Anyone own a NAVMAN icn 630? or new N series

[72pug]

Hi folks,
Thought i'd throw this question out to see what the general opinion is.

Dad has a NAVMAN icn 630, has had it approx 3 years, in that time it's been pretty ordinary in it's peowess to get you where you want to go, UPGRADING maps has been a bit of a drag with Navman also.

I've been sending emails to them (Navman) for 3 weeks now trying to get updated 2006 smart ST, after waiting 8 months for replies.

Got an email on Friday offering to TRADE-IN on their new N40i or N60i , at a Reduced cost to himself, OR....pay for the cost of new mapping on a icn635 .....which is not really that different to the original unit he bought.....which is a worry if they phased out the maps for that.

ANYWAY, HERE'S THE QUESTION:)

Does anyone have an old unit that they have had similar dramas with, OR...does anyone have a new 'N' Series unit?????

conversely, does anyone have any opinions regarding the above scenario??.......must admit, ELECTRONICS of any sort are not my thing, so appreciate those with the 'white magic' powers:D .

Look fwd to the feedback

Pug

[amtravic1]

I was using a Navman bluetooth unit with a Toshiba pda for about 4 years. In that time there has been one update and I was told about last October that a new set of maps would be available in a week or two. That has not happened and Navman are very poor at communicating about updates. The maps I have are 2005 and well out of date now.
I have been using a TomTom unit for a while now as I bought it for my wife who would not use it.
The TomTom is much more accurate and the maps are up to date but I do prefer the Navman menu and the way it works. I would go back to the Navman if they brought out updated maps at a reasonable price.

Ian

[72pug]

Thanks Amtravic1....

You're not wrong regarding the lack of updates.or being kept informed, even when you ask them to keep you on the mailing list.

Dad's unit (icn 630) has the 2004 maps, the 05 ones were no better, and the 06 ones are unavailable.....he finds this out last Friday after waiting for 8 months.

The Trade-in he's been offered, (and is available for ALL Navman owners of various models on their site).....is for 3 models F20, N40i or N60i....they've got some nice features on the latter two, but after being bitten once, Dad is unsure of which way to go if they do'nt update regularly...(strange considering they use Sensis maps, as do tomtom)......

Again, if anyone has an N40i or N60i, and you're happy with it, he'd be interested,

Ta,

Pug.

[72pug]

......Bump..............Bump.....................

............Anyone else have any info.....views etc:)


Cheers,

Pug

[Paulslyon]

Hi there I own a Navman F20 and its perfect for me its easy to use and I bought the red light & speed cameras of ebay for about $20.00 and it works well in Victoria.

Paul

[vk2icj]

I looked at the Navmans not to long ago but ended up with a Tom Tom and it is easy to update maps and add POIs straight out of the box no extra cables needed to be purchased as the F20 needs. I'd go Tom Tom again I really like mine.

Chris

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Hi Guys

I have a Navman icn520 and its good at times, great for checking speed with oversized tyres or malfunctioning speedo in a Series 1. However there are a number of very frustrating aspects.

Urban roads/tollroads. When it calculates the route and decides there is a toll road it has a popup telling you "route is via a toll road" that stays there only a couple of seconds. If you don't select yes in the specified time you Navman directs you off the toll road. Once the popup has gone you don't know what has been selected.

This was most frustrating on a recent trip to Malbourne, coming off the Cragiburn bypass it directed us left onto the Northern ring road then off the Ringroad through the suburbs and down Hoddle Street while there was an AFL Match at the MCG - the Melbourne people will know what I mean. On the way back from Gembrook Navman wanted us to exit before the Bernleigh Tunnel and when we were suss to that ploy it told us to exit left after the tunnel and before the Bolte Bridge to avoid the City Link tollroad again. It gets to the point that you don't trust the Navmans directions.

Isn't the point of having a Navman so that it directs you with your confidence?

Another failing is when locations are missing at Sensis. The fact is that Sensis doesn't believe our farm is where our farm is. There are no sensis house numbers at that location on the road our property fronts, in fact we have almost 2 kilometres of road on that boundary but the best location we can get is "center of street" which is in the next village. We could even use a corner of 2 roads but again Sensis/Navman wont allow that input because of its map failings. I should be able to input "current location" as a favourate but no not possible.

Are Tom Toms any better?

Diana

Addit: I just love how confused the Navman can get, currently the Tom Ugly's Bridge in Sydney is under maintenance and 1 of the 3 north bound lanes is actually on the adjacent concrete bridge. Navman hasn't been updated to this fact, as you proceed north it assumes you are turning left, then when you get out of the accepted range it assumes you are driving underneath the concrete bridge so the arrow does an instantaneous 180 degree turn, then as you get too far over the water on the concrete bridge it again assumes you are on the Tom Ugly's Bridge north bound, it can not accept that you are north bound on the concrete bridge.

[CraigE]

We have the N40i. It is not a bad unit, but upgrade maps seem unreasonable cost and have heard nothing from them via email after alledgedlly subscribing.

[vk2icj]

I think most of these units use the same maps. That being said the Tom Tom one that I have when calculating the route asks me before starting if I want to avoid tolls or not. I can also add my current location (one touch) or enter a Lat Lon for a POI. Also the Tom Tom's base map is on a SD card so it is easy enough to get another base map if travelling to another country with the Tom Tom. The map files are stored in an easy to upgrade with downloaded poi's and or Maps off the net. Again it was this ease of manipulation that I choose the Tom Tom.