly the same symptoms.

These units are now nearly triple the price. They were around $220. Now a second hand one on ebay is around this much.

New they are around $600. I refuse to pay this for such a crap product.

I was thinking of something like this.

9"AWESAFE Portable GPS Navigation Truck Navigator with Free Australia Map 2020 717877648258 | eBay (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313167226915?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110 006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D24196 7%26meid%3D8c3da08d188c4f23bccf2c216356a369%26pid% 3D101195%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D234956217061%2 6itm%3D313167226915%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D204 7675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambd a85KnnRecallV1V4V6ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRa nkerAndBertRecall%26brand%3DAWESAFE&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A3131672269158c3da08d188c4f23bccf2c2 16356a369%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABYA2rugFlOq3qu1cLac%252F% 252Fk6Vp0Oa0HaJIqoXKeIiOR%252BTUgsSvHaeyPxKYu6UqHq q7GaGyKVqHQnjeiiXcQpMGw2t3aB%252BssGfjtIWOBj8wExc7 oYYP7xGMyQCrHDyDaSaWjB1CueI3A94n0yxXX5dx5gDaY0zIGb otEeZYUSAweOR0a2LNZJFuP8gu7ybBDQJIQk%252B5uHUn1g7z I6V8WKtmEFKQCUeivhyEY2Ehbzz%252FxMt63CYK2GNsNGGA82 0AK1dF%252FrDez1PQIPDPz33lzYpnmdFr85LhwjeIzzk1b5o8 %252Bc1ZQ2Z9B46hIscBu4NKtnoPZeGPkg9hsxGjayGAoUDiYO 7yDkIRDVaFbLHTEK8EE%252BPpZkIgtu8getMQvBtnFeiGM1ma RkTVyeQrN%252FhSOWr9MGeb4EARt9USJ%252BHE5pc8eDWwGc 9zyrjSgocTlzkj6u0HBHTmXX2g%252FRZoJ5E9BGzorVI%253D %7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675&epid=22043999317)

I am using it in a truck, so the size is not a problem, actually with my aging eyesight would be good.

At this price, if it lasted as long as my Garmins I would be happy

Any recommendations/advice most welcome.

[101RRS]

I cannot answer your question about the ebay GPS but to me the price would be an alert.

I have three Garmins , a Drive 61, a Nuvi 2460 and a Nuvi 65. I have had the 2460 (no longer supported) for about 9 years, the 65 for about 7 years and the 61 for about 3. All work perfectly and do get bounced around.

So my experience does not reflect your experience. You can get a Drive 61 for a list price of about $230 but all I checked are sold out hence I suspect the high prices you found when you looked.

I would suggest staying with Garmin over the cheap ebay GPS but if you have had problems then maybe look at another brand name unit.

Good Luck

Garry

[Tins]

At the price there isn't much to lose. My question is about the maps provided. What is their source? It calls itself a truck navigator; does it take into account load limits, bridge clearances, you know the stuff, Dave. Does it know of B-Double routes or roads banned to trucks? Curfews?

Not enough info there for my liking.

[scarry]

Had Garmin street finders for years,never had an issue.

In fact i still have the very first one that came out,maps are not supported anymore,but i use it just for speed in the Series 1.

Garmin are helpfull,you could contact them and see what they say about the continual failures.

The main thing i dont like about them is sometimes they go the long way to a destination,Google maps seems slightly more accurate around town,and shows the state of the traffic on the route.

In regional areas,both Garmin and Google maps are often not that accurate.

[austastar]

Hi,
Have you reset it?

Garmin DriveSmart 51/61/7 - Resetting the Device (https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/drivesmart51-61/EN-US/GUID-C2D5F961-E017-47CA-B37C-950E065CAE1F.html)

Cheers

[d2dave]

Hi,
Have you reset it?

Garmin DriveSmart 51/61/7 - Resetting the Device (https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/drivesmart51-61/EN-US/GUID-C2D5F961-E017-47CA-B37C-950E065CAE1F.html)

Cheers

I wish I had of known about this before I spat the dummy with this.

