Sunday Times Review of GPS Systems

[tks]

You guys read Sunday Times' review of in-vehicle GPS units? Garmin 205W had the lowest rating (2.5 out of 5 stars) out of the four GPS devices reviewed. The others were VDO Dayton PSC 5200, Vit@S 7000 series and Tibo A1550i. Tibo had 3.5 stars.

No comments on the accuracy of the reviews but I think the review was poorly executed. Different people trying out different devices, possibly with different expectations and experience in GPS. Main failure of the reviews is failure to appreciate that map availability, accuracy and detail are possibly more important than the device itself. All the devices in the market can do almost the same things.

Garmin 205W was reported not to be able to find Anchor Green Primary School. I had no problem finding it on my GMXT. Maybe the reviewer was using a different map, or don't know how to search for the school.

But I agree on one thing: the inability of the Garmin to work in tunnels or in-between buildings. I feel it is a major flaw. There are so many tunnels in Singapore now. You enter CTE tunnel and your Garmin freezes. There is no information at all. You don't know which exit to take. You try to preview the route, but now that your Garmin has lost its satellite lock, there is no route to preview. It's frustrating.

I am not asking for some sophisticated dead reckoning gyroscope system like the VDO Dayton. All you need is some simple "projected route" like what I observed on TomTom on PDA. When you enter the tunnel, the display greys out and tells you that it has lost the satellite connection and is now routing based on your projected (or simulated) route, based on last speed and direction of travel. You get to see roughly where you should be and where you should exit. When you exit, the satellite connection is re-established and the display corrects to the actual location.

[rling]

But I agree on one thing: the inability of the Garmin to work in tunnels or in-between buildings.

It all comes down to the receiver used, and whether you want to pay more for assisted gps receivers. These uses cellphones towers to triangulate your position, but it does mean that you are connected to the mobile network all the time. This data charge is extra. Bad news if you are vacationing overseas.

[tks]

It all comes down to the receiver used, and whether you want to pay more for assisted gps receivers. These uses cellphones towers to triangulate your position, but it does mean that you are connected to the mobile network all the time. This data charge is extra. Bad news if you are vacationing overseas.

You missed my point. I am not asking for dead reckoning feature or the like. Garmin can do what TomTom does. No extra cost or charge. All it needs is for the software to go into "simulation" mode automatically the moment the satellite connection is lost and continue the route in this mode. In this way, you can roughly gauge your location in the tunnel and know which exit to take. Right now, if you had not previewed your exit BEFORE you enter the tunnel, you are in trouble. When your vehicle enters the tunnel, Garmin stops working totally. You cannot even preview the route or next exit. You don't know which exit to take out of the tunnel.

[SOSweet]

Talking about review, please note that some of the so called ''review'' are heavyly sponsored and are bias toward the sponsor. Take a look at those food review in the newspaper and ask the restaurant or hawkers, they will tell you the true story about the review. The same goes to stocks market, good food, good door gift for the reporters added up good review of the company, otherwise, so so review.
For the GPSr review, the price different is so much ($2,000 plus vs $500) that it is just like comparing an apple with an orange.

[ace]

I read the reviews...

At the end of the articles... I decided they are all newbies... So I won't really read too much on what they write.

[tks]

But unfortunately, such reviews can make or break a product. I will not be surprised if there is now a perception amongst many ill-informed readers that the best GPS system to get is the VDO Dayton (4 stars) followed by the Tibo (3.5 stars). Garmin Nuvi 205W is "Only for the patient" (2.5 stars). I just realised that the reviewer has this verdict:

Get this only if you like travelling the scenic route and have loads of patience. An excellent user interface does not make up for inadequate maps.

[lost4ever]

I think it is good for Garmin to get a bad review once in awhile. Keeps them on their toes - and make them aware that we don't buy anything they throw at us. Right now they have enough models to make my head go

[ace]

It is sad, isn't it?

But then, once they buy it and realised what it is really is.. they would have learned a very expensive lesson.

But this perception of each individual is hard to break... Just read the newbies posts in MSM, usually they will ask..."Which is the BEST?" "I want the LATEST maps." The bottom line is they don't know enough of what it is, so the only way is the BEST & LATEST. The BEST & LATEST is the only insurance they have against the BAD & the OLDEST given the limited wisdom they have at that particular time.

Once they pay for it, the BEST & the LATEST is as good as outdated.

By the way, if my memory serve me good, the reviewers are all females....so that is a clue for you.

[badrol]

does the review has online version? if yes, pls post the link. Want to read it

[jaguar]

But I agree on one thing: the inability of the Garmin to work in tunnels or in-between buildings. I feel it is a major flaw. There are so many tunnels in Singapore now. You enter CTE tunnel and your Garmin freezes. There is no information at all. You don't know which exit to take. You try to preview the route, but now that your Garmin has lost its satellite lock, there is no route to preview. It's frustrating.

I am not asking for some sophisticated dead reckoning gyroscope system like the VDO Dayton. All you need is some simple "projected route" like what I observed on TomTom on PDA. When you enter the tunnel, the display greys out and tells you that it has lost the satellite connection and is now routing based on your projected (or simulated) route, based on last speed and direction of travel. You get to see roughly where you should be and where you should exit. When you exit, the satellite connection is re-established and the display corrects to the actual location.

Bro tks, be patient. We are aware that Garmin navigation software typically 'freezes' the map for about 30 seconds when you go into a tunnel. If greater than 30 seconds, it will say it lost satellite till you exit the tunnel. Right now, some of us (bro sabre34t and izani for example) have laid out the Nuvi 310 in a hexa-editor. We are experimenting the 2 bytes are page 4B and 8D to lenghten the timeout at 2 minutes. We figure this is about adequate for most tunnels (but not for KPE). It gets unstable beyond that. Wait dulu.