I thought I might bang it on the dash to see if it might have a bad connection.

In my frustration with a 3rd failure I hit it a bit hard and cracked the screen.

Just re-read the reset instructions and I don't think it would have worked.

Mine had not totally stopped functioning. Symptoms were varied from,

1/ would shut down, after a few seconds would restart, go through the start up procedure, select map, map would appear and then anywhere from 5 seconds to 2 minutes would shut down again. Repeat.

2/ Screen would appear with vertical lines on it.

3/ Screen would go to a white blank and it was frozen. Could not power it down. It was so bright I had to remove it from dash and let the battery go flat. Re stared it when flat and other above symptoms would be back.

This happened twice.

[austastar]

Hi,
Mine, Garmin Oregon, would start with the flash screen and go black like the battery was so flat the startup would stop from low Voltage.
Most frustrating, but the hard restart fixed the problem.
Cheers

[101RRS]

The main thing i dont like about them is sometimes they go the long way to a destination,


Depends on your navigation setting - Fastest, Shortest, Most fuel efficient. Tollways (Yes/No), Motorways (Yes/No) etc - so maybe you need to check your settings.

[Robmacca]

I've been running Garmin GPS's since 2010 and actually still have my 1st one. I've retired it as it has slowed down to a point it is too slow to use.
My Garmin History:
StreetPilot III
Nuvi 500
Montana 650T
Nuvi 2689LMT (2 of)
Zumo XT


I'm still using the Nuvi 2689LMT for daily navigation & trips & I only use the Montana 650T for touring due to the fact of its ability to be able to upload my tracklogs and waypoints easily + has good Topo Maps. As I get older my eyesight looking at the smaller screen is becoming annoying, so I have now moved to using the Garmin Zumo XT (its for the adventurous motorbike riders) and I'm still learning the ins & outs of it and reckon it's pretty good as well. This one is not really cheap unless u can find a 2nd one...
I have also gone over to use a iPad now due to the bigger screen and I use a few various Apps (OpenStreetMapping; Mapout; PocketEarth; Hema4WDApp)


It comes down to how and where you want to use it. If u are remaining around areas where u always have phone signal, then GoogleMaps or Earth might be suitable otherwise there is quite a few Phone Apps these days that are pretty good. The OSM free maps are getting pretty good these days as well to the point that a lot of dedicated GPS device providers actually use the OSM data.


I once tried using a Tom Tom GPS and realised how much better the Garmin units were at that time... not sure about now but I've always been happy with Garmin but they are changing as the Tech changes, now with BlueTooth/Wifi Map updates and sharing info...


Not sure if this helps u or not...

[scarry]

Depends on your navigation setting - Fastest, Shortest, Most fuel efficient. Tollways (Yes/No), Motorways (Yes/No) etc - so maybe you need to check your settings.

Done all that,also went through it all with Garmin.
Will still do it at times.They are looking into it[bighmmm]

I am yet to find Google maps do it,except on the very rare occasion in regional areas.

[d2dave]

After the replies here I decided to get another Garmin if I could find one at a reasonable price.

Found a 61LMT-S for $219 plus freight, which is very similar to my old Drive 61

If this follows the problems I have had it will definitely be the last Garmin I will ever own.

Thanks every one for your input.

[DiscoDB]

d2dave- do you leave your GPS mounted on the dash all the time? I have found with previous TomTom devices, if left in the sun or even just from high temperatures when left on the dash when parked up will result in early failure.

[austastar]

Hi,
Yep

Garmin DriveSmart 51/61/7 - Mounting and Powering the Garmin DriveSmart Device in Your Vehicle (https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/drivesmart51-61/EN-US/GUID-A22C8CED-FE5A-4B4F-99B4-48A5335D1FBB.html)

It's in the manual.
Cheers

[d2dave]

d2dave- do you leave your GPS mounted on the dash all the time? I have found with previous TomTom devices, if left in the sun or even just from high temperatures when left on the dash when parked up will result in early failure.

No I don't. I use it in a truck, and as I am only employed on a casual part time basis there are other people use the truck between my uses.

So when I finish a run I take it out and store it in a soft case. 50% of its use is also at night as I leave for Sydney late afternoon.

Return trip is during the day. Having said that, it is pretty ordinary to buy a device that is deigned to be windscreen mounted and then suffer heat stress.

[3toes]

My Garmin died agtee about 5 years so thought would try the app based ones you can use on your phone

First looked for a garmin app but could not find one. Have tried 2 others which seem to have a presence in media from plenty of reviews which are favourable. Neither provide as good functionality as the Garmin did

Combined results. Am 500 metres from local hospital but sat nav cannot find it, travelling to train station 20 miles away which is a major Mainline station that has been there for over 100 years sat nav cannot find it. Can though find a shop on the station platform? Track on map is in red so is delayed traffic which then obliterates the route track so where am I going? Cannot change colours on map so cannot fix. Map moves zoom in and out by itself based on what it thinks you need and you cannot control this

Back to Garmin

[Ranga]

I don't frequent AULRO much these days, but got an email alert on this thread. Nice to see familiar faces still hanging around (Dave and Dave [smilebigeye])

These days, I pretty much rely solely on my phone using Google Maps or Waze for street navigation. I find the traffic updates handy, and it doesn't noticeably bite into my monthly data allowance. As the eyes get a bit older, I'll probably move to using a tablet with the same software. Keen to hear of any advantages of using other software/hardware like Garmin etc.

[austastar]

Hi,
I ran Sygic Car Connected Navigation APK for Android - Download (https://sygic-car-connected-navigation.en.softonic.com/android?utm_source=SEM&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=EN_UK_DSA&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-KiBhCsARIsAPztUF2sN2shqPYAJmypXc6qtQ9bKVW1tW8Or6w4 tkcNr8FdALvSP7mVapUaAoicEALw_wcB) for a while till I ran out of space on the tablet.
Always found it accurate in normal driving and it surprised me with how much off road track data it could come up with.
When the new Pixel tablet comes out I will replace this Galaxy Tab (16Gb, and WAY too much bloatware) and re install it.
Cheers

[101RRS]

I don't frequent AULRO much these days, but got an email alert on this thread. Nice to see familiar faces still hanging around (Dave and Dave [smilebigeye])



Loved the old Ranga Special from over 10 years ago - only recently died and I liked the ability to go into the software and mod to suit individual needs.

Thanks for that [happycry].

Garry

[d2dave]

I don't frequent AULRO much these days, but got an email alert on this thread. Nice to see familiar faces still hanging around (Dave and Dave [smilebigeye])

These days, I pretty much rely solely on my phone using Google Maps or Waze for street navigation. I find the traffic updates handy, and it doesn't noticeably bite into my monthly data allowance. As the eyes get a bit older, I'll probably move to using a tablet with the same software. Keen to hear of any advantages of using other software/hardware like Garmin etc.

Nice to see an old face. You still driving a Landie?

[Melbourne Park]

I was wondering if it's possible to upgrade my 2014 D4's GPS software. It works great but is way out of date.

However, for other navigation solutions, the best value IMO is Metroview. I wanted to get live traffic data for it, but somehow, they would not take my money. But they did about 5 years or more ago - the cost was cheap then. Now, it's $10.00. And it does not use cellular data - it downloads all the data onto one's phone, and then uses the phone's (iPhone in my case) GPS chip (these cost Apple $1.05) to track your vehicle. The software shows speed restrictions, speed, has POI data, and an excellent planning part of the software. CarPlay etc require cellular connections to work - which are is useless off road.

Anybody knowing how to upgrade the Land Rover L316 D4's GPS (2014 in my case) please let me know.

I was thinking about getting a Landruiser 200, but my vehicle is worth so little, I figure its best to hope the motor hangs in there for doing a loop towing a Matrix 2.4 tonne (1.8 before adding water etc) caravan/camper.

Oooh - I found this link on another thread here:
https://www.navigationau.com/land-rover-navigation-disks.html

[DieselLSE]

I was wondering if it's possible to upgrade my 2014 D4's GPS software. It works great but is way out of date.

Anybody knowing how to upgrade the Land Rover L316 D4's GPS (2014 in my case) please let me know.
Nup. That's your lot! Cambo at Old Jaguar has some aftermarket solutions, but there's always a compromise.

[Arapiles]

Nup. That's your lot! Cambo at Old Jaguar has some aftermarket solutions, but there's always a compromise.


[Correction: did sell] LRA appear to sell updated maps:

Land Rover Australia - In-car GPS Upgrades for Australia and New Zealand - powered by TomTom® maps (https://landrover.navshop.com.au/shopdisplayproducts.asp'search=yes)

But at $195 they're not cheap.

Edit: these updates appear to be as at 11/2022, but then it says not available.

[DieselLSE]

Oooh - I found this link on another thread here:
https://www.navigationau.com/land-rover-navigation-disks.html
I'd be very suspicious buying from here. Looks like an overseas mob pretending to be Australian. The only possible way they could produce the disks would be to clone the Tom Tom maps from somewhere else. Tom Tom (I think, I forget now) provided the original updates to Landrover under licence and you had to enter your VIN to purchase the disk and then that was checked by the software when updating in your car.
I don't like the direct deposit only either. And the spelling is poor considering they are selling a product meant to be accurate! At $450 I'd be looking elsewhere. I mean, if Tom Tom no longer support the maps, how on earth can a mob in <insert favourite spam country here> do it?

[DieselLSE]

[Correction: did sell] LRA appear to sell updated maps:

Land Rover Australia - In-car GPS Upgrades for Australia and New Zealand - powered by TomTom® maps (https://landrover.navshop.com.au/shopdisplayproducts.asp'search=yes)

But at $195 they're not cheap.

Edit: these updates appear to be as at 11/2022, but then it says not available.
Yep, that site has had the same page since 2017. The Land Rover - Australia 22/11 HDD Update was the last one released. It was dated 2016 (from memory) and the map was only accurate up to 2015 or so.

[DiscoDB]

Oooh - I found this link on another thread here:
https://www.navigationau.com/land-rover-navigation-disks.html

The registered owner of that website uses a fake address. The host server is in Kazakhstan!

[Melbourne Park]

The registered owner of that website uses a fake address. The host server is in Kazakhstan!

Thanks ... no dice then.

Land Rover sold a disk for $195 .. but now, they say it is no longer available. So annoying, as it never seems to get lost, unlike phones do, even one's relying on a database and GPS, they seem to loose signal at times.

There was a business in Melbourne selling some sort of conversion screen installations, for several types of cars including D4s, when I last looked, but it was really costly ... I recall $1,300 odd.

It would be nice to be able to convert the data from the D4's screen to a mini iPad, put it in front of the D4 screen, and then be able to use its various apps for navigation as well as being able to run the Disco screen ... time for an ugly stick screen somewhere I guess. I am unsure where to put one. There is already a rear view camera screen sitting in behind the windscreen, to show what is behind the Matrix while we tow it. More and more I feel like buying a Landcruiser 300. Or a 200 for when people realise they are not as useful as the 300 model. But for towers, that may never happen. But then ... there is the Ford Everest, which is about $40 K less than a 300 ... and has a lovely engine. The same as our's, except, it's some extra oil for the middle crank bearing. More service outlets too I guess. I would never tow without a chassis though, so no Land Rover fits my tick box for longevity and ruggedness.

Maybe I need to install the Skylink satellite onto my caravan, and WiFi to an iPad in the car ... somehow I think Skyline would enjoy being stationary though ... might be fun for my wife to have high speed internet while driving in the middle of the outback ...

Hmmfff.

and Thanks guys.

Doug